Teach me how/when to pinch tips!

8 years ago

I read that people hate them but I love my Polka Dot Plants!! I took cuttings and they all rooted really nicely. I know that they get tall and leggy so you're supposed to pinch back the tips of young growth to keep the plant compact and bushy. Problem is idk what "pinch back the tips of new growth" means, exactly. I understand how it works (sending out side growth down below the pinch) but I don't know how much I'm supposed to pinch off or when I'm supposed to do it. I'm including pictures of my cuttings. 3 in each 4 inch pot. How far down should I be pinching off?

While I'm at it... In your opinions....

If I want a nice bushy leafy polka dot plant how many cuttings should I put in one pot? And how big of a pot would you use?

Thanks in advance! You rule!

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Comments (3)

Jean
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
The cuttings in the 2nd pix are leggy. Provide brighter light; one way to do that is with the light fixture closer to the plants.

To pinch --

On a rapidly growing plant -- seedling, rooted cutting, or older plant-- remove the tip pair of leaves and the pair below that. (Do it to those leggy cuttings, now.)
Chrissy- zone6B/7A
Original Author
8 years ago
Jean- Thanks for the advice, I'm gonna hold my breath and start pinching in the am. Any idea how close a T5 should be to a plant like this? I live in a cave... Have to supplement.

It's the same plants in both pics, different angle. I had stripped the bottom leaves when I went to root them and I don't think I potted them as deep as I could have, or i took cuttings that we're too long to begin with bc I noticed once I potted them how tall they looked in there but didn't want to mess with it too much!

Can I just plant them deeper when I repot? Did I strip more leaves than necessary? Last time I lost the cuttings with more leaves so I might have over compensated this time!

They were def not getting enough light until about 10 days ago when I got another grow light up and I've seen a huge difference in them since then.

I always read "keep cuttings out of direct sun" and end up over compensating and keeping them too shaded... I've gota work on that! Did it with Succulent leaf cuttings too.
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Jean
8 years ago
To propagate polka dot plants, you take softwood cuttings -- just as you did. See the detailed description near the bottom of this page: https://extension.msstate.edu/publications/information-sheets/propagating-plants-for-the-home-landscape

Two sets of leaf nodes is a good guideline for the amount of stem that should be inserted into the starting mix. In other words, for alternate leaves (as on your polka dot cuttings), remove 2 leaves.

But if the leaves are paired (opposite leaves) as on fuchsias -- remove 2 sets of leaves (total of 4 leaves).