Updated at: 13-06-2022 - By: Sienna Lewis

If your plants are out of control, you might be interested in learning how to stop them from growing tall. Too-tall plants have an untidy appearance and yield fewer flowers. Find out how to keep your plants from being lanky by reading on.

Why Should You Stop Your Plants from Growing Too Tall?

Some gardeners alter the height of their plants for a variety of reasons:

Reason #1: Improve your space’s aesthetic value

The majority of plants in yards and homes are purely decorative. To keep your plants looking their best, you should keep them from getting too big.

Reason #2: Maintain privacy

Some plants are so large that they invade other people’s property unchecked.

Reason #3: Grow better fruits and flowers

In order to get better-looking fruits and blossoms, it’s imperative that you trim your plants regularly. If you don’t let your plants grow tall, they’ll put their energy towards producing superior fruits and blooms instead.

Help! My Plants Are Growing Too Tall | Grow Weed Easy

How to Stop Plants from Growing Tall

Some gardeners believe that decreasing the amount of water and fertilizer their plants receive will prevent their plants from growing tall. The risk of your plants contracting diseases and other problems is too great if you take this step, so don’t bother.

Maintaining the size of your plants is easier if you prune them when they outgrow their space. Pruning your plants on an annual basis will encourage them to produce more foliage and blossoms, which will enhance their aesthetic appeal.

If you’re unsure of how to prune your indoor plants, keep in mind that each plant has its own unique approach.

Step #1:

Begonias, coneflowers, sage, dahlias, and other herbaceous flowering plants should be trimmed back in the spring when they begin to grow. Because these plants lack woody stems, you can cut each stem back to its first or second bud without harming the plant’s overall health. Pinched points can stunt plant growth, resulting in a more compact form.

Step #2:

Cut back overgrown plants that don’t produce woody stems in the spring to control their growth. Gardening shears and a third of the stem are all you’ll need for this step.

Step #3:

When you see damaged or dead leaves, remove them right away. Take care not to pull too hard or you’ll injure the sensitive plants when you pinch them off at the base of the leaves and discard them. Preventing plant damage is as simple as not cutting through the main stem of the plant.

Step 4:

Pruning indoor potted plants is best done in the spring. Loosen up the plant’s outer roots by removing it from its container and then replanting them. Take care not to sever the plant’s main root ball when pruning the loosened roots. You can either use the same pot or buy a new one to repot the plant in.

How to Maintain Your Indoor Plant’s Height

Place your plants in a somewhat shady spot where they will only receive enough light to stay healthy and strong. Because of this, they are unable to expand and reach towards the sun. Trim the ends of your plants to stimulate new leaves and stems to grow out of the base. Pruning most perennials and annuals helps them thrive.

Similarly, herbs and other indoor houseplants can be clipped in the same way. The thicker and sturdier branches of your plants will be boosted as a result of this treatment.

Other Tips to Remember When Caring for Your Plants

In order to keep your plants strong and healthy, you must practice some basic plant care. Ensuring them have adequate access to water, drainage, nutrition and sunlight is critical.

Except for turfgrass, stay away from high-nitrogen fertilizers. The majority of plants require a fertilizer with an 8-8-8 ratio of balanced nutrients (8 percent nitrogen, 8 percent phosphorous, and 8 percent potassium). Flowering plants, on the other hand, may necessitate a higher level of phosphorus in order to thrive. Nitrogen, on the other hand, encourages the production of new green cells and leaves. Root growth and general plant health can be improved with a higher concentration of potassium in taller plants that require more support.

Help! My Plants Are Growing Too Tall | Grow Weed Easy

Why You Should Try Growing Your Plants in a Mini Greenhouse

One of the main advantages of greenhouses is that they allow gardeners to manage the temperature regardless of the weather outside. You can cultivate a broader variety of flowers, vegetables, fruits, and decorative plants if you have control over the growth environment. By installing cooling and heating systems, as well as other instruments tailored to the demands of your plants, you can control the temperature of your greenhouse.

