10 Tricks to Promote New Growth in Houseplants

26.09.2024 - 21:13 / balconygardenweb.com / Editorial Team

Waiting endlessly for your beloved monstera or prized philodendron to sprout new leaves? Even the healthiest indoor plants can hit a snag and show no signs of fresh life! Luckily, with these tricks, you can jumpstart revival and promote new growth in your houseplants!

Prepare a natural rooting hormone with honey or cinnamon to promote new growth in houseplants growing from cuttings. Both ingredients have antibacterial and antifungal qualities that deter infections. Honey also has sugar that provides the plant energy to stimulate new roots.

Dust the cuttings with cinnamon or dip the cut ends in honey to stimulate root growth when propagating plants. Check out these amazing DIY rooting hormone recipes.

Trim your plant regularly and remove dead or overgrown branches so that the plant focuses its energy on sprouting fresh shoots and leaves. Use clean scissors to remove damaged or leggy parts, which also encourages new growth.

Pruning, which targets the removal of larger sections such as branches or stems, helps lateral shoot growth near the cut and prevents the plant from getting too leggy and unkempt.

Pinching is a more delicate action that involves removing just the tip of the stem to encourage bushier growth. This helps the plant grow more lateral shoots and foliage, gives it a fuller, bushier form, and helps produce more flower buds and fruits.

You can pinch the top growth anytime, but especially when plants are 6-12 inches tall and have 4-5 sets of leaves, pinch above the nodes where the stem connects to the leaf.

Both pruning and pinching can trigger the release of cytokinins, a hormone that coaxes the plant into producing new shoots. Removing the growing tip (apical bud) also reduces the effect of a hormone called auxin,