Do your prayer plant leaves look concerningly deformed, dry, and yellow? Well, I might know the reasons behind it…
In this article, we’ll go over a few potential reasons why your prayer plant leaves can appear dull and discolored and what you can do to bring it back to a healthier state.
Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
Prayer Plant Leaves Curling, Yellowing, & Drying? Save It Now!
4 – Watering In Extremes
Too much or too little water is a common cause of yellowing or drying in any plant.
Although prayer plants typically prefer slightly moist soil, there are still times you can go overboard with the hydration and trigger waterlogging related issues.
Fix: Get a hold of your watering routine and only provide enough water to get the job done. Any more or less won’t be appreciated.
Also, it’s better to keep your prayer plant in a pot that has drainage holes so that any excess water won’t stick around long enough to cause problems.
3 – Insufficient Humidity
Prayer plants are quite fond of humid conditions. In fact, they thrive in them! Not providing your prayer plant with sufficient humidity is a serious mistake.
Dry air can cause its leaves to curl and turn yellow, which not only takes away from their visual appeal but also impacts the plant’s overall health and longevity.
Fix: Although having a humidifier near the plant is the best fix for low humidity, for those of you who don’t have a humidifier available, placing wet pebbles around the plant can help achieve a similar effect.
2 – Weak & Nutrient Deficient Soil
Poor leaf health in a plant is often linked to nutrient deficiencies in the soil. Lack of potassium, magnesium, and nitrogen is typically to blame for brown edges, yellowing, and curling leaves.
Fix: The fix is pretty simple – fertilization. Provide your weakening prayer plant with a quality balanced fertilizer every 4-7 weeks during the growing season.
Also, consider getting a compost bin at home so that you can use food scraps, peels, shells, and other organic matter to make nutrient-packed compost.
Feeding your plant this compost should help further improve its condition.
1 – Temperature Stress
Prayer plants prefer high humidity and warmer temperatures. They’re sensitive to sudden temperature changes and extremes like scorching heat and frost.
Although seasonal temperature changes won’t kill your plant, if you expose it to undesirable temperature extremes for an extended period of time, negative side effects like leaf curling and discoloration may start to kick in.
Fix: Ideally, you should be keeping your prayer plant in an environment where the temperature is rather stable. However, if it’s placed outside and conditions are harsh, move it indoors or in a shaded location that will keep frost and heat from damaging the leaves any further.
Final Words
As complex and difficult as it might sound to save your prayer plant from the verge of death, it’s definitely possible and you can even bring it back to a healthier state!
What truly matters is will. If you’re willing to make the changes needed to be made and feed your plant what it needs during this time, there’s no way you can’t reverse the discoloration and symptoms of weakness. Best of luck!
