Question
Hello Darlene. I was wondering if you can tell me what is on my prayer plant and how to get rid of it. My plant is dying at a fast pace!
A little history...
I recieved the prayer plant in June for my 7wk old sons funeral. the plant is VERY special to me, and I vowed to keep it alive as long as Im alive. Im not a serious gardener but do pretty well with all plants. I repotted it as directed from a prayer plant web site, it sits on a tray of gravel and has good drainage. I had been bottom watering it with bottled water and it was doing fairly well. By the way, I live in Las Vegas, which is obvioiusly very dry. I had also been misting it daily with bottled water. It never has looked as good as when I first got it, but then my husband thought I should water it from the top, which I did and that  has seemed to be when my problems started. I kept waiting for the soil to dry out some before I watered it again. And the leaves stared to turn yellow and then brown rapidly. I found some little mushrooms in it around that time, and also  noticed that where each of the stems split into another, there is the white fuzzy stuff that looks like cotton and spiderweb. There were also tiny nats all over too, which at first I thought the white stuff was them laying eggs or something. My plant is now 2/3 dead. I have been cutting the yellow leaves off as they die, and have also tried to let the soil dry out. Havent watered it in over a month and have turned the top soil a bit to help the drying process.  What do I do??
Thank you
Heather Eggert

Answer
Heather,,

I beleive that you were overwatering your plant. I beleive that it was happening when you were watering from the bottom. When you water from the bottom the plant needs to be in a pot with a drainage hole in the bottom and a drain tray under it. You need to fill the drain tray with water twice and let the plant absorb it. After filling it the 2nd time if it does not absorb it all after an hour you need to empty the excess down the drain then do not water the plant again for at least a week or until the plant is bone dry and feels light weight. This plant cannot stand to sit in a drain tray full of water constantly, it will rot the roots. I suspect that may be what has already happened to your prayer plant. It is much safer to water from the top and even then you should empty the drain rray an hour later. You cannot leave it sit with water in the drain tray or with the soil constantly wet. The soil needs to be dry more than it is wet. It has to go through moist and dry cycles.  The mushrooms and the fungus gnats indicates that there is root rot which is the result of overwatering. You may still be able to save it. Carefully remove the plant from the pot. Remove as much of the wet soil as possible from under the plant without damaging the roots. Replace it with fresh dry soil and replace the plant in the pot then put fresh dry soil a round the plant. In the future do not water it until it is very dry and feels light weight when you pick it up. Only repot it every 4 years and then only put it in a pot with a diameter 2 inches larger than the pot you are taking it out of. This plant likes to be rootbound and will stay healthier if it is.  You said it is 2/3 dead now. If you dry it out it may still turn brown but don't give up on it. Just set it on a sunny windowsill and forget about it for awhile. Do not water it! Check on it weekly until you see signs of new growth. It could take 2-3 months but it should send out new growth. After that make sure not to overwater it in the future.

The white fuzzy stuff is mealy bugs, the attacked the plant because it was stressed from being overwatered. Put a bottle of rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and spray the mealy bugs and the gnats maing sure you spray the frons and backs of all the leaves. It will kill the insects on contact. Spray twice a week for a month to eradicate all the insects and any eggs that hatch. Good luck.

Darlene