You're amazing! Thank you! I feel kind of anxious hacking off the trunk but what you say makes sense. It's on the fridge so it gets a little heat from there.

heat is great, but make sure it does not dry out more then one third from the top. aralias like to be warm and slighly moist. never allow it to dry out completely - it'll drop the leaves and might even die.

most aralia roots are at the bottom part of the pot, not near the surface, so when it stands on warm surface, it can dry up from the bottom faster.

so stick a chopstick or skewer in the soil - to see if there is still moisture in the bottom (like a cake test - you'll see bamboo/wood change color slightly when damp). if you can give it dappled soft sun for a couple of hours - late western or early eastern, it'll love it.

they love temps over 75F to 85F and 80% humidity.

you might put in the warm shower for a few minutes and then leave it there overnight - closed and very humid and warm.

oh, and i think it can be Balfour Aralia, plain not variegated. They look very similar, though Balfour leaves are more crinkled and slightly twisted whereas Fabian's are very flat.

Thanks for the additional info. I think you're right about the species.

I did notice that the root system is actually surprisingly shallow!

we have pretty humid summers here so it should be pretty happy!

you're welcome :).

post the results when you get them :). though it does grow very slow...but it really shoots up when it goes into humid 80's. try to put it outside then where it does not get direct sun, of course, or it'll scorch it.

I have Ming Aralia, Parsley Aralia and Fern-leaf Aralia. and a little cutting of Chicken Gizzard Aralia, which is closest to yours. I am quite excited about it, it just rooted (only 1 out of 3 cuttings, but they were miniscule tips).

but the others are quite old - about 10 years with me.

i put mine out on the NE balcony, next to the East wall, so it's very bright northern light, but no direct sun at all and they love it. 3 weeks does the job of keeping them healthy for the rest of the year :).

petrushka, while scouring the internet for Information about my Fabian aralia I came across this post from last year. I’m way late to the party but I’m having some problems with mine. It’s growing from a good sized stump and has done very welll. However, this summer it

is has gone through a growth spurt and the trunks are leaning and cannot support the weight of the leaves. Do I need to cut them back and move to brighter light? are these limited in size by their trunk? I can’t find any good information about them or what to do.

pic?

you should stake them to keep them straight. and rotate the pot quarter turn ev 2 weeks or so to keep light exposure more even. They do tend to grow towards the light when they are indoors near windows.

most growth occurs at the tips. So they do get leggy and it's best to cut and root semi-wooded tips (see above posts).

however depending on the overall health of the plant if you have no growth off the main trunk (and no buds that you can see) and you cut the growth tip off, the trunk might die. But more often they resprout several branches at the top and/or base.

but it's not a good idea to prune/root when temps and light levels drop in winter.

so it depends on where you are geographically and what your growing conditions will be in the next few months.

I’ve tried uploading a pic several times but it’s not working. I’ll keep trying. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. It’s from my phone.

Yay! It worked

I live in West Texas. Zone 7.

wow! that's an impressive 'stump' at the base. So sun in winter is still pretty good ?

best to put it where it gets sev hours of early-late sun: i prefer western late, as it gets warmer then early Eastern. and that's important for growth in winter. you need to find out how cold it gets near your windows and depending on that position it .

i have modern double windows and at 10F it can be 58F near the glass. that won't do for aralias. 66F is the cut off, but 70F is the minimum for some growth.

so if your windows are cold, keep it 1-2 feet away from glass but near enough that it gets direct sun for 4 hours if possible.

pruning:

it has grown enough for a trim: if you do not want to try propagating at this time, trim the branches by a third approx, counting from the base of last leaf petiole (not from overall height) to the base of the branch.

i'd trim the tallest branch just a little more, so it does not stick out so much.

smth like this:

if you prefer not to trim at this time of year - just pinch off about 1" from the top (which will get rid of 3 leaves at the tip) on all branches (and perhaps a little more on the tallest, so it does not stick out so much - this still might root in water).

the older the stem the easier it branches. so the lower you cut, the more chances for a good branching, but...it's preferable to do serious pruning only during a period of vigorous growth (spring-summer).

Aralias drop quite a few leaves in changing light conditions (fall-winter), so they need as much foliage as you can get going into cool dark season.

