Fishbone Prayer Plant problems & how to fix them
Ctenanthe burle-marxii
Drooping, yellowing, brown tips, or a plant that just won’t thrive? Here are the most common Fishbone Prayer Plant problems, what usually causes them, and how to turn things around.
Common problems
Crispy tips (low humidity)
Hard water and dry heated air brown the pale leaf edges. Brown, dry leaf tips caused by air that is too dry for the plant, common in heated or air-conditioned rooms. Existing crispy tips never turn green again, but with higher humidity new growth should come in clean within a few weeks.
Spider mites
Check the patterned leaves for stippling during winter. Tiny sap-sucking mites that thrive in warm, dry air and leave fine webbing and speckled leaves. Caught early they are very treatable; most plants recover fully within 3-4 weeks of consistent treatment.
a two-spotted spider mite among its silk threads
Photo: Gilles San Martin · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Overwatering
Constantly wet soil yellows lower leaves and rots the crown. The soil is staying wet longer than the plant can handle, starving roots of oxygen. If caught before roots start rotting, the fix is simple - let the soil dry out and adjust the routine - and most plants bounce back within 2-3 weeks.
a yellowing lower leaf on a potted Chinese evergreen
Photo: Saurav9656 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Underwatering
Drooping, curled leaves signal a dry root ball. The plant is not getting enough water, either from infrequent watering or soil so dry it repels water. Prognosis is excellent - most underwatered plants perk up within days of proper rehydration.
The mistakes that most often kill it
- Waterlogged soil that rots the shallow crown.
- A cold winter windowsill with wet feet.
- Ignoring mites until the pattern is speckled away.
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