What to Do When Your Indoor Plants Get Too Leggy

Written by Kelsey W.

A few months ago, the plant you brought home looked plush, beautiful, and healthy, but now it has long stringy arms rising from the pot, creating a strange “leggy” appearance.

Why did your plant decide to stretch itself out so dramatically? Can you fix it? Do all plants eventually get leggy? Should you take some scissors to the legs and cut them? Let’s explore what you can do when your indoor plants get too leggy, and how to prevent it in the first place.

Why Do Plants Get Leggy Growth?

The most common reason indoor plants get leggy is simply not enough light. Plants are amazing, they’ll twist, bend, and stretch to get as close as possible to a light source, even if that means growing in a strange direction. This stretching toward insufficient light even has a name: etiolation, the long, pale, widely-spaced growth plants produce when they’re reaching for more light (Penn State Extension). A geranium grown in low light turns spindly with light-green leaves, while the same plant in bright light stays shorter, better branched, and darker green (Nebraska Extension).

The plant probably won’t die in its dark corner, but it may look strange and grow fragile, with skinny stems and little solid support.

Over-feeding can play a role too. Nitrogen fuels leafy growth, so an over-fertilized plant can shoot up fast with soft, weak, stretched stems before it builds the girth to support itself. Overdo it and you’ll usually see scorched, brown leaf tips from fertilizer (salt) burn, and in severe cases the salt buildup can damage the roots. (Yellowing leaves, by contrast, usually signal too little nitrogen, not too much.) Finally, some plants simply get a little leggy by nature, or because conditions are so good, a burst of plant food, an ideal spot, that they grow faster than they can bulk up.

The good news: leggy plants are fixable. It just takes a little investigation into why, and then the right changes or the right snips.

Complications from Leggy Growth

Beyond looks, leggy plants get more fragile as their spindly legs grow. They may flower less because they lack the strength, and they can flop over or snap when jostled or moved. Very leggy young plants can even struggle to survive repotting. With a careful touch and slow movements, though, you can give a plant the light and soil it needs without shocking it.

Getting Your Indoor Plants More Light

Since too little light is the usual culprit, more light is the usual fix, the trick is doing it gradually. Don’t move a plant straight from a dim corner into harsh, direct sun: leaves acclimated to low light can scorch and bleach. Step it up over a week or two, moving it a bit closer to the window each time, until it reaches the bright indirect light most houseplants want (University of Minnesota Extension).

Window direction matters more than you’d think. A south-facing window is your brightest spot; east and west windows give roughly 60% of that; and a north window only about 20% (Nebraska Extension). High-light plants (aloe, jade, snake plant, geranium) do best near a south or west window; medium-light plants (dieffenbachia, philodendron, ferns, pothos) are happy in an eastern exposure (Clemson Extension). Here in Southern California it’s easy to forget that all that bright outdoor light barely reaches a plant sitting three feet back from the glass, so push leggy plants toward the window. If you still can’t give them enough, a grow light run 12 to 16 hours a day, positioned 3 to 6 inches above the foliage, works wonders (Nebraska Extension).

Easing Off Too Much Fertilizer

If light isn’t the problem, look at feeding. Too much fertilizer, especially nitrogen, drives that fast, soft, stretched growth described above. The easiest fix is to cut back on feeding and, if the soil is heavily loaded, refresh it with new potting mix that isn’t packed with fertilizer. (A quick note: fertilizer does little good for a plant that’s light-starved to begin with, fix the light first.)

Dealing with Naturally Leggy Plants

Succulents are the classic example. They look adorable and plump on a windowsill, then slowly stretch into a long bare stem with a tuft on top, and unfortunately, an etiolated succulent won’t shrink back down. The fix is to behead it: cut the stem to the height you like, let the cut end callus (scab) over for a few days to a week, then replant the top in fresh soil and give it much brighter light. The bare stump often pushes out new offsets, too. You can also slow leggy growth on any plant by rotating the pot every few weeks, since plants lean toward light, turning them evens out the growth.

Keeping an Eye on Extra-Happy Plants

When you buy a plant, it’s usually been pampered in a greenhouse, and some growers give plants an extra dose of fertilizer right before shipping so they look their best on the shelf. That extra feed can cause a burst of growth in the first few months you own it, so keep an eye on a new plant and ease off feeding to keep it compact.

Can You Trim Leggy Plants?

Yes, and the plant can come back stronger for it. Trimming, pinching, and pruning all encourage new shoots and a thicker, fuller plant. Start by pruning the longest stem, cutting just above a leaf node; removing that tip releases the side buds below it, so the plant branches out instead of shooting straight up (this is apical dominance at work) (Oregon State Extension; University of Maryland Extension). Sterilize your pruners first to avoid spreading disease.

Turn Leggy Cuttings Into New Plants

Here’s the most satisfying part: those stems you just trimmed off don’t have to go in the compost. Many leggy houseplants, pothos, philodendron, dracaena, English ivy, and more, root easily from stem-tip cuttings. Take a cutting 3 to 6 inches long with at least two leaf nodes, strip the lowest leaves, and set it in a glass of water (or moist potting mix). In a few weeks you’ll have roots, and a leggy plant will have handed you a brand-new, bushier one to pot up (Iowa State University Extension).

Can You Trim Plants Whenever You Want?

The best time to trim is at the start of the growing season, for most houseplants, late winter or early spring. If your plant flowers each year, trim right after its first flowering cycle. If a plant is badly leggy but it’s an off time, a small trim still won’t hurt. A leggy plant really isn’t the end of the world, indoor plants are some of the most forgiving things you can grow. Find the cause, make the fix, and enjoy the new, thick, healthy growth.

Stop by your favorite Green Thumb Nursery for grow lights, fresh potting mix, and a great selection of indoor plants, and if a plant is really struggling, here’s how to revive a dying plant.

Sources:

• Penn State Extension
• Nebraska Extension
• University of Minnesota Extension
• Clemson Extension
• Oregon State Extension
• University of Maryland Extension
• Iowa State University Extension

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Leggy Plant FAQs

What does it mean when a plant is leggy?

A leggy plant has grown tall, stretched, and spindly, long bare stems with sparse, widely spaced leaves instead of full, compact growth. It almost always means the plant isn’t getting enough light, so it stretches toward the nearest source in a process called etiolation. The fix is brighter light plus pinching or pruning to force bushier new growth.

Why is my indoor plant leggy?

Most of the time it is not getting enough light, so it stretches toward the nearest window, a process called etiolation that leaves long, pale stems with wide gaps between leaves. Too much fertilizer can add to it by forcing fast, soft growth.

Can you fix a leggy plant?

Yes. Move it into brighter light (gradually, so it does not scorch), ease off heavy feeding, and pinch or prune the stretched stems to encourage bushier growth. The old stretched stems will not shrink back, but the new growth comes in fuller, and you can root the trimmed tips into new plants.

Should you cut back a leggy plant?

Yes. Prune or pinch just above a leaf node, which pushes the plant to branch out from the sides instead of growing straight up. The best time is the start of the growing season, usually late winter or early spring, though a light trim any time will not hurt.

How do you fix a leggy succulent?

Behead it: cut the stem down to the height you want, let the cut end callus over for a few days to a week, then replant the top in fresh soil and give it much brighter light. An etiolated succulent will not un-stretch, so replanting the top is the fix.

How much light do houseplants need so they don’t get leggy?

Most want bright, indirect light. Give high-light plants a south or west window and medium-light plants an east window; a north window is quite dim. If a spot is too dark, a grow light run 12 to 16 hours a day, a few inches above the leaves, keeps plants compact.