Pruning Down a Plant to Make It Sprout Again

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Schefflera, or Umbrella plants, are mutual houseplants that are easy to grow because they tin thrive in artificial or moderately brilliant calorie-free conditions and are susceptible to few pests. Still, they may require pruning if they get too big or scraggly. ^[1] Here'due south how to clip your schefflera. The procedure is really quite simple.

1. 1

   Examine your schefflera to see if it has a single stem or several stems. This will influence how you go near pruning your plant. Schefflera with multiple stalks usually requite you more options when pruning. They tin grow in fuller and bushier, as they just take more places for leaves to abound. Schefflera with but one stem may exist more suitable for developing a tall sparse plant.

   • Keep the natural shape of your plant in mind when trimming. Fighting the natural growth pattern of your institute will be more hard than simply shaping and trimming it as it grows.
   • This is especially important to look at when you are ownership a new constitute. If you want a full, bushy institute, exist sure to pick a schefflera that has multiple stems and so it will fill in and aggrandize outward and up. If you want a found that will grow taller and stay relatively slim, pick a schefflera with just one stem (and trim any other stems that might popular out of the soil).

2. two

   Determine how y'all would like the plant to look immediately and in the future. Some people want a tall and skinny plant, while others would like a brusque and bushy constitute. It all depends on where you would similar your plant to live and how much care you lot tin give it. Part of trimming a institute is deciding how you lot want it to abound and helping information technology along that path.

   • On a schefflera the growth nodes, the place on a stem where new growth can develop, are located at the point on the stems where the leaves sprout. Because the schefflera commonly has arable growth and many nodes at which to trim, thinking virtually how it will grow in the hereafter when assessing where that constitute needs trimming will help you to promote growth in specific directions.^[two]
   • Make this decision before cutting any leaves! Take a plan earlier y'all kickoff and then that y'all avert mistakes and trim too many leaves.

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3. 3

   Check the general condition of your plant. Earlier trimming your plant brand sure that it is suitably potted and healthy. Make certain that your plant is in good soil and that the soil is moist. Before trimming your plant you may even desire to take the opportunity to repot it, if yous suspect its roots are crowded and you desire to promote growth.

   • You should also bank check to brand sure the leaves are good for you. If the leaves are looking discolored or getting brown spots yous may need to accost some problems, either with over watering or a lack of nutrients in the soil. Schefflera should non be kept in super moist soil. Allow the soil to dry out between waterings. If this does not improve the condition of the plant, you may want to replace the soil it is potted in.

   EXPERT TIP

   "If you observe an unhealthy looking stem or damaged leaves, that'due south a skillful indication that you should clip your plant."

   

   Maggie Moran

   Home & Garden Specialist

   Maggie Moran is a Professional Gardener in Pennsylvania.

   

   Maggie Moran
   Domicile & Garden Specialist

4. iv

   Get your tools prepare. Always be sure to utilise sharp and clean tools when pruning. For schefflera plants, the tools you'll need really depend on the institute and its size. Hand pruners, shears, and loppers will work for most modest shrubs. However, schefflera can grow to exist large – as tall as 40 feet (12.2 m)! For larger plants, you may need to utilize a pole pruner.

   • Consider calling a professional person pruning service if the tree is too big to handle safely with a pole pruner.

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1. 1

   Reduce the top of a schefflera constitute past cutting an upright stem merely to a higher place a growth node. In other words, trim information technology correct in a higher place where a leaf has sprouted. Trimming off the growing tip of a stalk will forestall it from quickly gaining height and will promote a fuller appearance in the surface area you cutting.

   • Apply bypass type pruning shears, the kind of pruning shears that cut with two blades, just like scissors. Other types of shears have a tendency to trounce stems, equally opposed to cutting cleanly through them. ^[3]
   • Sometimes unwanted height in a schefflera is caused by a lack of light. The constitute is basically growing upwards to try to find more lite. Go on this in mind when finding a suitable place for it to live.

2. 2

   Reduce the width of a schefflera by cut whatsoever horizontal branches back to just above a leaf node. Keep in mind that you will go renewed growth at the node where you cut, so you may want to cut the plant back further than you currently desire, in anticipation of it filling in in the future. Schefflera tin really handle some aggressive pruning, so don't be afraid to requite information technology a good haircut!

   • Once again, use bypass type pruning shears and then that yous do not crush the stalk.

