Why Are My Plants Leggy? | The Sill (2024)

FAQs

Why Are My Plants Leggy? | The Sill? ›

Most of the time, this all has to do with one big factor: the amount of sunlight your plant receives, or how it is receiving its sunlight. If your plant has too little sunlight, it will adapt to make sure it's receiving optimal sunlight each day, which is why you see a physical change.

If your plants are incredibly leggy but it's not a convenient time to trim, cutting a few stems isn't the end of the world. The plant should survive a small amount of trimming, even if the season isn't ideal. You can also try to support the plant as much as possible until you reach late winter and can begin trimming.

Yes—you can cut leggy plants back to encourage new stems to sprout, restoring your plants to lushness. Trim any exceptionally long, lanky stems, removing a third of their length and snipping just above a node (the point where leaves grow from the stem).

What Does "Leggy" Mean? A leggy indoor plant has long, weak stems with minimal foliage. Instead of growing compact and bushy, the plant's growth becomes elongated and straggly.

Leggy seedlings are a common problem when starting seeds in late winter and early spring. The good news is that these spindly plants can often recover and become lush green crops.

This happens when your plant is placed in insufficient light and over time, your plant grows taller to try to capture as much light as possible. In the process of trying to absorb more light, the stems elongate, the leaves lose their color and leaf drop can occur.

Is legginess bad for your indoor plant? Yes. It's a sign your plant is desperate for light. If it stays in a spot where the light is too low it will become weak and may eventually die.

Generally, yes, you can plant leggy seedlings deeper in the soil to help compensate for the extra-long stems! However, avoid the temptation to plant them deeper right away, when they're still very young and tender. Weak, thin, small stems may rot once they're buried in damp soil.

To prune a plant to encourage bushy new growth, snip off the dominant buds on select stems, staggering the cuts to encourage varied growth. Trim some branches back by a quarter, others by a half, and still others all the way back to their base.

Insufficient Light: One of the most common reasons for leggy growth is a lack of adequate sunlight. Plants require sufficient light to produce energy through photosynthesis, and when they don't receive enough light, they may stretch out in an attempt to reach more light.

Why are my plants so spindly? ›

In low light situations, the plants are stretching for sunlight to produce important plant sugars. This results in overly tall, spindly plants. Also, plants that receive high nitrogen fertilizers early in spring will get a jump on growth.

Seedlings sometimes get very tall, with weak skinny stalks and leaves up high. These are 'leggy' seedlings. Legginess occur most often when seedlings are not getting enough sunlight. The first leaves that emerge from the seed are called cotyledons.

Pinching out the stem tips of your young plants will prevent this happening, and encourage the buds lower down on the stems to produce side shoots. This creates a stronger and bushier plant with even growth and lots of flowers throughout.

To prune a plant to encourage bushy new growth, snip off the dominant buds on select stems, staggering the cuts to encourage varied growth. Trim some branches back by a quarter, others by a half, and still others all the way back to their base.