Leggy Growth

What is going on

Long bare stems with leaves only at the tips. Your plant is walking toward the window. The full guide walks through the checks in order, fastest first, so you can find the cause before trying a fix.

The fix, in order

Start with the check that costs nothing: light, water, and where the plant actually sits. Most cases of leggy growth trace back to one of those three, and the guide for your specific plant will narrow it further.

The step by step fix

1. Fix the light first, or nothing else matters. Move the plant to the brightest indirect spot you have, bringing it closer to the window in stages over about a week so leaves used to dim conditions do not scorch.
2. Turn the pot a quarter turn every week. Even light on all sides stops the whole plant leaning and stretching in one direction.
3. Prune the stretched stems. Cut each leggy stem back to just above a leaf or a node. On most leafy houseplants, new shoots branch out from below the cut, so the plant regrows bushier instead of longer.
4. Plant the prunings back. Root the cuttings you just took, in water or soil, and pot them into the same pot once rooted. It is the fastest route from a sparse plant to a full one.
5. Add light for the dark months if the window cannot deliver. A simple grow light above the plant on a timer through winter holds growth compact when daylight is short.
6. Be patient and judge honestly. Stretched stems never shrink back; the plant is fixed when the new growth arrives with short gaps between the leaves.