Houseplants are fantastic for enhancing your indoor spaces and bringing the beauty of nature indoors. In most cases, it’s necessary to prune houseplants regularly to keep them looking their best.
However, be sure to check the care recommendations for each type of plant before making any cuts to ensure you don’t do any accidental damage. Some plants can handle getting pruned frequently and vigorously, while others should only get an occasional, light trim. Keep reading to learn essential tips and tricks about how to prune houseplants.
What You’ll Need to Prune Houseplants
Before you get started, gather a few simple tools.
- Sharp pruning shears or scissors
- Gardening gloves (especially for plants with thorns or prickly leaves)
- Rubbing alcohol or hot soapy water
- Clean cloth or paper towels
- Old newspaper (optional)
How To Prune Houseplants
Pruning is a fundamental part of houseplant care. Firstly, getting rid of damaged or dead leaves and branches improves the plant’s overall appearance and health. Furthermore, eliminating any infected or insect-infested parts of a plant reduces the risk of pest and disease problems spreading to your other houseplants.
In addition, regular pruning encourages new growth. Doing so will help the plant grow fuller and more lush, especially if it’s becoming a bit leggy. Pruning houseplants also keeps them in the desired shape and size. Here are the basic steps for pruning houseplants.
Step 1: Evaluate Your Houseplant
Begin with an evaluation of your plant’s overall health and appearance. First, look for damaged or dried-out leaves, branches, and stems. Removing unproductive or unhealthy plant parts helps to prevent pest and disease issues.
Then, look for any leggy stems, unevenness, or excess growth that may be overcrowding other parts of the plant. Trimming away these bits will stimulate healthy new growth. Plus, it regulates the plant’s proportions, ensuring it fits in your available space.
Pro tip: If your houseplant seems to be growing unevenly, its light source could be the culprit. Rotating the pot a quarter-turn every couple of weeks is helpful, especially if it’s next to a window. That way, all sides of the plant get consistent light, and it will grow more uniformly.
Step 2: Prepare for Pruning
Get your space ready by placing several of old newspaper over the area where you’ll be working. Doing so makes cleaning up easier once you’re finished.
Next, check your pruning shears or scissors to ensure they’re sharp and clean. If necessary, sharpen your clippers with a file to make nice, clean cuts. Then, sterilize them with a clean cloth or paper towel soaked in rubbing alcohol or hot soapy water.
Step 3: Make Your Cuts
Time to start trimming! Make neat, precise cuts at a 45-degree angle about a quarter-inch above a leaf node (where a leaf meets the stem). Cutting at an angle helps the branch to heal faster. It also prevents water from collecting at the pruning site, which can potentially lead to disease.
Keep removing all dead or damaged parts of your plant until you’re satisfied with how it looks. If you need to reduce its size, cut back the main stem and/or lateral branches according to the specific care recommendations for that plant variety.
However, be careful not to avoid over-pruning. Doing so stresses plants and may cause them to become misshapen or, in the worst case, die. As a general rule, don’t remove more than a quarter of the total plant material at a time.
Step 4: Clean Up
After you’ve finished pruning, clear away any leftover debris from your plant and the soil surface in the pot. Also, it’s beneficial to clean your gardening tools with hot, soapy water, hydrogen peroxide, or rubbing alcohol before and after each use. That way, you won’t accidentally spread pest and disease problems between your plants, and your pruners will stay in better condition.
When To Prune Houseplants
The ideal time to prune houseplants depends on the plant species and its particular growth habits. While certain plants can get pruned at any time, others have more specific pruning seasons.
Generally speaking, the best time to prune most houseplants is in the spring, when they come out of dormancy and enter an active growth period. However, vining plants are an exception. They should get pruned in the summertime while they’re most active to encourage branching and new growth.
Prune flowering houseplants right after they finish blooming. Another way to optimize a plant’s bloom time is by selectively pinching off some flower buds to promote larger blooms on the remaining buds. This process is known as disbudding. Removing premature flower buds also benefits young plants or newly rooted cuttings. Doing so reduces transplant shock and encourages them to direct energy toward developing their roots, leaves, and branches.
In most cases, it’s best not to prune your houseplants while they’re dormant or semi-dormant, as it may stress the plant and inhibit new growth in the following season. However, cacti and succulents are exceptions to this rule. They should get pruned in late winter or early spring, just before they come out of dormancy.
Pruning houseplants can seem a little intimidating at first. Nonetheless, rest assured that it’s a perfectly manageable task. Also, it’s a crucial part of houseplant care. Pruning your houseplants regularly helps keep them healthy, beautiful, and well-fitted to their growing space.
Do you have any questions or recommendations about how to prune houseplants? Feel free to share them in the comments below!
If you found these houseplant care tips helpful, please share this article with your fellow plant people!