Wonderful info! Thank you I much! The only window I have is eastern. The other windows are shaded and guarded by curious cats

i have lots of grow lights in my plant room too so maybe just much closer to a light than it has been? will pruning help the stems to be stronger and not so spindly? Im worried about the leggin and how the limbs are starting to fall over.

Just so I understand this, if I prune off the top of a limb, it will either branch out or not grow back at all?

Sorry to be so needy. I just want to understand these better. I LOVE this little tree.

>>if I prune off the top of a limb, it will either branch out or not grow back at all?

if it's just the tip or even half so long as there are several leaves left it WILL grow back AND usually branch too.

only if you cut back very low into wooded main stem (not the stump, but it's main stem close to the stump) AND not leave any leaves it might die to the stump.

BUT if the plant is in good light and warmth and health it will produce new branched growth on bare wooded trunk. But sometimes the conditions are not right and it might wither ...it happens. just so you know.

>>will pruning help the stems to be stronger and not so spindly.

yes, but if the light is insufficient the growth will still be spindly. so increasing light is important. grow lights are good - give it some more.

Thank you so much for all the info! i Feel a lot better about it now.

Petrushka,

I forgot to ask you. Last year I lost a handful of leaves to spider mites. Do these regrow leaves along the stalks or is it strictly tip growth?

they regrow leaves along the older trunks, but young green stems often do not brunch, but just produce tip growth.

in general it does need to be pinched regularly and pruned ev year to maintain denser growth.

Thanks again! You’re awesome. Can I get you on speed dial?

:)

I just got one of these beautiful plants but I am worried i damages it it transport. It was so tall I had to lean it on two trunks and now one of them is withering. It started at the top and is loosing leaves and is sort of shriveled. There also seems to be a slight fungus?! Can I cut it and save the bottom?

This thread is a bit old, but while I'll leave it for Petrushka to address (hopefully), I will ask for you to post a pic of the plant so folks can TRY to address your issues; really need to SEE it pls.

so you bent one of the stems and damaged it? yes, you can prune it and it should regrow, but it takes time, can be several months even in good conditions. you can soak the cut off part in water for like 30 min and then keep it in water tented for sev weeks to see if it'll root. once you see little white spots and may be a few small roots you can transfer it to perlite, still tented to grow more roots. after that you'll be able to put it in the mix.

let's see the picture!

Thanks!! I tried to post a photo but it won’t load for some reason‍♀️

try to reduce the size to max 1000 pixels horizontally.

I just wanted to post that FIVE YEARS after the original post, I found this thread and it has helped me as well. My aralia has grown like crazy and I didn't even think about pruning until some of the branches started to bend. Thank you, petrushka!

I am glad you found it! :) Aralias in general grow very tall single stem in nature; they use them for hedges: can and should be heavily pruned to branch on mature wooded branches. I wait for a year for young plants so i have enough for cuttings: it is best to root semi-wooded branches from tips.

Hi, I'd love to prune this Aralia, but very nervous doing so. I know it's an old post but hoping Petrushka can assist on how and where to prune this to make it look a little fuller 😀

You definitely should prune it. The cuttings will root if kept moist and very warm (75F at least, heat mat is even better).

i marked approximately where to cut, but i cannot see better exactly where. When you cut the very long bare stem try to find a spot where it is branching and cut half an inch above.

If there is no branching look carefully if you can see where the leaf was growing on the outside, not on the inside. It might form a branch there.

Trim the very long cut-off mostly bare stems that you cut off to perhaps 4" of bare stem (with leafy tip on top). And put them in moist half peat half perlite , tented (best if plastic is sealed with rubber bend around the pot to get 100% humidity).

you have a good amount of young growth on the bottom, it should start growing.

The is best to keep aralias in winter on the dry side (but not dry, just drier then in summer), as warm as you can get (70F is minimum, 75F best) and very bright with some part-sun.

But watch the area near windows: it might get too cold at night for them.

Humidity not lower then 40%, 50% is better. Mites usually get worse with low humidity. So check often and spray them in the shower every couple of weeks without getting the soil wet.

Thank you so much, Petrushka.

