Pruning Houseplants | Why it is beneficial and how to do it
Pruning is not just for outdoor plants.
You can, and you should routinely prune your indoor plants too.
In-fact, pruning houseplants is really beneficial for their health.
There are several reasons for pruning houseplants, and one ideal time to do it.
Like repotting, pruning should be done at the beginning of the growing season, in early Spring.
There are very few reasons to prune your plants during the winter period.
Let’s dig in!
I prune my Prayer Plant once or twice a year. It’s a fast growing plant, but it has the tendency to grow crispy leaves as it needs very high humidity levels.
So, when I get tired of staring at too many crispy edges, I prune the plant to propagate the freshest and nicest portions of its stems. Once the stems are cut, I place them in water to root for a few weeks before planting them in soil.
Why Pruning houseplants?
There are a variety of reasons to prune houseplants. Some are merely aesthetic, others are to promote their health and to prevent the spread of pests and diseases.
Let’s take a closer look:
- Removing decaying flowers, leaves and stems. Did you know that when a flower blooms, your plant puts more energy into its growth at the expense of a new growth, even when the flower is dying? Removing dying flowers and leaves, helps your plant divert its energy into a new growth. In addition to that, pruning decaying leaves and flowers discourages the development of pests and diseases. And let’s not forget how pleasant is the look of a well groomed plant!
- Shaping the plant. Many plants loose their visual appeal and balance when they grow without “proper direction”. The Ficus Ginseng here below is the perfect example; these plants are meant to look like miniature trees, or bonsai trees. When their branches grow too long and their leaves too big, the whole plant looses its aesthetic value and balance.
- Promoting a balanced growth. This is particularly true for trailing plants, and Wondering Jew Plants are the obvious example. When the plant’s stems grow fast and long, they tend to become leggy and straggly, once again at the expense of a full and healthy plant. Pruning excessively long and leggy stems, will divert the plant’e energy into producing new stems for a fuller and brighter coloured plant.
- Reducing their size. Some plants grow really fast and really big. Pruning is the way to control their excessive growth and maintain the desired proportion. Monsteras are typical examples of this scenario. Pruning becomes necessary to avoid a plant’s invasion.
- Propagating purposes. In many instances plant propagation is actually the by-product of pruning plants for shaping and size containment purposes. A plant is rarely pruned solely for propagation purposes. For example, when I prune excessively long String of Bananas stems, I put them in water to root, rather than tossing them. The same goes for Monsteras and many other plants. The trick to properly prune stems for propagation is to cut them in the right spot. (We’ll talk about this later in the article.)
String of Bananas grow very long. When the stems grow long, not only they become leggy; they also grow thinner bananas.
Wondering Jew Plants are well known for their fast growing and leggy stems. Pinching these stems, and sticking them in the same pot soil, will allow for a fuller and bushier plant.
Ficus Ginseng are meant to look like bonsai trees. For this reason, their branches need to be maintained at a certain length. This Ficus Ginseng is clearly in need of a trim!
types of houseplants pruning and timing
Some are more conservative than others.
You should never remove more than 25% of your plant’s stems and leaves volume, (don’t include the rootball and soil inside the pot in your calculation!).
It is also important to know that all flowering houseplants, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter Cacti, Peace Lilies, African violets, etc.., need to be pruned after they bloom, no matter the season! In this case, Spring is not necessarily your time of reference.
As mentioned before, plants put a lot of energy into flowers, even when they are decaying. It is worth diverting their energy into new growth, rather than wasting it into a dying flower.
I strongly encourage you to pinch-off any dying cacti flower, or cut off any Peace Lily specialized white leaf turning green. It will help your plant turning their energy into growing new stems and leaves.
On the other hand, if you prune your flowering plant before it blooms, you will miss the opportunity to see its flowers blossom.
Let’s now take a look at the different types of pruning and when they should occur.
