Take It Up A Notch: How to Use the Notching Technique for New Plant Growth
How to encourage new growth by notching. Photo by @vintagerevivavls
Ficus owners—ever wonder how to make your Fiddles or Rubber Trees grow new branches? Try out a simple technique called notching.
What is notching?
Notching is a way of encouraging new growth by making a small cut in the branch of your plant. In a way, you're making a deep incision that causes your plant to panic. Yes, sounds painful at first, but then your plant will try to relieve itself by growing new shoots!
How to use the notching technique on your plants
There are just a few simple steps to encourage new growth on your plants through notching:
Find the nodes - pick an area where you'd like a new branch to grow. Identify where the nodes are, small bumps on the trunk, usually with some space between each one.
Make the cut - Take a sharp clean knife and make an angled cut about 1/4 of the way through the trunk. You should immediately see a white sticky sap, indicating you've made the cut correctly! Wipe up the sap with a wet towel so it doesn't drip everywhere, and note that this sap can be irritable for sensitive skin.
Wait - Make sure your plant is getting bright light and on a consistent watering schedule. Mist the leaves every now and then to create humidity. In a few weeks, you should start to see one or multiple tiny bumps in the area that you cut. Be patient as these grow out and enjoy your fuller ficus!
What to do when Notching doesn’t work
After a few months, if this technique doesn't seem to be working don't worry. Expert Ficus owners report that this method works about 50% of the time. You can try again, or stay tuned for other upcoming tips!
Rubber Tree
With dark leaves and crimson casings holding new leaves, perfect for decorators that want plants in other colors than green.