Why is my Nerve Plant leggy?

Nerve Plants are slowly becoming one of the most popular houseplants around. Their strong veined leaves are incredible and contrary to what their name might suggest, they are totally pet friendly! But they aren’t always the easiest houseplant to look after and it can be concerning when you notice that the growth is becoming quite leggy and straggly. Below are the main reasons why your Nerve Plant has become leggy.

Not enough light

This is quite common for a lot of houseplant types but Nerve Plants will start to develop leggy growth if they aren’t getting enough sunlight. Although they can survive in low light areas, it’s about finding the right balance that will leave you with healthy bushier growth.

Leggy growth doesn’t mean the plant is going to die and can probably survive for a long time in the low light. However, if you are after a bushier look, then move your plant somewhere with more sunlight. You want to make sure, however, that your Nerve Plant doesn’t get any direct sunlight as this can very quickly scorch and burn the leaves.

Time of year

It’s also important to consider the time of year as your Nerve Plant will produce a lot more leggy growth over winter. This links in with the section above as there isn’t as much light over winter which is causing this leggy growth. The temperature is also a factor and you plant will struggle a little with the cooler temperatures.

We suggest leaving the leggy growth over winter and pruning it just before spring. This will hopefully encourage your Nerve Plant to grow new leaves during spring which will give the plant a much fuller look.

Natural growth

One thing to keep in mind with Nerve Plants is that they can naturally grow a little leggy. This isn’t because they are unhappy with their environment, or your care routine isn’t right. This is simply how the plants are sometimes.

Trimming the growth

If you don’t want to keep the leggy growth on your Nerve Plant, then prune away the long stems. This will encourage your plant to produce new growth on those stems which should hopefully be a little less leggy.

We always recommend propagating the stems which you trimmed off. Place them in water and after a few weeks, you should start to see some roots popping out. Make sure to change the water in the jar regularly (every other day or so) as you won’t have as much success with old stagnant water.

Once the roots have come out on your propagated stems you can either pot them into a new pot to form a new Nerve Plant or carefully pot them back into the mother plant. This will give your original plant a much fuller look.

Those are the most common reasons why Nerve Plants can become quite leggy. If you want to find out more about caring for your plant check out our Nerve Plant Care Guide for everything you need to know to keep your plant happy and healthy!