- Maintenance Pruning is generally done in the Spring and throughout the growing season. It is a conservative type of pruning and it involves the removal of decaying parts of the plant, as well as minor shaping needed to maintain the health of the plant.
- Deadheading pruning is the removal of decaying flowers, or specializes leaves. It is done year round after the flower has bloomed and has started decaying. This will not only improve the look of your plant, but it will also help the plant to divert its energy into a new growth.
- Leaf Pruning, much like deadheading, is the removal of decaying leaves that are taking energy from the plant.
- Hard Pruning is a more significant pruning that is aiming at reshaping the plant, cleaning all the straggly stems and branches in favour of a fuller growth, and removing decaying stems, leaves and flowers. This more aggressive pruning, should not remove more than 25% of the plant volume. Hard pruning is always done at the beginning of the growing season, in early Spring.
Hoyas stems are often pruned for propagation purposes or to reduce the length of their stems.
This type of pruning is done in the Spring.
Pencil Cacti are mostly pruned to shape the plant as new stems grow heavy and unruly. This is definitely a poisonous plant that needs to be pruned with gloves. Its sap is quite irritating to the skin, and you need to avoid any contact between the sap, your eyes and mouth!
This type of pruning is done in the Spring.
String of Bananas are pruned to reduce the length of their stems and to propagate the plant.
This type of pruning is done in the Spring.
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how to prune houseplants
Pruning houseplants is not complicated, provided that you have the proper tools.
The steps on how to prune houseplants may vary depending on the type of pruning you are doing and the reasons behind it.
However, the general steps are the same for all types of pruning. You may skip a few steps in the beginning or at the end depending on the reasons why you are pruning, or you may need to follow all the steps described here below; (for example; if you are pruning your plant to shape it, you need to take an initial step back from it, observe it, and determine ahead of time which branches or stems need to be pruned. If you are pruning a plant with the intention of reducing its size and using the cuttings for propagating purposes, you need to follow the additional steps to root your cuttings).
So here we go!
WAIT!!
Before you start! Is this the right time for you to prune your plant?
Is your plant’s health threatened by pests or diseases? If the answer is yes, then no matter the season, go ahead and trim those damaged parts!
Are your plant’s flowers dying? If the answer is yes, go ahead! Deadhead those flowers!
Are your plants stems and branches too long and need to be re-shaped? Just wait till the Spring!
Now you are ready to follow the pruning steps!
STEP #1 - OBSERVE YOUR PLANT
No matter the reason why you are pruning your plant, always observe it before start cutting!
Are there any opportunities to trim your plant? Are there any decaying leaves, flowers or stems that can be removed?
Are the stems growing too long and leggy?
Is the plant out of proportion and needs to be re-shaped?
STEP #2 - DETERMINE WHERE TO PRUNE
If you are pruning your plant to remove decaying parts, it is easy to determine what to remove.
If you are pruning your plant to promote a balanced growth, reduce its size or shape it, you need to determine ahead of time which stems and branches you intend to prune, as you should not remove more than 25% of its size.
STEP #3 - WEAR PROTECTIVE GLOVES AND GOGGLES, (FOR TOXIC PLANTS)
Before you prune your plant, do a bit of research on the actual plant you are dealing with. Some plant’s saps are highly toxic and can be extremely irritating to the skin, mouth and eyes if in direct contact. (For example; I have a pretty big Pencil Cactus. Its sap is one of the most toxic. I had to wear gloves and goggles to prune it!).
STEP #4 - REMOVE DEAD LEAVES, STEMS AND BRANCHES
It is very important to have sharp and clean gardening scissors to prune plants.
They need to be clean to avoid the spread of germs and pests at a time when the plant is most vulnerable.
They need to be sharp to avoid any crushing and damaging the stems.
When you are removing dead parts of a plant, you simply make the cut where the damage has occurred.
(You’ll see how to deal with cutting stems in trailing plants in the next step).
