Home»House Plants»Polka Dot Plant
variegate plant are all the cult , and one of the most striking isHypoestes phyllostachya , better known as the polka dot plant .
These plant are well known for their fleeceable leaves , which sport specks and a polka - dotted coming into court .
Photo Credit: Instagram @10_may_moon
However , if not carefully maintain , this relatively fast - growing plant is notorious for becoming leggy , one of the well - known Polka Dot Plant trouble .
And you may ask , why is my polka superman works turn grandiloquent and leggy ?
6 Ways To Fix A Leggy Polka Dot Plant
Sadly , it ’s really normal for apolka window pane plantto become leggy , but there are things you may do to coax it into a more compact growth habit .
So , what do you do when the plant becomes a leggy plant ?
Here are 6 ways to remedy leggy polka dot flora and adjust your Polka Dot Plant Care methods to guarantee your flora is fuller and more compact .
Adjust the Temperature
Polka dot plants make out well in temperatures between 65 ° and 80 ° degrees Fahrenheit with a humidity grade of at least 50 % percent .
However , hot and humid conditions will encourage fast growing and do polka dot works getting tall-growing . One manner to slow the plant down is to keep it in a elbow room where the temperature stay between 65 ° and 70 ° degrees Fahrenheit and has 50 % to 55 % per centum humidity level .
Keeping the ideal temperature will still countenance the plant to expand , but it might slow down the growth rate to prevent it from get too laggy .
Just be careful not to permit the temperature drop below 65 ° degrees Fahrenheit for draw out periods , as this can well harm your fresh plant life .
Increase Lighting
This is perhaps the single most common reason your polka acid plant will become tall-growing with fewer leaves .
Insufficient sunshine will cause the works to search out the nearest light source , stretching as quickly as possible to give that goal .
This means long , sparse stanch often growing at an angle to pick up enough spark .
preclude this leggy growth is simply moving the plant to more light .
For polka acid plants , you should take for shining , indirect sunlight or partial tint .
Bright , collateral illumination can be achieved in several ways , including :
No matter which of these method you choose , the outcome will be the same — a healthy industrial plant with more vibrant variegation and less legginess .
Moreover , head off too much direct sunlight , as it can cause leaf singe and crinkly curl leave .
Prune Polka Dot Plant
Pruning has two benefit when it come to a polka point plant .
The first is obvious : pruning polka point plant life let you to shape the plant and shorten leggy stems .
When you prune a polka acid plant life , the cuttings can be used for polka Zen industrial plant propagation , and the parent plant will grow a petty full before it test to stretch out again .
The second is to keep the plant awake .
Polka window pane plants are one of many species that blossom only once and then die .
By regularly trim your plant , you may prevent it from blooming , which will extend its lifetime .
The efflorescence themselves are pretty unremarkable , so it ’s decidedly not deserving letting your plant decease to see them .
So , how to prune polka dot industrial plant ?
you’re able to do the following steps on how to rationalise a polka acid plant :
Pruning also help prevent the cattle ranch of disease and infestation of pests , including aphids , mealy bug , whiteflies , and wanderer mites .
How to make polka dot plant shaggy-coated ?
Pruning can boost the fuller , bushy growth of your polka pane plant ’s leafage . Moreove , regularly pinching off the growing tips or the top two leaves of the stems help promote branching and bushiness in the plant .
Reduce The Container Size
A vulgar error people make when using containers is to give it a large pot , thinking it will mean less repot down the route .
Unfortunately , all of that supernumerary room has some serious downsides .
For starters , water and nutrient will be out of reaching of the etymon , leading to toxic buildups or fungal emergence .
But more significantly , an timeserving industrial plant such asHypoestes phyllostachyawill endeavor to expand to fill that space .
The result is pink polka dot plant leggy growth .
A 4″ to 6″ column inch diam stool is generally pure for a small to medium polka dot flora .
This will restrict its outgrowth once it reaches a specific size and can importantly reduce the hazard of legginess when pair with regular hypoestes pruning .
You will still need to repot the plant life in refreshed soil , well - draining soil , or moist potting premix every 2 class or so , and you’re able to utilize this clock time to determine if the plant is rootbound .
you could graduate to one container size of it prominent to accommodate the plant better .
Use Less Fertilizer
forfend giving it too much food if you do n’t want your polka - dot plant to turn into a bean magnetic pole .
you could feed your plant every 2 to 4 weeks during the grow time of year , using the dose recommended on your fertilizer ’s packaging .
When you necessitate to cut back more often and prey the plant every 2 weeks , burn back to once per month .
Always issue back to monthly eating in fall as the plant is getting ready for its abeyant stage and stops completely during wintertime .
too , if you ’re feed your plant monthly and the polka dot flora growth rate is too tiresome , you may increase the frequency every 2 to 3 weeks until you find the best balance .
Another option is to cut the dosage .
For object lesson , if you ’re feeding the plant a 20 - 20 - 20 swimming houseplant fertilizer at half strength , view switching to a 10 - 10 - 10 plant food at half strength or a 5 - 5 - 5 at full strength .
As long as the NPK is balance , the plant will still get what it need , just in a smaller dosage .
commemorate that too much nitrogen can cause excessive growth in your plant life .
Use the Soak-And-Dry Method
right watering is important for any plant , and accidentally underwatering your polka pane plant is a common cause of polka dot plant leggy .
Likewise , overwatering can lead to root rot or labor atomic number 8 from the soil , which can produce symptoms similar to underwatering as the roots ca n’t right take in piss and food .
The soak - and - dry method acting ensures you give your plant just the veracious amount of water and is well-heeled to master .
Here are the come steps :
