It may not be common for home gardeners to prune houseplants, but like garden plants, they can actually benefit from pruning. For most plant varieties, at least a little shaping would be beneficial to keep them looking good and free from pests and diseases. In addition, you can also encourage flowering. However, there is a risk of doing the pruning incorrectly, which could lead to long-term problems. To prevent this, below you will find a short guide to pruning houseplants, as well as tips on varieties that are not suitable for this purpose and the appropriate period for pruning.
What to consider before trimming your houseplants?
For most people, keeping their houseplants healthy and looking good is a real challenge. With ideal growing conditions, the plants in your home are likely to grow large and healthy. However, it may not be long before many plant varieties become unsightly, with dead leaves and flowers also causing plant diseases andattract pests. Regular pruning would therefore be a sensible solution that would enable better growth and plant care in the long term.
Additionally, some varieties tend to grow uncontrollably in apartments, while others look spindly and need pruning. Therefore, it would be good to learn how and when to properly prune your houseplants to prevent the problems mentioned above. If you have never dealt with this before, it may seem like a daunting task. It is also important to choose the right cutting tool so that you do not damage more sensitive plant varieties and do not injure yourself. This allows you to prevent excessive growth and promote plant health. Here is some useful information and simple steps to help you.
How often and at what time of year should you cut back plants in your living area?
Although they spend their lives indoors, houseplants do best when pruned according to the season. Ideally, such pruning should be done early in their growing season, typically later in winter or early spring. Pruning too late in the season means you remove new growth before it has a chance to become established. For flowering species, it is usually best to prune them as soon as their blooming season has ended. This will ensure you remove old growth without affecting future flower production.
Additionally, you can prune once every few months. You should try not to remove more than 10-30% of the plant in one trimming session. You can always prune more in a month or two if the plant has already recovered from it. However, you should prune most woody houseplants throughout the year to keep dead branches on top. In fact, when you prune your houseplants can play an important role. On the other hand, tropical plants have their growing season in autumn-winter. Trimming plants during dormancy is more stressful for them and slows their attempts to recover and regrow.
Which cutting tool is suitable for indoor plants?
The work can be done precisely with scissors, although you should make sure that you use well-sharpened secateurs. It is also important that you disinfect your cutting tools before use. Any time your houseplant's branch or trunk suffers a wound or cut, bacteria and fungal diseases become a greater risk.
Such weak spots in the plant wall are pretty much what plant killers like this are waiting for. Fortunately, you can prevent such an infection by regularly cleaning your pruning tools before trimming your houseplants. A 30-minute soak in a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water should do the trick. It's also a good idea to clean your tools after each cut as you move from plant to plant.
Which types of plants should not be pruned?
While you can trim many houseplants and benefit from regular plant care, some varieties have problems with pruning. This can result in them not growing back once their tips have been cut off. These include most types of pine trees, cacti and orchids. Pruning can be even more dangerous for palm trees because such plant varieties form a so-called terminal dominant bud at the top. If you cut these off, the palm tree may wilt and eventually die.
The only pruning these plants can handle is careful pruning to remove dead leaves. Similarly, you should not prune many varieties of orchids beyond removing dead flower heads. Instead, you can make a cut where the spike emerges from the leaves. Then you can hope to see flowers again after a few months.
Follow simple steps and prune houseplants without making mistakes
Simply pruning with kitchen scissors can look out of place for many potted plants, with the results unlikely to be satisfactory. Instead, consider taking some thoughtful steps to give your plants the optimal trim.
- Before using your cutting tool, it is important to observe the houseplant in question and make a plan. Consider the overall shape and whether it looks too spindly or uneven on one side. Also look for signs of diseased or dying foliage and try to see whether new buds are already forming.
- Then choose the appropriate cutting tool. If the plant's branches are thick, like those of an indoor tree, you should use pruning shears. However, if they are slim, you can use kitchen scissors to achieve a better and more precise cut.
- Remove dead leaves and stems when you are ready to prune. Start by cutting off any wilted stems and leaves. You may also be able to peel these off with your hand, depending on how dry they are. When doing this, try to remove them at a 45 degree angle to reduce damage to the plant tissue left behind. Watch for signs of disease and insect infestation at this time. You should either treat or remove all infected stems and leaves.
- Then pick out any wilted flowers. This step is known as bud bursting and encourages each species to produce new buds so you can get continuous blooms throughout the season. Additionally, pinching the spent flowers probably won't harm the plant. However, it would also be okay to cut them off with scissors. Try to get as close to the main trunk as possible so you don't leave unsightly stems behind.
- Now is the time to treat overgrown stems and branches when trimming your houseplants to shape them and keep leggy growth at bay. Start by cutting back half of the plant's longest branch, angling the cut at a 45-degree angle. Cut off any side shoots that look out of place. Also be sure to cut just above the nodules on the stem. This is the place where the leaves meet the stems and buds form. New growth will appear in these spots, and if you remove them, the plant will look sparse.
Propagate cuttings for more plants
This is an optional step that you could do after pruning if necessary. The ideal candidates for propagation are plants with long, healthy stems. You are unlikely to have success with weak or diseased stems or leaves. In addition, you should have at least 3 to 10 cm of stem or leaf cutting to regrow. For houseplants like money plants, you can also cut along the trunk just below one of the nubs, which will cause new roots to begin their growth from the nub itself.
- Cutting Houseplants and Propagating them in Potting Mix – If you have just pruned some healthy plant clippings, it is possible that some of them will grow back. The most common way to do this is to plant them in sandy soil. Apply some root growth powder before planting the stem cutting about 3 inches deep into the potting soil. Water the cutting when it dries out and wait a few weeks for the first signs of new leaves and roots to appear.
- Propagation in Water – While most species do best in soil, some, such as coleus, African violets and money plants, can or should be propagated in water. To successfully propagate a cutting in water, you will need plenty of indirect sunlight and a small vase, preferably clear for sunlight. To prevent rot, you should refresh old brackish water as soon as possible. It should take about a month or a little longer for new roots to manifest.
