Why maranta raises leaflets in the evening
Marants do not like when it is too sunny and hot, you can put them on the shelves opposite the window. Absolutely all marant "wave" leaflets, adjust to the illumination: during the day they catch the sun's rays, turn the leaves to the light, and in the evening raise the entire green mass vertically. If you look closely, then under each leaf you can see a place for turning the sheets - there is a small thickening in the upper part of the petiole. For such a miracle of nature, marants are sometimes called praying plants. Moreover, in large plants, when raising and lowering leaves, they touch each other and strong rustling is heard .
If a maranta, ktenante or calatea plant collects leaves, then everything suits it in care, and if this does not happen, then you need to think about what is wrong. Perhaps it is too light, bright sun, hot, not enough or too much water when watered.
Is it necessary for the Marant to have a period of rest
No, not necessarily. Maranta - good for growing at home, because they grow easily all year round without a period of rest in the cool. They are quite satisfied with the usual room temperature, if the air from the heating batteries is not directed directly to the leaves. I.e. it is unacceptable that the leaves of a marant or ktenant standing on the window hang over the edge of the windowsill. If the plant is not cleaned on the window, then you need to put a pot in the room and next to make an additional light from one or more lamps.
Which windows are better for a marant
Natural light changes in spring-summer and autumn-winter. From about the end of February to August, marants need to be shaded from 12 to 17 hours on sunny days from direct rays. In cloudy, cloudy weather, you do not need to shade. Also, shading from the direct sun is not required between October (and sometimes if it is very gloomy autumn from September) and January. At this time of year, the sun is already low, sunny days are not frequent, and daylight hours are short. At the same time, the rooms are warm and the plants continue to grow, so light is very important to them.
Therefore, shading is necessary only on the southern and western (southwestern) windowsills in the spring-summer months. On the northern, northwestern, eastern and even southeastern windows, shading is not required. Marantam is dangerous in the afternoon hot sun, but not in the morning.
On windows of northern orientation, which are also shaded by trees or houses from the street, for example, on the ground floor, you may need to light up during the months of a short day (autumn, winter) and at the end of summer during cloudy gloomy days.
How to light up Kalatei and Maranta
The need for additional light on the marant can really arise if the plant has little light on the windowsill or in the room. Sometimes the bushes grow so much that they can only be placed on a shelf, table or on a closet in the room. The farther from the window, the less light. But it's one thing if you have a bright sunny room on the 6th-10th floor, another thing is the 2nd-3rd floor of the north side and the house opposite. Therefore, to understand whether your plants need additional light, look at how the leaves grow and where they are directed. If there is not enough light, the stems and leaves are always directed towards the nearest light source - to a lamp or window. For 2-3 months of lack of light, it is clearly expressed where the plant stretches. If there is enough light, the bush is flat, lush, uniform.
You can illuminate a maranta, calatea, stromanta with daylight lamps (fluorescent lamps) or LED lamps. If the plant stands far from the window, then it is better when the lamp is not one, but at least two on different sides of the bush. The distance of the leaves to the lamps is about 10-15 cm, no more. From these lamps, the leaves will not burn and are not injured.
How to feed marant
It is advisable to feed marants (ktenante, calathea, stromantu) with a complex fertilizer containing not only Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, but also a set of trace elements in chelate form. All marants do not tolerate chlorine and exaggeration of fluoride in water. Excess fluoride can be in tap water (if it is fluoridated or there are fertilizer plants in your area, metallurgical, aluminum processing, etc.), but in addition, fluoride plants are obtained from air and soil. With the accumulation of excessive doses, fluoride compounds become toxic to plants, tissue necrosis is observed, as a rule, the edges and tips of the leaves dry, and a brown border forms.
In the group of fluoride poisoning, marant (especially stromants, calathea) have too acidic soil or store soil is used, which contains phosphorus fertilizers (usually there is no note on the package). Therefore, if there is no lack of fluoride in tap water in your area, then feed with fertilizers with an NPK ratio of 3:2:2. If there is a chance that water is fluoridated in your area, or a natural excess of fluoride, if it is known that superphosphate has been added to the soil, then use fertilizers with the formula NPK 3:1:2, 4:1:2 or 3:1:3. I.e. These are fertilizers in which the proportion of nitrogen is greater than potassium and very little phosphorus.
