


Growing up a wall or into baseboards is not harmful but can be a pain when the area of the paint or surface becomes damaged. While growing roots is not bad, they have been known to attach themselves to walls, molding, and even some people have discovered them growing in televisions.īeing aware of the possibilities of where these roots could grow will help you strategically place your plant. Pathos and philodendrons are two common houseplants that can grow insane aerial roots. This idea would require excessively long roots, yet some gardeners like adding a pot next to their plants, filling the extra pot with water, and simply adding the them to the separate pot.

Find a separate pot for aerial roots is another option.Leave a little length, especially for the epiphytes, to continue reaping the benefits but do not hesitate to trim unruly these roots up if needed. In this case, it is ok to simply trim the roots up a bit. Maybe, you do not mind the aerial roots, or your plant is an epiphyte, but the these plants are getting way too long and unruly.Sterilize your pruning shears with peroxide or rubbing alcohol to prevent any bacteria transfer and start clipping away. Same concept here you will not hurt the plant because you are not removing all the needed roots. You will not harm a plant that does not require these roots for survival, just like sometimes we need to cut back or propagate plants roots from the soil.
#Aerial roots free
If you find these roots unsightly and your indoor plant is not an epiphyte, feel free to cut them off.Orchids and other epiphytes do not have dense, long roots to absorb significant nutrients from the soil itself, making it detrimental for these plant types that you allow them to grow. While these roots may be unsightly for you, epiphytes such as Orchids require these essential roots. Epiphytes in their natural habitats grow from other trees, plants, rocks, or even suspended in the air. Determine if you have an epiphyte plant.This may only be a short-term fix if your plant is determined to continue sprouting more aerial roots. The roots will continue growing downward rather than unsightly upwards. The plant will continue to reap the benefits of the it by absorbing more nutrients. If the aerial roots growing from your plant are near the soil, you can force their direction down into the soil.What To Do with Aerial Rootsĭeciding what to do with aerial roots growing from your plant will depend on the look you’re trying to achieve and how the roots benefit your plant. This can be good or bad, depending on your preferences. If it starts outgrowing its pot or is trying to get closer to natural light.

Sprouting these types of roots and climbing other surfaces allows the plant to overtake an area. Indoors, some plants will grow these roots up the sides of bookshelves, walls, or trellises. These roots are also good for collecting water or supporting overgrown plants. In a plant’s natural habitat, it will grow aerial roots to climb larger trees or structures to allow it to reach sunlight. These roots grow to retrieve nutrients but, they are typical for indoor plants because they provide stability and allow the plants to stretch out more. Luckily, that is not the only reason some plants form aerial roots. Since we are discussing indoor plants, though indoor air nutrients are not as common. Normal roots grow beneath the soil, getting nutrients from the soil and water provided to them.Īerial roots, however, extend above the surface, receiving nutrients from the air and rainfall around them.
