Gadenin日本語Get the appPrune while it is growing
Every cut is a wound the plant has to seal and then grow away from, and it can only do either while it is actively growing and warm. Prune in late spring or early summer and the plant responds within weeks. Prune in the cold half of the year and the cut sits open, the stem dies back below it, and nothing new appears until spring.
| Season | Prune? | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Late spring | Best time | Strong growth, buds break quickly below the cut |
| Early summer | Good | Still time for new shoots to harden before autumn |
| Late summer | Light tidying only | New shoots will be soft going into the cold |
| Autumn to early spring | Avoid | Cuts die back and the plant does not respond |
The one exception is a broken or diseased branch, which comes off whenever you find it regardless of season.
The sap is an irritant
Every ficus bleeds a white latex sap from any cut. It irritates skin, it stains fabric and flooring permanently, and it is genuinely harmful in the eyes or the mouth. People with a latex allergy react to it strongly.
- Wear gloves and put something down Sap drips for several minutes after a cut and it does not wash out of a carpet. Spread newspaper or plastic under the whole plant before you start.
- Stop the bleeding Blot the cut with a tissue, or dab a little water on it. The flow stops on its own within about ten minutes and the wound seals over.
- Keep cuttings away from children and pets Cut pieces continue to leak. Collect the prunings straight into a bag rather than leaving them on the floor while you work.
- Wash the blades afterwards Dried latex glues pruners shut and blunts them. Wipe the blades clean while the sap is still wet.
Where exactly to cut
New shoots come from the buds sitting just above where a leaf joins the stem. Cut anywhere else and you leave a stub that dies back to the nearest node anyway, which looks poor and invites rot.
- Cut a quarter inch above a node Find the node, the slightly swollen point with a leaf or a leaf scar, and cut a quarter inch (5 mm) above it at a slight angle. One or two shoots will come from that node.
- Cut back to the branch collar To remove a whole branch, cut just outside the swollen ring where it meets the trunk. Do not cut flush with the trunk and do not leave a long stub.
- Use clean, sharp pruners A torn or crushed cut heals badly. Sharp blades and a clean wipe with alcohol between plants is the whole of the hygiene requirement.
- Decide the direction before you cut The new shoot heads in the direction the top remaining leaf faces. Cut above a leaf pointing outward and the growth fills the outside of the plant instead of crowding the middle.
Making a bare, leggy plant branch
A fiddle leaf fig or rubber plant that has become a single bare stem with a tuft of leaves at the top is the most common reason people prune a ficus at all. While one growing tip is intact it suppresses the buds below it, so nothing will branch until you take that tip off.
Cutting the main stem back is the reliable fix and it does work, though it takes nerve. Remove the top eight to twelve inches (20 to 30 cm) just above a node in late spring, and expect two or three shoots from the nodes below within four to six weeks.
| What you want | What to do | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Branching near the top | Cut the growing tip off above a node | Four to six weeks to see shoots |
| Branching lower down | Cut back harder, into bare stem with visible nodes | Six to ten weeks, less predictable |
| One extra branch, no big cut | Notch above a dormant node | Three to eight weeks, sometimes nothing |
| A shorter plant overall | Air layer the top and cut below it | A season, but you keep both parts |
Notching means cutting a small nick through the bark just above a sleeping bud. It interrupts the hormone flowing down from the tip and sometimes wakes that single bud without shortening the plant. Worth trying on a rubber plant, unreliable on a fiddle leaf fig.
What to take off and what to leave
Beyond shaping, most pruning is removing what the plant is not benefiting from. Take no more than a quarter of the leaves in one session, and less on a plant that has recently shed or been moved.
- Remove dead and dying leaves Anything more than half brown is no longer feeding the plant. Take the leaf off at the base of its stalk.
- Take out crossing branches Branches rubbing on each other wound the bark and let disease in. Remove the weaker of the pair.
- Open up the middle Thin shoots growing inward into the center of the plant get no light and hold still, damp air, which is where scale and mites start. Cut them out at the base.
- Leave healthy lower leaves alone Stripping the lower stem to make a plant look like a tree removes working leaves and slows the whole plant. Let it shed them when it is ready.
After pruning
A plant with a quarter fewer leaves uses noticeably less water, so stretch the watering interval for a few weeks or you will follow a good prune with root rot. Keep it in its usual bright position and do not feed until new shoots appear.
Note the date of the prune, which branches you took and where the new shoots came from. Ficus branch in fairly predictable places, and after two seasons of records you will know exactly where to cut on your own plant to get the shape you want.