How To Keep An Arrowhead Plant Bushy

Why An Arrowhead Plant Gets Leggy and Falls Over

These tropical plants grow up trees and along the ground via aerial roots in their natural habitat. You might have bought yours as a small 4 inch plant, and a year or two later, it’s turned into a jungle vine. The longest I’ve seen an Arrowhead growing indoors was about 7 feet. If the vining habit and look are what you want, then let yours go!

Arrowhead Plants grow fast; most have a vining nature and soft stems that fall over and flop as they grow.

They like a bright light situation but to be kept out of direct sunlight. Lack of light is another cause for this plant (or any plant) getting leggy.

When & How To Prune An Arrowhead Plant

Pruning is a big part of Arrowhead Plant care. It gets rid of the spindly growth and stimulates new growth. For best results, prune yours during the growing season, in spring or summer. Early fall is fine, too, especially if you’re in a more temperate climate.

I pruned the long and leggy stems, taking some of them off completely. You must dive in and start somewhere when the plant is big and floppy. This isn’t artistic pruning, and because these plants grow fast, it’s hard to mess it up.

I then did tip pruning (you can also call it pinching) on the other stems. This is a great way to keep plants from getting too leggy and encourage bushiness. This is where you take 2-5 leaves (plus their stems) off the ends of the main stems.

If you’ve never done tip pruning before, it’s quick and easy to do. You’ll get comfortable with it in no time!

How To Support/Stake An Arrowhead Plant

I didn’t want mine to grow upwards on a piece of bark, a small trellis, a moss pole, or a moss stick. Instead, I decided on something I’d used back in the day when I was a professional gardener.

I hoped these 15″ half-round metal garden supports (which I used to hold up delphiniums, dahlias, etc.) would do the trick. And fortunately, they did.

My plant grows in the tall red decorative container (fiberglass and very light, thank goodness) that you see in the lead photo. I marked a couple of stems that I wanted to trail over the front of the container with a red ribbon. I then propped up the back 3/4 of the plant with the two half-round stakes. They fit into the 8″ grow pot just right, so I was pleased as punch about that.

Can You Propagate Syngonium Cuttings?

Oh yes. Those aerial roots make it very easy.

You can propagate them in water or a light potting mix. New roots appear off the stems in no time.

I won’t go into further detail on this here. If interested, check out this post dedicated to Arrowhead Plant Propagation.

Can You Propagate Syngonium Cuttings?

Oh yes. Those aerial roots make it very easy. You can propagate them in water or a light potting mix. New roots appear off the stems in no time.

Conclusion: Syngoniums are popular indoor plants. Legginess is one of the common problems with this plant, and you can easily fix it with pruning. Following these steps, you can easily maintain your Arrowhead Plant, making it fuller, healthier, and more aesthetically pleasing.

We all want our Arrowhead Plants to stay full, lush, and bushy for years to come!

Happy gardening,

-Nell

Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.