Growth Recovery for Plants That Won’t Budge
Growth Recovery
For Plants That Won’t Budge
It’s amazing to witness a houseplant’s true growth potential. Like remembering when your plant outgrew its grower pot to be housed in a much roomer environment. There are houseplants that can start off at 2 feet and within a few years tower over you. Pothos, for example, grow wide and long and will eventually create a sea of leaves. There is something quite special witnessing a plant grow and thrive in all of its glory.
While this is the ideal situation, many plant parents have to deal with plants that are stunted in their growth. Throughout the years I have observed many times but just a few plant maintenance routines can help to remedy this problem that could be negatively affecting the health of the plant.
A Note on Plant Growth
These plant maintenance tips for growth should also be applied to plants that you may not want to grow. Why? Well these routines add to the overall health value of your plants. If you want your plant to be a certain size, it’s best to prune it regularly to maintain the length that you want.
When growing your plant out, it is important to consider its current location and its future location. Throughout the changing seasons many plants may need to be rotated around. Consider where your plants may need to be moved in the future as they grow. What may be an ideal location for your houseplant today may not be what’s best for it in the future.
Growth Tip #1
That leads us to our first tip for plants that won’t budge. Plants may grow up but they also grow down. As the roots are traveling down the leaves are growing up. Roots need space to grow and expand. If the planter isn’t wide or deep enough the roots become trapped, preventing the plant from showing any signs of growth up top. Growth begins with strong and healthy roots.
Roots need space to grow and crowded roots can prevent plants from growing
You can check the roots by performing a root inspection. Start by taking your plant out of its grower pot/planter and seeing if the roots are bound and twisted. Sometimes you might find that the roots are outside of the growth pot. These are all signs that the plant is having trouble with growing due to the constraint of its environment. These can all be fixed with repotting it in a bigger planter. It’s important to pick the next size up,rather than 3 times the current size or larger. You never want the planter to be too large or too small. With your houseplant now happy in its better fitting home, you will see an instant change in its growth and size.
Plants grow best when they are in a pot or planter that aligns with their current size, not too much room and not too little
Growth Tip #2
After you have inspected your plant for signs of root growth stagnation, now it’s time to inspect the leaves. With plants you want to inspect the bottom and the top. Each side is equally as important as the other. For the leaves, we need to check if they have any sort of dust or debris on them. It’s very common for houseplants to collect certain amounts of debris or dust indoors.
The top of the plant (i.e. the leaves) is equally as important as the bottom (i.e. the roots). It’s important to care for both sides.
When this happens wetting a microfiber wipe and gently wiping the leaves works well and can help your plant with its growth recovery. You can think of it as brushing the plants teeth, since plants absorb sunlight (i.e. their food) through their leaves. Every time you brush their teeth, AKA wipe their leaves, you help with the plant’s food consumption. More food means more growth and that’s a great thing for your plant family.
Wiping the leaves of your plant’s is like brushing their teeth and allows them to take in more sunlight (i.e. their food)
Growth Tip #3
Speaking of food, is your plant getting enough of it? If there is one thing to remember when it comes to light it is that our human eyes adjust to light far better then we realize. What could be a cave to your houseplants could seem like a bright retreat to you. Plants are very sensitive to light and it’s easy to misread the amount of light your plant is receiving. Plants that require bright light could have a hard time growing in a shaded area. Light readers are a good way to test light levels and they can be found on many different home and garden websites.
Our eyes easily adjust to low light and can’t be trusted to gauge how much light a plant is getting in a given room
You can also experiment at home with moving your plants around and observing how they adapt to different locations. Houseplants generally don’t enjoy being moved too often so be strategic in your placement. South facing windows receive the most bright direct light, if they are not blocked by trees or buildings. North facing windows provide moderate and low indirect light. The west side of your home is hot, offering bright direct sun in the early morning and evening. This is a great spot for many houseplants but can burn some of the more sensitive ones. East windows are hot in the morning but then cool down during the rest of the day. The east side is the coolest side of the house. These windows are great for plants that require little to no light.
Different locations in your home will receive different amounts of light at different times. It’s good to move your plants around to find the best spot for them.
These plant maintenance tips are a great place to start when considering the growth of your plant. Ideally, if you have had your plant for about 6 months and not noticed any new leaves or new growth, then you should consider to using them. Plants usually don’t grow much during the winter season but if you don’t notice any new growth during the summer season that can be a reason to check your plant’s roots, leaves and location.
Some plants grow faster than others. Snake plants, ZZ plants and Aloe are examples of some plants that grow very slowly. You won’t notice large amounts of new growth with them throughout the year. These are also plants that don’t require much water. Plants that don’t require much water also tend to grow much slower. The most important thing to have is patience with the plant’s growth cycle once you have provided it with everything it needs to thrive.
If you have any further questions regarding the growth of your plant and what you can do to encourage it feel free to send an email to info@houseplantsitter.com and someone will respond promptly.
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