Leggy growth

Leggy growth is a plant doing what it should in too little light: spending its energy reaching for more. The stretched stems won't fill in again, but the plant can grow bushy from here.

How to tell

• Big gaps between leaves on new growth, and each new leaf smaller than the last.
• The whole plant leaning towards the window.
• Variegated plants turning plain green, and pothos or philodendron losing their pattern.
• Trailing plants with long vines that are bare near the pot.

Trailing plants naturally get long; the sign of a problem is the gaps between leaves, not the length.

How to fix it

More light first. Move the plant within a metre or two of a bright window. East and west windows suit most plants; south works a few steps back or behind a sheer curtain. In dark rooms a simple LED grow light, 12 hours a day, makes a real difference.

Then prune. Cut each leggy stem just above a leaf node, the small bump where a leaf joins the stem, in spring or summer. New shoots grow from the nodes below the cut, which is what makes a plant bushy.

Root the cuttings. Pothos, philodendron, tradescantia and many others root in a glass of water within a few weeks. Plant them back into the same pot for a fuller plant.

How to prevent it

Give plants the brightest spot their type tolerates, turn them a quarter turn every two weeks so they grow evenly, and pinch back tips in the growing season to keep them compact.