STEP #5 - CUT STEMS AT DIFFERENT LENGTHS, (FOR TRAILING PLANTS)
When pruning long and leggy trailing plants’ stems, it is important to cut the stems at different lengths. By doing that the plant will have a more organic and natural look, and the new leaves on the stems will fill in the plant in a more random and natural way.
Cut some stems fully, cut some half way through, cut others a quarter of the way through, and some three quarters of the way.
Now, one of the most important aspects of pruning plant’s stems, whether you intent to propagate the cuttings or not, is knowing where to cut the stem.
All trailing plants have nodes along their stems. Nodes occur where the leaf attaches to the stem. In some plants you can see tiny protrusions that are the beginning of new roots, (Pothos, Philodendrons, etc..). In others, you see tiny tubers, (String of Hearts, etc..).
Make the cut before the leaf node, (or in between the leaf nodes!), for two reasons;
- after pruning, the new growth will occur at the nodes.
- if you are propagating the healthy cuts, new roots will grow from the nodes.
STEP #6 - DEADHEAD DECAYING FLOWERS, (FOR FLOWERING PLANTS)
As mentioned before, removing dying flowers can happen year round and it really helps your flowering plant diverting its energy into new blooms or leaves.
Some flowers, or specialized leaves, need to be cut, like for example Peace Lilies.
Others need to be gently pinched off by hand, like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter Cacti.
STEP #7 - DISPOSE OF DAMAGED AND UNHEALTHY CUTS
This is easy! Throw the dead, pests and disease infested cuttings in the trash so that no other parts of the plant, (or even other plants), get infested.
STEP #8 - SAVE AND CLEAN HEALTHY CUTS, (FOR PROPAGATING PURPOSES)
Set aside your healthy cuttings for propagating purposes. If you’ve pruned a succulent, follow the next step before you root your cuttings in water. Otherwise, simply place your cuttings in water for a few weeks until they have well formed roots and they are ready to be planted.
Just make sure the node along your stem is sitting in water.
Depending on the plant you’ve pruned, it may take between one and three weeks to see the first roots developing.
STEP #9 - ALLOW SUCCULENTS CUTS TO FORM CALLUS
If you’ve pruned a succulent and intend to root its healthy cuttings, you need to let those freshly cut stems form the callus before placing them in water.
A callus is the plant’s scar where the cut has occurred. Simply allow your cuttings to dry in a darker room for a couple of days.
STEP #10 - PLACE CUTS IN WATER
Once the cuttings have dried out and have formed a callus, place them in water to root like described in Step #8.
It is important to have dedicated pruning scissors. They are specifically designed to cut through tough stems and most importantly, it is good to separate gardening tools from other tools in the house, as many plants release toxic saps when cut.
This is one stem of String of Bananas. I subsequently cut it into smaller segments that can be placed in water to root, so that from one stem you can obtain more stems for a fuller plant.
Photo Credit: Cristina Bustamante
Monsteras are easy to prune as they already have developed aerial roots.
These stems can be propagated into new plants by either placing them in water to further root, or by simply planting them in a pot full of soil.
plants that cannot be pruned
So far, I talked about the benefits of pruning plants and how to do it.
However, there are certain plants that cannot be pruned. These plants will cease to grow and thrive if pruned. Some will eventually die from radical cuts!
Here are the most common houseplants that you cannot prune!
- Norfolk Island Pine
- Moth Orchis
- Majority of Palms
Norfolk Pines and Palms don’t have any latent buds, which are buds that are either dormant or concealed within their stems.
If you cut their stems, you cut their terminal dominant buds, which are the only buds the plant grows from. You basically kill the entire plant!
Similarly, if you cut the top off Moth Orchids, they will not grow back!
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Thank-you for this information. I just bought a wandering Jew plant that was leggy so followed your advice on pinching off a stem and putting it in the soil. I enjoy the beautiful photographs and I’m inspired to take better care of my plants. So glad I subscribed to your emails! 😊
Thank you so much for the positive feedback Jan! Good luck with your plants and keep me posted!