Houseplants are living creatures that can be seriously damaged if cut back carelessly. Before you reach for the scissors, you should find out more about the correct procedure in this article. Thanks to our instructions, you can rejuvenate your houseplants like a pro.
Why and how should you prune houseplants?
Pruning houseplants is important as it promotes growth, ensures more compact growth and removes dead shoots. Pay attention to the right time and adjust the type of pruning of the plant: ordinary pruning, strong pruning or breaking out the tips of the shoots.
Why you should trim your houseplants regularly
Light green leaves and maybe even pretty flowers have just formed and now you should grab the scissors? Don't be put off, pruning can have a very beneficial effect on the plant:
- better growth thanks to more light supply
- more compact growth
- Plant does not waste energy on dead shoots
- more branches
Time
Apart from the dormant period in winter, you can prune your houseplants all year round. Only if the plant draws its juices back inside does it have a harder time recovering from the cuts.
Different types of pruning
There are plenty of reasons to trim a houseplant, even if they are certainly not comparable to trimming a plant that grows outdoors. But there are also several types of pruning for houseplants:
Utensils
To make cutting easier, you should adapt the tool to the growth of the plant:
- use a sharp knife for unwoody shoots
- use secateurs for woody shoots
- for thick branches, use pruning shears or a small hand saw
The usual pruning
With a slight pruning you can stimulate the branching of the houseplant. How to proceed:
- Place the scissors just above the top eye
- you can recognize this by the curvature of the stem
- the cuts usually heal very quickly
The strong pruning
- this also shortens the lower part of the plant
- Nevertheless, at least one eye must be preserved
- otherwise the plant will die
Break out shoots
The breaking out of the shoots is comparable to a slight pruning. However, even more length of a part of the plant is retained because they only remove 1 to 3 cm of the shoot tip. This method is particularly recommended for strong cuttings, as they grow more branched. Use your thumb and index finger to break it open. If you are unable to cut the shoot with your hands, use a sharp knife or scissors.