Growing plants year-round in your greenhouse may necessitate more complex systems, such as heating and cooling systems and various lighting, shading and ventilation options. Because you can customize the growing environment to meet the specific requirements of your plants with this type of greenhouse, you can grow nearly any kind of plant in it. Different climatic zones can be created within a bigger greenhouse to accommodate a variety of growing conditions.

Why Stop A Plant From Growing Tall?

To learn more about the benefits of restricting your plant’s natural growth and preventing it from reaching its full potential, keep reading this page.

To maintain aesthetics

Aesthetically, most plants in the home are not allowed to grow more than a few feet in height.

There are exceptions to this rule for tall plants like palm trees, such as those that are kept indoors while not producing fruit.

To maintain privacy

It’s possible that some plants, if given the freedom to grow, will encroach on other people’s properties and residences.

You can avoid this by keeping an eye on their height. You’ll have more time to say sorry to your neighbors because of this.

To grow bigger fruits and flowers

Stopping your plants from growing taller is also good for the environment, as nutrients should go toward producing better, bigger fruits and blooms, not just keeping them tall.

Some gardeners use this height control strategy purely for the purpose of producing a robust crop or having well-developed, beautiful flowering plants throughout the peak period of the plant.

My Favorite Way to Stop a Plant from Growing too Tall is to Perform Low Stress Training

At this early stage, the plant is subjected to low-stress training. At a high level, LST is just bending and tying your plant over after it reaches around 6″ tall. Keep bending and directing it around the pot’s bottom as it grows. If you want to avoid damaging the plant, you’ll need a means to secure it gently.

  • Low stress training refers to the practice of exerting minimal pressure to the stems and stalks, so as not to break or damage them. Your plant will be 2 feet shorter if your container is large enough for it to lay down up to 2 feet of plant. You should expect to see additional kolas or bud sites start to form as a result of this.

Topping is an Excellent Way to Stop Your Plants from Getting Too Tall.

In fact, this is the procedure that someone was trying to conduct when they messed up and termed it “fiming,” as described below. Here’s how you can top your plant to maintain it at a more manageable height.

  • The very top center growth shoot of the plant/growth can be found when it is 12″ to 18″ tall and/or has at least three branch levels (nodes). Keep a few centimeters or a quarter inch of stalk above the highest branch line when you cut off the center growth shoot.
  • As a result, new growth will be able to begin at the spot where it previously only had one stalk and will now branch out into at least two. The key to this procedure is to remove all of the plant’s growth shoots, leaving only a little portion of the plant’s stem. I hope you got the gist of it.

Fimming is Another Way to Keep Plants Shorter (FIMM is short for “F**ck I missed”)

Because whoever found this method thought they had made a tremendous mistake, they named it this way. I don’t remember where this originated. To accomplish this, follow along with the steps provided below.

  • Instead of removing the entire new growth shoot, go halfway down the shoot and cut it there, as described in the procedures for topping. Your plants will recover more quickly from this strategy because it is less stressful for them. The lower nodes will grow faster as a result of fimming. That’s all there is to it.

Keeping the Lights Closer to the Plants

They won’t be able to stretch their legs and grow overly tall as a result. Yes, it’s true that if the plants aren’t getting enough light, they’ll stretch to get it. Consider the distance between the lights.

  • LED grow lights don’t generate much heat, therefore they may be placed extremely close to weed plants without fear of causing light burn. To begin, place the LED lights about 12″ above the plants and observe how the leaves respond. Raise the light a few inches if they begin to droop and curl.
  • It is possible to lower the plant’s leaves as close as 6″ from the top if they are healthy and growing quickly. If the plant’s leaves don’t like it, you’ll know it.

HPS or other lighting should be put at around 24″ above your plants’ tops if possible. Most other lights emit heat and are more prone to causing light burns. Make sure to keep an eye on the leaves’ reaction to determine if they’re happy with the light.

