Spurweed plants occur in the wild in a wide variety of countries and regions of origin. As diverse as these interesting and grateful houseplants are visually, the options for care measures such as pruning are just as varied.
How to properly prune Euphorbia plants?
Euphorbia Cutting is usually not necessary as many species grow slowly and compactly. Sometimes pruning is necessary to control disease or obtain cuttings. Use sharp, clean tools and pay attention to the correct season and pruning technique.
Various spurge plants do not need any pruning at all
Many spurge plants not only grow succulent, but also grow quite slowly and compactly. This means that the question of pruning in order to limit the size of many Euphorbia species is, to a certain extent, unnecessary. The triangular spurge, for example, is often only cut if the tightly upright growing plant is to be forced to branch out. The situation is similar with the easy-to-propagate pencil bush, whose maximum height is reached at around 2.5 m anyway.
Pruning as a last resort in the event of illness and care errors
Reluctance to cut should always be abandoned when danger is imminent and the spread of disease symptoms on a plant can no longer be contained in any other way. This is the case, for example, if rot can be seen at a certain height on the triangular spurge. Then the respective part of the plant should be cut off generously below the rotten areas as quickly as possible. Even if large-sized wounds sometimes form as a result, this emergency intervention is often the only chance to save a plant that has been laboriously cultivated for years.
Cut and treat cuttings correctly
For cutting usable cuttings, well-maintained tools such as sufficiently sharp and clean rose scissors (€21.00 at Amazon) should always be available. While poinsettias cause the milky sap to coagulate by placing the cuttings in warm water, Euphorbia tirucalli cuttings should first be left to dry for about two days before being placed in a suitable substrate. If you want to use the pruning of a Euphorbia to take cuttings at the same time, you should pay attention to the following factors when cutting:
- Don’t cut cuttings too short
- pay attention to the right season
- Cuts below the leaf base are better for root formation
- special rooting hormones are sometimes helpful for propagation
Tip
Basically, the same applies to spurge plants as to most other plant species. Pruning should therefore be carried out before the strongest growth phase and not necessarily when it is very hot.