3. 3

   Cutting all stems downward to 6 inches from the base to rejuvenate a blank bottomed, straggly plant. Sometimes these plants get neglected and become horribly overgrown and if you cannot figure out a way to shape the plant through gentle pruning, you can trim information technology all the way down. This requite your plant a fresh start and information technology will give you the opportunity to ameliorate command how it grows in the future. Don't worry, it will grow back with a vengeance if it is given plenty light, moisture, and nutrition.

   • When trimming your plant back, make sure to go out 2 to three nodes on each stem. This volition give the plant ample spots at which to form new growth.
   • The large pieces you lot have cut off your plant would make great cuttings for propagating new plants. Place a cutting with at to the lowest degree 2 layers of leaves into moist soil for a few weeks. This volition give the cutting enough growth nodes to keep growing. Roots should sprout from the bottom of the cut and the establish can so be repotted.

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• Question

  Can you have cuttings from a Schefflera?

  

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• Question

  How ofttimes should I h2o my umbrella plant?

  

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• Question

  How do you take care of a Schefflera establish?

  

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  Support wikiHow by unlocking this good answer.

  Yous want full or fractional sun for Schefflera to bloom the best. The other of import factor is the watering. About people often overwater them, then exist certain that the soil in the pot is dry to the touch earlier adding water.

• Question

  How do you propagate a Schefflera plant?

  

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  Find a stem close to the ground and cut it. Trim the leaves of the stem in half to lower the corporeality of moisture it loses. Put potting soil in a pocket-sized pot and make a 2-inch hole for the new plant.

• Question

  Are these plants pet-friendly?

  

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• Question

  When tin I prune my schefflera plant?

  

  Maggie Moran is a Professional Gardener in Pennsylvania.

  

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  Practiced Answer

• Question

  Tin can I abound new plants from the cuttings?

  

  Yeah. Cuttings can only be put straight into dirt and roots should begin to form. Rooting hormone does help speed the rooting process, though.

• Question

  How resilient are schefflera plants?

  

  They are quite resilient. It does depend on your location, climate and the amount of watering per its location, but they are generally resilient.

• Question

  During which time of year should I prune?

  

  Schefflera plants don't become completely fallow, just do rest in wintertime. It'south best to trim them in the late wintertime, before the plant sends out new growth in the spring.

• Question

  What does the establish need if the leaves are curling inward? Is this a sign of not enough water?

  

  From my experience, yeah, it needs to exist watered a little more than frequently if the leaves are curling inward. I tend to let the top quarter to half inch of soil in the pot dry until crumbly (non bone dry), and then h2o thoroughly. Likewise, if it's been in the same pot for a long time, yous could check to make sure the roots oasis't become root-bound. If they look similar ramen noodles, like there's more root than dirt in the pot, not all of the plant is getting water or nutrients.

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• Schefflera plants don't become completely dormant but practise remainder in wintertime. It'southward all-time to trim them in the late winter, then, earlier the found sends out new growth in the spring.

• It is normal for a schefflera to lose leaves along the lesser part of its torso as information technology ages. Just trim away dead leaf as it dies.

• If you want your schefflera to get full all around, don't forget to rotate information technology so all sides get a proficient amount of light. Otherwise, one side may become barren, while the other side grows in with a thick amount of leaves.

• Pinch the growth tip out of young schefflera plants with your fingers occasionally to promote branching and a full advent. By pinching the spot where a stem is growing from, you are forcing the plant to grow out instead of up. ^[4]

• If a schefflera has several stems when it is a small found, yous tin braid them into an interesting trunk that volition remain braided as information technology grows. When braiding the stems, think to leave all the stems rooted in the soil.

• If you become an expert at pruning your schefflera, consider taking your skills to the next level and making a schefflera bonsai constitute! ^[v]

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• Eating the leaves of a schefflera institute can be poisonous to dogs and cats. Make certain they are out of attain for your pet'south health and rubber. ^[half-dozen]

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Commodity Summary 10

To prune a schefflera plant, use pruning shears to trim the stem right above a growth node where a leaf has sprouted. And so, to reduce the width of the constitute, cut back the horizontal branches just higher up a growth node so that new growth will be fuller and healthier. If your institute has become very scraggly and unhealthy, trim the stems and branches back so they're very short, leaving only 2 or iii nodes on each stalk. For tips from our Horticulture reviewer on how to use these trimmings from your schefflera constitute to propagate new ones, read on!

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