 Hey guys it's Harley and today I'm going to be doing a care video for prayer plants, collathea plants, maranta plants, they're all kind of the same thing. I do have quite a few varieties in my collection, so I'll show you a few of the ones I have. And I have to be honest, they are fussy little buttes. I'm telling you. But worth it for sure. And once you get it down, then they're actually pretty simple. It's just a matter of perfecting their care. They are honestly so worth the extra effort. Not only are they beautiful, but their leaves actually move during the day and at night, which is really cool in my opinion. That's super unique from any other plant. I mean, they move noticeably, which is really, really intriguing. That's why they're called per plant. So during the day, their leaves fold flat and during the night they fold up like a little prayer hand. Sometimes I have this one sitting on my kitchen counter and it, when it's moving in the evening time, the leaves rustle and it always makes me jump and freaks me out. But yeah, that's just a little side note over prayer plant. They are actually able to move as a result of their circadian rhythm. The water pushing, they have these little nodes at the base of the plant where when the water rushes by them, it causes them to move. So that's kind of interesting. Some people also think that they move so that they are able to more effectively receive light and photosynthesize. The lighting requirements for the prayer lit. I can't talk. Help. Thin help. As far as lighting goes, Claythia really definitely prefer low to medium, bright indirect light. So I have mine between a north and a west window where it receives no direct light. But a few hours of ambient lighting throughout the day filtered by a white curtain. So this is that shelf that I keep my plants on. I keep them here and then also here and they've done really well. So they do get filtered light from this west window that has a curtain in front of it. And then also from this north covered window that I keep the blinds down. So it's not oversaturating them with light and they have honestly done really, really well. So if you notice that your Claythia plants are getting brown tips, it could definitely mean too much light or it could also mean that they aren't staying moist enough for them to not turn brown. I did burn one of my Claythia plants on accident but I've learned since then. I'm so sorry a little prayer plant. I love you. Too much light can also make it difficult to keep them watered properly which can also cause the brown tips. So yeah, just dries the soil more rapidly and makes it difficult. So give them a little bit lower light if you have a hard time keeping them watered. Another sign that your Claythia is receiving too much light is that the patterns on the leaves are fading. If you notice that the patterns are fading, that means you have it in too bright of light and you should move it a little bit farther away from that light source. I'd say that actually the most difficult part of these plants is watering. So they definitely like their soil to stay moist and if it's not staying wet then they will dry just like that. It happens that quickly. So I water mine typically when the first half of the soil is dry and then I'll give it some water. Another thing that's really helped is my the Hydro Box things. I've talked about in a previous video. I've used those on most of my Claythia plants and it has really, really helped me keep them watered and if I forget for a little bit it's fine. They do really well with that. So these are plants I would definitely recommend those Hydro Box for this video is not sponsored so I don't have to be seeing this but I do definitely think those help quite a bit. Also if you don't keep them in terracotta it's easier to keep them watered so that's something else to consider. On the other hand, too soggy of soil can reduce oxygen flow to the roots which also will lead to root rot and the plant will also die so it's just kind of figuring out that happy medium. I know a lot on my channel we talk about how it's just trial and error and you kind of have to get a feel for the plant in your home environment because it does kind of vary a little bit. So watering these plants is just kind of a trial and error kind of thing and you will learn it. I promise you it just I mean I've killed a few Claythian my day I have to be honest with you but now that I've got it down the newer Claythia plants are doing so well and not browning pretty much at all on the tips so once you get it down it's easy to understand them. Here's an example this was my first Claythia plant and obviously it didn't fare too well in the beginning but all of the new growth is happy so really I don't want you to think that this is a plant you can just purchase and do really well right away with because I just think that that's unreasonable. If you can the good for you you must be an amazing plant parent. Those of us who are kind of just plant hobbyist then this is kind of what you should expect at the beginning and then it'll get better from there. I promise you something that has really helped my Claythia house plants is I'll keep them super super thoroughly soaked and then I'll kind of use a fork to work up the soil a little bit so I know that the roots are still receiving air flow. This has actually made all the difference in my plant care so if you don't want to go out and get the hydro box that's kind of a new system I've been using that has worked really well then you can definitely use the fork to air-rate the soil method and that's a really really great option as well. So Claythia plants do prefer higher humidity in the air so I keep my a few tricks to keep the humidity up in your home is to keep your Claythia houseplants grouped together. I do this on that shelf I was telling you about at the beginning of the video you can also keep like bowls of water near them or even on them under them. Under them you can keep like pebble trays with water. I have my an all group next to my humidifier and then I also miss them regularly. I know a lot of people think that misting them doesn't increase humidity but it actually does. It's the same idea as keeping bowls of water around them. I mean the water evaporates off the leaves causing humidity so I don't know why people say that that doesn't help increase humidity. It definitely does. So yeah I hope that video is helpful in keeping your Claythia houseplants healthy. I will show you a few of the things issues I've had. So one issue I have had with my Claythia plants is over fertilizing them. They are very very finicky about chemicals. When you're watering them I personally use tap water. In the beginning I was just watering them straight from the tap but now I've learned that I need to keep the water in a container open for 48 hours so that all of the chemicals can evaporate out and then the water is safe for them to drink. Basically if you don't do this then your little leaf tips are definitely going to brown. They also don't like chemically fertilizers so I just use a super super diluted organic fertilizer from Aspoma and I'll just the directions that are on the back I just dilute it by four. So I do it about quarter shrinks and water them maybe about a month with every month or so with that and they've done really well since then. So I'm going to show you a few of my Claythia plants. So there's this one there's absolutely no browning whatsoever. This is a really really easy one to keep happy. My beauty star califia is really really happy. This one is fairly happy. I will say this one has been a little more difficult but I think it's because I got this guy off of herds and I do think that they over fertilize their plants before sending them out. So yeah just because I've been caring for this guy the same as the others and he's been kind of struggling as well as this guy here a little bit of browning on the tips and it's kind of the same burning that over fertilizing causes. So that's just kind of my guess there. Be wary of where you're ordering from. I mean I ordered this guy off of a plant shop on Etsy and it's really happy. My beauty star is really happy and then also my lemon lime is really happy. I got this one at J&J and they don't over fertilize and I really 100% think that over fertilizing makes all the difference and a lot of nurseries do over fertilize plants to make them look super happy in the present but then once you get them home and are caring for them and aren't fertilizing them that much then they'll they'll burn. So I hope this video was helpful to you. If you have any questions or any additional tips and tricks please leave them in the comment section down below. I'm sure others would really appreciate that and thank you so much for watching. I will see you in the next one. Bye!