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Variegated crops are all the fashion, and one of the crucial putting is Hypoestes phyllostachya, higher often known as the polka dot plant.
These crops are finest recognized for his or her leaves, which sport specks a polka-dotted look.
Nonetheless, it is a comparatively fast-growing plant infamous for changing into leggy if not rigorously maintained.
So what do you do when the plant turns into leggy?
6 Methods To Repair A Leggy Polka Dot Plant
Sadly, it’s really regular for a polka dot plant to change into leggy, however there are issues you are able to do to coax it right into a extra compact development behavior.
Listed below are 6 methods to regulate your care strategies to make sure your plant is fuller and extra compact.
Regulate the Temperature
Polka dot crops fare finest in temperatures between 65° and 80° levels Fahrenheit with a humidity degree of not less than 50% %.
Nonetheless, sizzling and humid situations will encourage sooner development, so one strategy to gradual the plant down is to maintain it in a room the place the temperature stays between 65° and 70° levels Fahrenheit and has 50% to 55% % humidity ranges.
It will nonetheless enable the plant to thrive, but it surely would possibly decelerate the expansion price to stop it from getting too laggy.
Simply watch out to not let the temperature drop beneath 65° levels Fahrenheit for extended intervals, as this could simply hurt your plant.
Improve Lighting
That is maybe the only commonest motive your polka dot plant will change into leggy.
Inadequate daylight will trigger the plant to hunt out the closest mild supply, and it’ll stretch as shortly as potential to achieve that objective.
This implies lengthy, skinny stems which might be usually rising at an angle.
Stopping this form of leggy development is just transferring the plant to a extra quantity of sunshine.
For polka dot crops, you must intention for vivid, oblique daylight.
This may be achieved in a number of methods, together with:
- East or west-facing window will enable the plant to get loads of morning (or night) solar and shelter it from the harsher afternoon solar’s rays.
- When transferring the plant to a room with a south-facing window, put it to at least one facet of the window the place the daylight received’t hit it immediately.
- Alternatively, you possibly can put a sheer curtain within the window to diffuse the daylight.
Irrespective of which of those strategies you select, the consequence would be the identical—a wholesome plant with extra vibrant variegation and fewer legginess.
Prune The Plant
Pruning has two advantages with regards to a polka dot plant.
The primary is apparent: it permits you to form the plant and shorten any leggy stems.
While you prune a polka dot plant, the cuttings can be utilized for propagation, and the dad or mum plant will develop just a little fuller earlier than it tries to stretch out once more.
The second is to maintain the plant alive.
Polka dot crops are considered one of many species that flower solely as soon as, then die.
By frequently pruning your plant, you possibly can forestall it from blooming, which can lengthen its lifespan.
The flowers themselves are pretty unremarkable, so it’s positively not value letting your plant die to see them.
You are able to do the next pruning steps:
- Calmly prune your plant as soon as per thirty days throughout its rising season with out harming the plant.
- It is likely to be tempting to pinch the plant, however polka dot crops are recognized to have the next danger of an infection in case you don’t make a clear reduce. To stop this, use sharp, sterile shears and reduce the stems at an angle.
Cut back The Container Measurement
A standard mistake folks make when utilizing containers is to provide it an even bigger pot pondering it’ll imply much less repotting down the highway.
Sadly, all of that further room has some severe downsides.
For starters, water and vitamins shall be out of attain of the roots, resulting in poisonous buildups or fungal development.
However extra importantly, an opportunistic plant reminiscent of Hypoestes phyllostachya will attempt to increase to fill that area.
The result’s laggy development.
A 4″ to six″ inch diameter pot is usually excellent for a small to medium polka dot plant.
It will limit its development as soon as it reaches a particular measurement and might considerably scale back the chance of legginess when paired with common pruning.
You’ll nonetheless must repot the plant in recent soil each 2 years or so, and you should utilize this time to find out if the plant is rootbound.
You may graduate to at least one container measurement bigger to higher accommodate the plant.
Use Much less Fertilizer
Keep away from giving it an excessive amount of meals in case you don’t need your polka dot plant to show right into a bean pole.
You may feed y0our plant each 2 to 4 weeks through the rising season, utilizing the dosage really useful in your fertilizer’s packaging.
When you’ll want to prune extra usually and feed the plant each 2 weeks, reduce to as soon as per thirty days.
All the time reduce to month-to-month feedings in autumn because the plant is preparing for its dormant stage and cease fully through the winter months.
Likewise, in case you’re feeding your plant month-to-month and the expansion price is simply too gradual, you possibly can improve the frequency each 2 to three weeks till you discover one of the best stability.
An alternative choice is to scale back the dosage.
For instance, in case you’re feeding the plant a 20-20-20 liquid houseplant fertilizer at half energy, contemplate switching to a 10-10-10 fertilizer at half energy or a 5-5-5 at full energy.
So long as the NPK is balanced, the plant will nonetheless get what it wants, simply in a smaller dosage.
Use the Soak-And-Dry Technique
Correct watering is necessary for any plant, and by chance underwatering your polka dot plant is a typical reason behind leggy development.
Likewise, overwatering can result in root rot or push oxygen from the soil, which may produce signs just like underwatering because the roots can’t correctly soak up water and vitamins.
The soak-and-dry methodology ensures you give your plant simply the correct quantity of water and is simple to grasp.
Listed below are the next steps:
- Merely stick your finger within the soil and water if it feels dry 1” inch down.
- Use room temperature water and pour slowly and evenly onto the soil, working your method across the plant.
- Cease when the soil floor can now not soak up climate on the identical price you’re pouring, otherwise you see moisture starting to seep from the drainage holes.
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