Caring for your Plants: Pruning

July 1 2024 12:16am • Est. Read Time: 2 MIN

As your plants continue to grow some will require pruning in it’s Mid-Growth stage. In the RiseGardens App Plant Care Timeline you can identify if your plants require this. 


Pruning Benefits for Plants


  • Pruning will keep your plant from stressing out. It will stop it from spending all of its resources on trying to revive dying leaves or stems. It will then teach it to spend more resources on the leaves that are already thriving. 

  • Pruning improves airflow, which will stop your plants from overheating.

  • Pruning trains a plant to be healthier, stronger, and more disease-tolerant. 


Pruning Benefits for Gardens


  • Pruning keeps your Garden clean, which means less frequent cleaning (for both Personal Gardens and Family Gardens). 

  • Pruning keeps the size of your plants optimal, which allows you to grow more plants at once.

  • Pruning will eliminate dead plant matter that may enter into your plumbing, which can attract mold and pests. 

  • Pruning helps protect your Garden. Plants that are not pruned regularly will grow into the light panels. Condensation will occur as the plants and lights come into contact, causing a short circuit, and affecting the light panels and Garden electronics (Note: this will void your Garden’s warranty). We recommend making sure your plants are kept at least 1-2 inches away from the Grow Lights. 

How to Prune: 


  1. Always use sharp scissors to cut leaves and branches. You don’t want to leave any rips or tears on your plants, because that can lead to disease.

  2. When you cut off a leaf or a section of a plant, make sure to cut as close to the base of the main stem as possible, rather than at the bottom of the leaf. If you leave a stem without a leaf, the plant will waste energy trying to send nutrients to a leaf that doesn’t exist. This could stress out your plant, or maybe even stunt its growth.

  3. For shorter harvest plants (30-60 days to harvest), like basil, you should only have to prune once or twice in your lifetime. 

  4. For longer harvest plants (60-100 days to harvest), like tomatoes, you should prune every month to keep your plant happy and organized.

NOTE: You should never prune more than 20% of your plant each time that you harvest. 


For more tips and tricks, check out our video: HERE