How to prune houseplants
Snip for health, shape and fuller growth
Why prune
Pruning keeps plants healthy and good-looking. It removes dead and damaged parts, keeps a plant to the size you want, and makes leggy plants branch and fill out.
Grooming is the everyday version: pick off spent flowers, dying leaves and dead twigs whenever you water, and the plant stays tidy with little effort.
When to prune
Do shaping cuts in late winter, spring or early summer, as plants start growing again and recover fast. Remove dead, damaged or diseased leaves, stems and flowers as soon as you see them, at any time of year. Save bigger cuts for when the plant is growing, since resting plants regrow slowly.
Where to cut
Use sharp, clean scissors or pruners, and wipe the blades with rubbing alcohol between plants so you don't spread disease. Cut just above a node, the point where a leaf meets the stem.
New shoots grow from the buds there, so a cut above a leaf can turn one stem into two or more and make the plant look fuller.
Leaves and tips
Remove an unwanted leaf where it joins the stem. If only the tip of a leaf is brown, trim off the dead part and leave a thin sliver of brown, so you don't cut into healthy tissue.
Prune a little at a time. Taking too much at once stresses a plant.
Plants to handle with care
A few plants need a lighter touch.
- Palms grow from a single bud at the top, and damage there can kill the stem. Only remove fronds that are completely brown.
- Rubber plants, other figs and euphorbias have milky sap that can irritate skin and eyes. Wear gloves and wash your hands afterward.
- Flowering plants: some bloom on new growth and some on old, so check before cutting back.
Use the trimmings
Don't toss healthy pieces. Many stem tips, such as jade and pothos, root easily and become new plants to keep or share. A tall rubber plant can be rooted from its tip, or air layered before you cut it back.
Related plant problems
Sources
- NC State Extension: Extension Gardener Handbook, 18: Plants Grown in Containers
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Indoor Plants or Houseplants (factsheet)
- RHS: Care tips for light-loving houseplants
- Clemson HGIC: Rubber Plant
General guidance, not a diagnosis. Written by PlantWiz in our own words from the sources above.