My Cannabis Plants Are Growing Too Tall: What Should I Do? - RQS Blog

Grow Indica Instead of Sativa

You’ll find out soon enough, if you don’t already. There are fewer tall, narrow Sativa strains than there are more Indica-dominant ones. When it comes to getting high, you can now purchase seeds that include both Indica and Sativa genetics, making it possible to get the effects of both strains in a single clone. You might have to order them online, but I doubt you won’t be able to locate an Indica/Sativa cross that meets your requirements.

Before we get started, I’d want to answer a few questions that I’ve seen online in order to ensure that we’ve covered this topic thoroughly. Let’s get to work now!

Why is My Plant Growing Tall and Skinny?

Stretching is the term used to describe this phenomenon. In order to gain more light, the weed plant is growing taller. New growers frequently experience this problem since they don’t aware how close their lights should be.

As your seedlings grow, lower the lights, if you have LED, so they don’t go too close to the plants. Leave them about 2 feet apart if you’re using high-intensity discharge (HPS) or other lights that produce heat.

My Plants are Too Tall in Vegetative Growth Stage (What to Do?)

It may be too late to do anything if you’ve already entered the vegetative state. You can fim or top the plants if you’re only a few of weeks into your growing cycle. When you’ve had a bad experience growing weed, it’s important to learn from it so that you can avoid making the same mistakes again.

When Do Plants Stop Stretching in Flower?

The quick answer is that your buds should stop increasing in height (stretching) and start thickening around the fourth or fifth week of flowering.

At first, there won’t be much to see during flowering, but then the buds appear and the plants expand rapidly. After a few weeks of this, their growth normally comes to a screeching halt. Some plants will continue to grow taller, which is perfectly normal during bud development. Prior to blossoming, how tall must the plants be in order for them to thrive?

The strain you’re growing and the environment in which you’re growing will have an impact on this. You should be aware that marijuana plants can double in size throughout the veg stage to the flowering period. If you’re going to be growing in a tent or indoors, this is something to think about.

I prefer to start my plants off with a sturdy foundation so that they can handle the weight of the buds that are expected to form soon after.

Here are a few ideas that I think you should give a shot.

  • To obtain an idea of how tall your weeds will grow, you should know what kind of weeds you are dealing with. When the lights are turned off for flowering, you want the plants to be at least twice as tall as they were before. Prior to that halfway point, I’d even begin.
  • Be patient and don’t switch on illumination until the plant has at least four node locations before doing so. The plant’s nodes are the places where new branches form.
  • When an Indica plant is around 12″ to 18″ tall, turn the light to flower mode.
  • When Sativa plants are between 18″ and 24″ tall, turn the illumination to flower mode.

How to Stop Plants from Growing Tall Outdoors

Even while cultivating weed outside, you may encounter some unwelcome attention. Keeping your weed plants as short as possible is one technique to deflect unwanted attention.

In order to get those results, you can follow any of the advice given in this article thus far. You may be able to let your weed grow naturally if you construct structures that are higher than your plants, depending on where you want to grow it outdoors. It’s only a notion at this point.

How Tall Does a Sativa Plant Grow?

If you’re new to the hobby, this is a great thing to ask. A photo of someone posing next to an enormous marijuana plant is almost always indicative of a Sativa plant.

Sativas can reach heights of up to 10 feet. Huge plants are a part of their nature. As a result, it’s easy to see why growing Sativa indoors or in a grow tent can be difficult. These plants can reach heights of 10 feet or more, but I believe that 6 feet is a good average for these specimens.

How Tall Does an Indica Plant Grow?

Sativas can be grown indoors, but Indicas do a far better job. The height of an Indica plant can range from 3 feet to 6 feet, depending on the cultivar. Grow tents work well for Indicas.

Conclusion

When homegrown plants reach a specific height or are very short, they are most commonly enjoyed. Please let us know if you’ve found this article useful in your search for practical advice on how to keep your plants from getting too big.

We encourage you to do your own experiments and evaluate what works best for you and your plants as you follow the advice below.