In addition, make sure that the level of acidity of the soil is in the range of 6-6.5.
Carefully read what is written on the packaging with top dressing. If it says on a bottle or box of fertilizer that it is for deciduous plants, this does not mean that fertilizer will suit you. The ratio of Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium is different for all manufacturers. You can recommend the fertilizer "NPK stimulus for ornamental and deciduous plants with a share of NPK 6:3:6, also contains sulfur, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, boron and molybdenum. Dilute 1 cap with 1.5 L of water.
Usually lawn fertilizers have a suitable NPK ratio. For example, there is a liquid complex fertilizer Bona Forte for lawns with N: P: K in proportions of 7: 3.5: 7, contains more magnesium, boron, iron, cobalt, molybdenum, manganese, copper, zinc. But for marant, this fertilizer needs to be diluted more strongly: 6 ml per 1 liter of water! It is sold in 1.5 liter bottles and it will last for many, many years. You can measure it with a syringe (by the way, for a lawn it is diluted in a concentration of 12 ml per 1 liter of water). But many other indoor non-flowering plants (chlorophytum , palm trees, ivy, etc.) can be fed with the same fertilizer.
There are also special fertilizers for maranotes, for example, "Dry mineral fertilizer Gileya for all maranteans" is suitable - powder in a package of 2 g. It has an excellent N: P: K in the proportions 16:6:13, additionally Mg, Zn, Co, Ca, Mo, Mn, Fe, Cu, B. But this fertilizer is less economical: The contents of a 2 g bag must be dissolved in 2 liters of water. If you have a lot of marant and generally indoor plants , it is cheaper to buy fertilizer for lawns.
You can also recommend MASTER fertilizer for deciduous, in a package of 25 g, its NPK 24:10:15, plus trace elements. It needs to be diluted at the rate of 5 g of the drug in 2 liters of water and water the plants with this solution 1 once every 7-10 days.
So, choose, but remember: top dressing should be carried out only in the spring-summer season, with an interval of 10-14 days. Only healthy plants in the growth phase can be fed. Do not feed on dry soil, do not exceed the dose of fertilizers.
How to properly water marant
Maranta love water procedures: pouring with a warm shower, give water a drain. Further watering after drying.The concepts of "plentiful" or "moderately" are rather vague. Therefore, let's turn to other terms. The soil for the marant should be well drained - this means it is easy to absorb water and dry out quickly. It should not stick together, cement and turn into a monolith after watering. The picture of moisture should look like this: after watering, the soil quickly and evenly gets wet (in a matter of seconds), dries out within 3 days, no longer than 4 (faster in summer). At the same time, the top layer of soil to the touch should be dry on the second day (it will still be wet in the depth), after the top layer of the earth dries, we wait for some more time and water again. If the soil on the surface for some reason has not yet dried, even slightly wet - we wait, do not water . In summer, the drying period can be a day or two, but in autumn and winter it all depends on the temperature, if it is colder than 20 ° C, you need to wait 4 days before watering.
The need for watering, more precisely in their frequency and abundance, directly depends on the humidity of the air and the rate of drying of the soil. The faster the earth dries, the more often you need to water. If the humidity is above 70% - this is usually not on rainy days in the summer, then it is necessary to water less often, with such humidity, the marant easily tolerate complete drying of the soil. And with a low humidity of 30-40%, more frequent watering is usually required. But we must be aware that frequent moistening of the soil does not compensate for the dryness of the air. With too abundant watering in a pot with a marant or calathea, midges, mushroom mosquitoes will start, the soil will begin to sour, some nutrients will cease to be absorbed, and stains on the leaves will begin to appear. Maranta may not die from rotting roots, such as ficus or any of the succulents, but will be oppressed and covered with spots.
Therefore, do not be afraid to let the land in a pot with a marant, stromant, calathea dry out! Do not water too often, but raise the humidity. If you have one or two plants, put the pot on a wide tray, a tray with water, wet moss, pebbles. If there are a lot of plants, put a humidifier.