Dear Petrushka,

I have found this post a few days ago and your amazing comments. Please if you could help me. Unfortunately, there is not much information about aralias especially about its growth habit and maintenance and your knowledge seems to fulfill this gap.

Please have a look at this aralia I have for almost 3 yrs now and I am very reluctant to chop anything on her. This plant is my favourite house plant and i dont want to loose it. Please let me know where do you recommend to cut/shorten up also another thing; at the end of summer (i live in the UK) my aralia started to drop yellow leaves and didnt know why after it grew so beautifully until I realised that a few watering sessions I didn’t water through until water ran at the bottom, it did but not so much. When i realised, I soaked the plant and let it drain very well and it did stop the yellowing, still…i am worried if I missed anything. Last question if I may, after cutting, will the plant get bushier or taller? Logically will get bushier as the cut branches will generate at least one if not other 2 but how about the height?

Thank you very much in advance.

sorry, i am late as i was not checking in. I have never seen a Fabian with such large leaves! It looks great! Yes, it can be pruned. But i need to see the trunks better: the foliage is hiding too much on the left.

Usually i cut semi-hard branches: those that are not young, but from previous years growth that begin to harden.

You should try to root the cut-offs, as this is a great opportunity.

It is rare to see the leaves all the way to the bottom: you must be watering just right (except for that 'yellow leaves' period).

after pruning the older trunks they usually do branch and get bushier, but you'll need patience as they are in general slow growers.

You seem to have very good light: i see Ficus in the background that is very dense.

It would be best to prune during warm growth period, but of your room is above 70F in winter and light is bright you can do it. Just do not expect fast growth. Rooting of cut-off pieces will take longer too, unless you use a heat mat. And i always tent mine for higher humidity and to keep more leaves on.

Greetings Petrushka,

Thank you for your reply. Here’s another pic of the lower trunk.

This is one of my favourites plants I have so I took great care of it since I got it.

This year I realised why it got yellow leaves after I messaged you …its because I changed a little the watering pattern without realising. Over the summer I had a lot going on, wedding, guests from overseas for 3 months and so… I was watering it but without the water coming from the bottom (as I always did). I didnt realise that was the problem until I read everything I could for more than a week and a botanist somewhere online said to let the water get out from the base and that triggered me. It was actually what I was constantly doing to her all this time. Now there is no yellow leaf and it stoped growing for the cold season. The room yes, is very well lit but not very warm as its part conservatory but all plants are thriving here as it is. I dont take cuts over winter as a precaution not to loose them.

I don’t think its in desperate need of pruning, especially i figured the watering bit, but I do want to make it more bushier so I will be waiting for spring to cut. I will propagate ofcourse 😍

I have another Aralia Ming which is growing very fast and I think it will need pruning this coming spring. This big aralia got a bit leggy, not to bad but I put her the stakes in June and Im wondering about the pruning . I don’t mind her growing tall but not at the expense of leaves. :)

I had to cut one branch from the top as the leaves were not coming form the top anymore and it already gave a very little shoot more like a spot :D. (i did this as a guess in august, before I found your comments here) I hope you can see from the pic.

Do you know how tall can they grow? I would love to have it grown as tall as the ficus in the background 😇

Ficus yes, its very happy here rarely water over winter, I do trim it in March and its very happy.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, you are very experienced and I am not super confident with its growing pattern 🤗 Thank you kindly.

unfortunately I still cannot see the tall trunk (that was on the left in the 1st pic): you won't be cutting at the base, but about half to 2/3 from the bottom on long thin trunks.

If you want to keep more height, cut off about a third; if you prefer for it to brunch lower then you can do half.

Best to keep the cuts staggered at different heights and for better arrangement it is good to see all the structure at once or at least from different angles.

I prefer to leave a few leaves when i cut to guarantee that the old leafless brunch won't die. But it rarely happens with Aralias (the top always sprouts).

I think it produces sprouts faster when it has some leaves on that trunk. But we won't know how many leaves will be left by spring. You can then come back with more pics.

Outside in ground in South FL i saw A. 'Fabian' close to 8'. Indoors in a pot that won't happen, of course. I would think 5' is doable in very good light and warmth (part sun indoors is quite necessary for it be get that big and bushy). But they all tend to stretch up and up, so pruning regularly is a must.