My poor Pilea

Bronx, NY

Should I prune this back? Believe it or not, there are quite a number of healthy leaves on the somewhat limp stems, my thought is that they are just top heavy. It is in a south window and watered weekly or every other week. Is there any treatment for strengthening the stems? Hope pic is clear - thanks for any input. I have 60+ houseplants and none look like this poor specimen! It was considerably smaller when I got it - maybe not enough light?

Eileen

Thumbnail by emw121199
Bay City, MI(Zone 6a)

It definitely looks like insufficient light is at the heart of the issue. Telling, are the long internodes (distance between leaf pairs). Be sure you wait to water until a dowel stuck deep into the pot comes out dry, or the soil at the drain hole is dry to the touch. It's not the best form to drought-stress a plant, but waiting until you see the first signs of wilt in distal (farthest from the roots) leaves is to be preferred to over-watering. It probably wouldn't hurt to flush the soil as a precautionary measure against accumulating salts, either. If you decide you want to do this and need any help, let me/us know.

Al

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