Tips for Pachira Aquatica Pruning

My Pachira Aquatica is one of my older plants. It gains height and grows fairly quickly. In my case, every few years it eventually outgrows its space. When this happens, a good pruning is in order. If you have an overgrown Pachira Aquatics, follow this post and I'll go over my tips for Pachira Aquatica Pruning.

Reasons for Pachira Aquatica Pruning

The first step of learning how to prune a Pachira Aquatica is to know why you want to prune. There are a number of scenarios in which you would want to prune your Pachira Aquatica.

• You have an overgrown Pachira Aquatica that has become too large for your indoor space.
• Your Pachira Aquatica growth is not uniform and you want to make it more symmetrical. (Tip: If this is your problem, be sure to routinely rotate your plant after pruning so that it gets an even amount of light on all sides.)
• You need to get rid of your Pachira Aquatica, but you want to propagate some smaller pieces.
• Your Pachira Aquatica has some unhealthy spots or growth.

Pruning and Overgrown Pachira Aquatica

My Pachira Aquatica ticks two boxes: too large for the space and some unhealthy growth. I’d actually qualify it as undesirable growth rather than unhealthy. This plant was in an east-facing window for a while and I ended up with a leggy Pachira Aquatica because it wasn't getting enough light. Sometimes people mistake leggy plant growth for health. The plant is growing an impressive amount, but it’s really growing longer because it's struggling to be closer to the sun. The result is an overgrown Pachira Aquatica that has some unhealthy growth which I will show you next.

The best way to identify this is by looking at the spacing between leaves. As you can see from the red circles, the bottom area has leaves that are very close together. That is healthy growth. Then there are about six inches of stem to the next leaf. That's leggy growth. What happened? The plant was getting a lot of light and then I moved it to a lower light area. To cope, the plant is stretching out to reach the sun.

I’ve since moved my Pachira Aquatica to a better-lit location, but I need to deal with the leggy plant growth. I’ve decided to do a drastic prune. Pachira Aquaticas are very resilient and fairly easy to propagate. So I’m going to use this as an opportunity to try my hand at propping and braiding a new Pachira Aquatica trunk.

What's the Best Time for Pachira Aquatica Pruning?

It’s best to prune plants, especially hard prunes like I'm demonstrating, in the winter while the plant is dormant. Pachira Aquatica pruning can trigger growth. The worst times to prune are usually late summer or fall. You don’t want to prompt growth as the growing season is coming to a close. This is mainly due to available sunlight. Days become shorter in the late summer and fall. If you are using a grow light for your plant this may be less of a concern. It’s best to wait for winter dormancy if you can plan for it.

Pruning Equipment.

Most Pachira Aquaticas are easily pruned with garden pruners or a sharp knife depending on how thick the stems are. Make sure that whatever cutting tool you use is sterile and sharp. You don’t want to introduce any unwanted bacteria or fungus to a new cut on your plant. In addition, sharp tools make clean cuts that are better looking and less susceptible to disease. I have a pair of Fiskar pruners that I use.

Where to Cut?

When learning how to trim a tall Pachira Aquatica, making the actual cuts can feel stressful. In general, you want to prune close to a node (leaf or branch). This works for most plants. Do some research so you know what kind of growth to expect from your plant after you prune it. Some plants continue growing a single branch from the pruned section, albeit slightly askew. In my experience when I have pruned my Pachira Aquatica in the past, it puts out new growth that continues as a single branch.  Pruning can encourage two or more branches to erupt on some plants. Some examples of this are the Fiddle Leaf Fig or Jade Plants. Below is an image of a recently pruned Fiddle Leaf Fig. I pruned it at the height that I wanted it to start branching. As expected, it sprouted two new branches from the trunk that I pruned.

Pruning an Overgrown Pachira Aquatica

I’m doing a hard prune for this blog. By hard prune I mean I will be cutting the plant way back. I’ll remove probably ¾ of the green growth. I’ve been putting off pruning for a while so that’s why it’s so drastic. Don't worry, Pachira Aquaticas are quite resilient so I’m optimistic about the results. Most of the green growth that I’m cutting away is leggy anyway. I will prune a few stems almost all the way down to the trunk so that I can promote new leafy growth close to the trunk. I’m also trimming about three stems with some healthy leaf growth but not down to the main trunk. I don't want it to be completely bare. 

Some people may not think my pruned tree looks as good as before. In fact, my husband said, “it looks like you butchered it.” I’m happy with it. That’s what I was expecting it to look like. I know in a few months, it will look much nicer. That’s just how hard pruning works. You can avoid drastic pruning by pruning and trimming more regularly. About three weeks after the prune and my Pachira Aquatica sprouted a little green nub growing just above the leaf node. This will be the new stem. Each of the pruned branches is growing one, even the branches that I took all the way down to the trunk.

What Do You Do After Pruning Your Pachira Aquatica?

Now that you know how prune a Pachira Aquatica, what's next?

Watering - In my experience, it’s fine to water your plant after pruning. If you’re doing a hard prune, as I did, be careful to monitor your soil. Your plant may need less frequent watering initially because you removed a lot of the plant that was formerly consuming that water. Then as new growth starts to pick up, your plant may need more frequent watering. The recommendation here is just to pay attention to your soil moisture following pruning.

Fertilizing - I don’t recommend fertilizing directly after pruning. Hopefully, you’re pruning in winter while the plant is dormant. It should not need fertilizer at that time anyway. If you pruned during or right before the growing season, I still recommend waiting a week or two. Let your plant adjust to the pruning.

Pruned Cuts - It’s important to keep pruned branches dry and free of dirt. It’s like having a cut on your skin that is susceptible to bacteria or fungus. Some people dust the cuts with cinnamon, which apparently has antifungal properties. I’ve never used it.

Leftovers – Many houseplants can be propagated from cuttings. You may end up with a bounty as I did. I have a stack of Pachira Aquatica branches to propagate. Check out the propagation process in an upcoming blog.

I hope you enjoyed this step-by-step on how to prune Pachira Aquatica. Share your pruning triumphs and fails in the comments. I'd love to hear from you.