How To Grow and Care For Lemon Lime Maranta

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Maranta leuconeura (muh-RAN-tuh loo-koh-NUR-uh) var. erythroneura (e-REETH-roh-NYUR-uh) ‘Lemon Lime’ is a very popular variety of Prayer plants.

The genus name, Maranta, refers to Venetian botanist Bartolomea Maranti (1500-1571). With each new morning, the plant drops its leaves again, shoving its remarkable foliage.

Maranta Lemon LimePin

The specific epithet, leuconeura, is from the Greek words leuko and neural, meaning “white string,” and is a reference to the plants’ prominent leaf veins. The varietal name, erythroneura, is Latin and means “red veins.”

Lemon Lime Maranta Quick Care Tips

  • Botanical Tips: Botanical Name: Maranta leuconeura
  • Common Name(s): Lemon Lime Maranta, Prayer Plant
  • Synonyms: Maranta fascinator, Maranta insignis
  • Family & Origin: Marantaceae family, native to Brazil, Asia and Africa
  • Growability: Easy to grow
  • Grow Zone: USDA zones 11 and higher
  • Size: Grows up to 1′ foot high and 14′ inches wide
  • Flowering: Small white flowers may appear in spring or summer
  • Light: Bright, indirect light
  • Humidity: High humidity, mist regularly or use a humidifier
  • Temperature: Keep in temperatures between 60-80°F
  • Soil: Well-draining soil, rich in organic matter
  • Water: Keep soil consistently moist, but not waterlogged
  • Fertilizer: Feed every 2-3 weeks during growing season with a balanced fertilizer
  • Pests & Diseases: Susceptible to spider mites and mealybugs, watch for yellowing leaves which may indicate root rot
  • Propagation: Propagate through division or stem cuttings
  • Plant Uses: Great for adding color and texture to indoor spaces, also known for air-purifying properties.

This unusual variety of Prayer plants is a member of the Marantaceae family along Calatheas and Stromanthes. It is native to Brazil, Asia, and Africa. You may also hear this perennial, tropical plant referred to as:

  • Herringbone Plant Lemon Lime
  • Red-Veined Prayer Plant
  • Prayer Plant Lemon Lime
  • Lemon Lime Maranta
  • Ten-Commandments
  • Cathedral Windows
  • Lemon Lime Prayer Plant
  • Herringbone Plant
  • Rabbit Tracks
  • Prayer Plant 

Lemon Lime Maranta Care

Taking care of the maranta leuconeura lemon lime is relatively easy. This includes providing proper lemon lime prayer plant care to ensure healthy growth.



Size and Growth

This compact Maranta grows to be about a foot high and spreads to about fourteen inches.

Red-Veined Prayer Plant’s pretty, multicolored leaves close “in prayer” at dusk and open again at dawn. The large, attractive lime green leaves are oval in shape.

They are deeply veined and display variable markings in shades of deep green to burgundy. The leaves are attractively patterned on both sides.

Flowering and Fragrance

If you keep your Lemon maranta plant outdoors in the summertime, your Green Prayer Plant may present you with tiny little purple or white flowers atop long, slim stems. The flowers usually last for only a day.

Houseplants rarely, if ever, bloom. The lemon-lime maranta variety, with light green, dark green, and yellow patterns, is still relatively new and uncommon in some countries, like the US.

Light and Temperature

Another important part of the maranta lemon lime care is lighting and temperature requirements.

Maranta Lemon Lime likes to live in a space that provides consistently warm temperatures or in low light (60° degrees Fahrenheit to 70° degrees Fahrenheit) and ample bright indirect light.

The delicate and sophisticated leaves of maranta lemon-lime are sensitive to the direct sun. Protect the maranta lemon lime prayer plant against harsh, direct sunlight because this can cause leaf scorch and may even kill your plant.

These plants are winter hardy in USDA hardiness zones 11 and higher. Temperatures lower than 60° degrees Fahrenheit can damage your plants’ leaves.

Watering and Feeding

Always use rainwater, distilled or filtered water, or bottled water at room temperature to water Herringbone Plant.

Maranta cannot tolerate the chemicals like chlorine found in tap water, and temperature extremes can shock the roots.

Lemon prayer plant is a thirsty plant, so you should keep the soil slightly moist – never soggy!

Water thoroughly whenever the top couple of inches of the soil feels dry. Allow the water to drain through the substrate thoroughly.

Never allow your lemon lime maranta prayer plant to sit in water, as this will lead to root rot. Always use a pot with drainage holes.

