Is your Maranta leggy, with more stems than leaves? Here’s How to Grow a Bushier Prayer Plant with a Bounce Like Never Before!
The prayer plant’s stunning, feather-patterned green and purple leaves make this tropical evergreen a household sensation. However, with negligence, your Maranta leuconeura can get leggy and lackluster. Here’s how you can grow a bushier and fuller prayer plant!
How to Grow a Bushier Prayer Plant
1. Sequential Pruning & Pinching
Prayer plants do not require regular pinching or pruning, but strategic pruning can tidy up wild, unruly growth. Sequential pruning is a gradual method of trimming your prayer plant in stages. It focuses on one section at a time to reduce stress.
By pruning above nodes and removing damaged leaves, you coax bushier growth on your prayer plant while allowing ample intervals for recovery. Use sharp, clean pruning shears to make precise cuts right above the leaf nodes for side shoots and lateral growth.
You can also pinch off new growth tips to promote branching and a fuller look. Prune during its growing season, around spring and summer, as it can quickly heal during this phase.
2. Rotate your Potted Prayer Plant
If your Maranta is growing lopsided—lush on one side and lanky on the other—it usually signals uneven light. The side facing the source of light, like the sunny window bit, grows better than the side that gets no light—plants growing towards light is a common phenomenon.
Rotate your prayer plant container by a quarter turn every week or two. This consistent rotation will allow all sides of the plant to receive equal sunshine and give you a robust, bushy prayer plant!
3. Marantas Can Get Sun-Burn!
While prayer plants need equal sunshine on all parts, their delicate leaves cannot tolerate direct, harsh light. Place your potted plant in a spot that receives dappled, indirect sunshine—an east-facing window—to push healthy, bouncy foliage.
Tip: Keep it a few feet away from extra-bright windows, or use sheer curtains to filter light.
4. Prayer Plants like it Cozy
Prayer plants produce healthy leaves and grow vigorously in a 50-60% humidity range. So, if the spot where you’ve placed your prayer plant lacks moist air, use a humidifier or place the pot on a tray with water and pebbles.
Other ways include misting them occasionally or placing them in naturally humid spots like kitchens and bathrooms. You can also pair them with other humidity-loving plants, such as ferns, calatheas, or orchids, to keep it humid and cozy!
Tip: Grouping plants together will boost humidity and lend a lush jungle vibe indoors.
5. Repot in Wider Containers
Prayer plants need a home at least six inches wide in their early stages and wider as they spread a lot. Since they are naturally low-growing, trailing plants, repot them in a wider container—at least eight inches wide—so they have ample space to grow bushier.
When you get a wider pot, it allows natural lateral spread and encourages the plant to grow outward rather than upward. This tip ensures shorter stems with more leaves—just how we like it!
Tip: Even if you get a slightly wider pot, ensure it is shallow because deep and slender pots retain moisture and can cause root rot.
6. Cinnamon Water Spray
Cinnamon, among many other uses, helps your prayer plant grow freely by keeping fungal infection and mold away. Some reports suggest cinnamon has growth-stimulating properties, which also help your plant stay healthy and bushy.
Either boil a cinnamon stick in water and use that or mix one teaspoon of cinnamon powder into one quart of water. Allow the mixture to settle for 60 minutes, then strain and pour into a spray bottle. Lightly mist the plant to prevent fungal issues and boost root health. Use it sparingly to avoid soil imbalances.
7. A Dose of Epsom Salt
Mix a small amount of Epsom salt with water and use it to water your prayer plant once a month during the growing season. Magnesium helps the plant with photosynthesis and overall health, which can support more robust, bushier growth over time.
To prepare, dissolve about half a teaspoon of Epsom salt in a gallon of water and use it during regular watering. Don’t overdo it to avoid salt buildup in the soil.
8. Boost Rhizome Growth with Light Tilling
Prayer plants grow from rhizomes, underground stems that naturally send out new shoots. Healthy rhizome growth helps grow a bushier prayer plant.
For that, gently loosen the top layer of soil by tilling it lightly every once in a while so the rhizomes can freely spread; ensure you don’t damage the roots while doing this.
Add a layer of compost or organic matter to feed the rhizomes with nutrients and promote healthy shoot production. Keep the soil evenly moist to support steady growth, but avoid overwatering.
9. Encourage Lateral Growth
Prayer plants naturally spread outward, and by guiding their long stems across the soil surface, new shoots will sprout, making your plant look bushier and fuller. Gently pin down the longer stems using small U-shaped plant stakes.
Make sure the nodes—points where leaves grow—touch the soil. These nodes will begin to develop roots and produce new growth over time, boosting the plant’s density. And that’s how you get your precious prayer plant to grow bushier, with a bounce like never before!
