So it looks to me like all the new leaves are just growing in as brown stems that die off. I'm not sure if that's the case but it looks like it. I've had this plant for a few weeks and it's doing just fine other than that

How much sun does it receive? How compacted and wet is the soil? Do the new, brown leaves feel mushy or dry?

Gardener2493 said:How much sun does it receive? How compacted and wet is the soil?

It gets East facing window sunlight and there is a big tree out front so it's like 4-5 hours of very dappled sunlight each day. I think the soil is actually quite compact. Its the soil it came in and it seems to stay wet for quite a while compared to all my other plants. I was gonna transplant it tomorrow. But apparently I'll void the warranty so I was trying to wait to transplant but the roots are coming out of the bottom!

These Maranta can be notoriously hard to grow as houseplants. They are sent out to the nurseries in dense media that stays wet too long so that they will be less to take care of in the nursery environment. They do love water, BUT in a good fast draining medium. Lots of perlite and other soil lighteners added in. I actually no longer grow mine in containers, I grow them as pond marginals in my greenhouse. Kind of like an emersed aquatic. They do well in that setting for me but of course that is impractical for people growing in the house

Gina1960 said:These Maranta can be notoriously hard to grow as houseplants. They are sent out to the nurseries in dense media that stays wet too long so that they will be less to take care of in the nursery environment. They do love water, BUT in a good fast draining medium. Lots of perlite and other soil lighteners added in. I actually no longer grow mine in containers, I grow them as pond marginals in my greenhouse. Kind of like an emersed aquatic. They do well in that setting for me but of course that is impractical for people growing in the house

Do you think some fresh soil that isn't so compact would help? I'll keep her moist! Haha that's crazy you can grow them like that. Does anyone use epiphyte mix for these guys? If I spelt it right haha

I don't have experience with these, but yes, perhaps you could use a potting mix and fresh soil that's less compact.

I would also suggest a larger pot with drain holes for your plant since you mentioned that your plant's roots are coming out of the pot. It's either the warranty or the health of the plant. Take a larger pot with drain holes, and transplant your maranta and its soil there. Fill in the remaining space with well-draining potting mix and a little fresh soil, and water thoroughly. Prune off the brown parts (not the whole stem and the surviving leaves) and leave it to grow, watering regularly.

This is just general advice, so you may want to contact someone who is more knowledgeable with marantas.

They really aren;t epiphytic. And they really aren;t aquatic LOL I just discovered that they will grow that way kind of by accident.

Maranta and its allies (Calathea, Ctenanth, Stromathe) grow in nature on the floor of the rainforest, where only about 2-5% of the rain that falls actually makes it to the ground. They have made adaptations over time to help them survive. One is that they have special cells on the undersides of the leaves that pull in moisture from ambient humidity. Another is the 'praying' characteristic...they 'pray' for 2 reasons...the leaves funnel rainwater directly to the rootball when they are up, and, the undersides of the leaves have special pigmented cells (hence the maroon/red/purple colorations) that allow the plant to absorb 'green light'...light that hits the forest floor and bounces up. Its very very dim on the floor, which is why so many of the plants from there that are grown and sold as houseplants can be grown in houses where light is frequently not optimum.

The lack of humidity in a house is the #1 cause of problems with these allied plants. Overwatering is the #2. Shoot for a well draining mix that you can keep slightly moist, not really moist.

Thank you everyone for the help and @gina1960 don't know if shout outs work on this site but thank you for the detailed info on this plant! I put it in a bigger pot yesterday and used lots of extra perlite with some peat based soil and I've never seen the leaves pray so good until last night :D it was just in need of a transplant , Wich is funny because I've read alot that plant go into "shock" when you transplant them. Well this fellah did the opposite haha