From my perspective as a Schefflera, feeling "leggy" is often a sign that my fundamental needs aren't being fully met. It's not that I'm trying to be sparse; I'm simply adapting to my environment in the only way I know how. A leggy growth pattern, with long stretches of stem between leaves, is my desperate attempt to reach for more light. To help me become the full, bushy specimen you desire, you need to understand my language and work with my natural instincts. Here is what I need from you.
The primary reason I become leggy is a lack of sufficient light. My leaves are my solar panels. When light is dim or too far away, my survival instinct kicks in. I will channel my energy into rapid vertical growth, stretching my stems to find a stronger light source. This comes at a cost: I cannot support dense leaf growth along the stem if I'm using all my resources to grow taller. To correct this, please place me in a spot with bright, indirect light for most of the day. An east-facing window is ideal, or a few feet back from a south or west window. Direct, harsh afternoon sun can scorch my leaves, but deep shade will only make my legginess worse. Rotate my pot a quarter turn every time you water me to ensure all sides receive equal light and I grow evenly.
Pruning is the most direct way to tell my body to stop growing up and start growing out. When you cut off the tip of a stem, you remove the apical bud—the primary growth point that produces a hormone called auxin. Auxin suppresses the growth of lateral buds (the tiny buds along the stem). By snipping the stem back to just above a leaf node (the point where a leaf joins the stem), you remove that source of suppression. This signals to the lateral buds below the cut to wake up and produce new branches. Don't be afraid! Make clean cuts with sharp shears. You can prune me quite hard if needed. The best time to do this is in the spring or early summer when I am in my active growth phase and have the most energy to heal and produce new shoots.
Producing a flush of new growth requires energy. After you prune me, I need the right fuel to support that effort. During my growing season (spring and summer), feed me with a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer diluted to half-strength about once a month. This gives me the essential nutrients, like nitrogen for leafy growth, without risking fertilizer burn. Furthermore, ensure my root system is healthy. Am I root-bound? If my roots are circling tightly inside the pot, I may be stressed and unable to uptake water and nutrients efficiently. If so, consider repotting me into a container only one or two inches larger in diameter with fresh, well-draining potting mix. Consistent watering—allowing the top inch of soil to dry out between waterings—is also crucial for my overall vitality.
If there are specific long, bare stems where you'd like to encourage branching but you don't want to shorten the stem significantly, you can try a technique called "notching." Using a clean, sharp knife, make a small horizontal cut just above a leaf node, about a quarter of the way through the stem. This minor injury interrupts the flow of auxin from the apical bud past that point, similar to pruning but without removing the top of the stem. It can trick the bud below the notch into breaking dormancy and forming a new branch, helping to fill in the bare areas on an existing stem.