Reduce water and soil moisture during the autumn and winter when the plant goes semi-dormant.

Marantas enjoy high humidity. Keep humidity levels high through the use of a humidifier or a pebble tray at the bottom of the pot. 

Filling a saucer with small pebbles and adding water to barely reach the pebbles’ top surface helps maintain higher humidity levels around the plant.

Frequent misting is not advised because this can lead to the development of fungal or bacterial infections.

Maranta lemon lime quickly consumes nutrients from the soil, so it should be fed regularly from early spring until late autumn. Feed your Lemon lime calathea plant once every couple of weeks throughout the growing season.

Any good quality, water-soluble house plant fertilizer mixed at half strength will do. Don’t fertilize during the fall and winter.

Pray Plant Soil and Transplanting

Green Prayer Plant with its shallow roots like a light, airy, peat-based potting mix – more on plant soil here.

You can either use a good quality ready-made potting mix or create your own blend with equal parts potting soil, perlite, peat moss, or coco coir.

If you live in a semi-tropical or tropical setting, you can grow Lemon Lime Prayer Plants in the landscape.

If you do this, be sure to amend the soil with coarse sand, fine gravel, and organic compost to create a light, airy, well-draining mixture with a pH level in the range of 5.5 to 6.

Use a multipurpose liquid plant food. Even though the Maranta plant grows quite fast, it enjoys being root-bound and having its roots tight inside its pot.

Repot your Rabbit Tracks Maranta annually, early in the spring. These plants are fast growers, so you will need to move up one or two pot sizes, or you can divide your plant into two or more plants when you report. Shallow pots are best.

Be sure to remove all old soil, clip away any dead or damaged leaves and roots, and pot your plant with an entirely fresh, new potting mix.

Water thoroughly and place your plant in a sheltered setting for a week or so to allow it to settle in.

Grooming and Maintenance

Pinch or use scissors to trim away dead, yellow, or damaged leaves, brown leaf tips, and stems as needed throughout the year. Prune your plant as desired to enhance shape and fullness.

At the end of the winter, perform a fairly thorough pruning to encourage your plant to put out lots of fresh, new growth in the springtime. New leaves will appear as tightly rolled tubes.

How To Propagate Calathea Lemon Lime?

When you prune your plant, save large cuttings (with a couple of leaves and a couple of leaf nodes on the stem) to root in water or a light mixture of coco coir or peat moss and perlite.

As we have mentioned, you can also propagate Maranta by dividing the plant when you repot.

Air-layering, which essentially involves allowing your plant to ramble its way into a pot of fresh soil set alongside the parent plant, is another good propagation method.

When the plant sets down roots in the new pot and starts new vegetative growth, you can cut it loose from the parent and allow it to continue to grow independently.

If the root ball is compacted in a container, the plant will grow more slowly or stagnate completely.

Maranta Lemon Plant Pests or Diseases

Most problems for Prayer Plant Lemon Lime are caused by incorrect watering. Excessive watering will cause leaf spots as well as root and stem rot. Underwatering will cause brown, curly leaf tips.

The use of tap water or excessive use of fertilizer can also cause adverse reactions in the leaves.

Plants that are overwatered or underwatered are naturally more susceptible to invasion by common houseplant pests, such as spider mites and mealybugs.

Fortunately, neem oil as a natural insecticide, is effective in fighting these and other pests. Spraying the leaves with a solution of this oil will not harm the plant but will effectively remove all types of parasites found on its leaves.

Is the plant considered toxic or poisonous to people, kids, and pets?

Maranta leuconeura var. erythroneura is non-toxic.

Is the Maranta lemon lime plant Considered Invasive?

Herringbone Plant Lemon Lime is not considered invasive in the United States; however, it is considered invasive in South Africa and could easily become invasive in other conducive settings.

If you live in a tropical or semi-tropical setting and plant this quickly spreading plant directly into the landscape, take care not to allow unwanted spread.

Suggested Lemon Prayer Plant Uses

Outside of the plants’ tropical setting, most people keep this perennial beauty as a houseplant.  It’s a great houseplant and does well in a floor planter or even in a hanging basket.

When small and young, it does well as a tabletop or desktop plant. As it matures, it may be moved to a larger floor planter.

In semi-tropical or tropical settings, Prayer Plant Maranta can be planted in the landscape in shady areas.

In this sort of setting, it is attractive as a ground cover or naturalized in a random pattern.

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