---
title: "These two guys have gotten tall and are mostly stem. Leaves on top…"
description: "These two guys have gotten tall and are mostly stem. Leaves on top look healthy. There at least 6 yrs old. Can I cut the stem and will it produce roots? Where…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/GpJkJG2qS7KZ7LpSwQwhSg/onHO0ld9ZhwEpZ07q6vz6S"
community: "Propagating & Sowing"
author: "Amy"
published: "2026-03-29T19:12:03.396143Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/lWTjWGwwun1muSeAQxsoBCK67Od3_D1F554RFf3AQ7o/Bg5rO-LgQL2gwdDCOkg8hw.webp?size=large"
---

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# These two guys have gotten tall and are mostly stem. Leaves on top…

_Posted by Amy on 2026-03-29_

These two guys have gotten tall and are mostly stem. Leaves on top look healthy. There at least 6 yrs old.  
Can I cut the stem and will it produce roots? Where do I cut it and what do I do with it? I want them to be less stem. Any help would be appreciated.

![Attachment 1 of 2](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/lWTjWGwwun1muSeAQxsoBCK67Od3_D1F554RFf3AQ7o/Bg5rO-LgQL2gwdDCOkg8hw.webp?size=large)

![Attachment 2 of 2](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/lWTjWGwwun1muSeAQxsoBCK67Od3_D1F554RFf3AQ7o/V2XSpDG1SHOjfsGEX8yydw.webp?size=large)

## 2 comments

### Madison commented on 2026-03-30

You should be able to propogate it the way you’re thinking! I’d cut the stem maybe 2-4 inches down from the lowest leaf (closer to 4 if you want to give yourself enough room for if anything goes wrong and you need to cut a little more off). Use a clean blade/scissors to make the cut. Since it’s a thick stem, leave it out to air dry/callous for 12-24 hours first before putting in water to prevent it from rotting. I prefer to propogate in water first, in which case you just place the cutting in some water and change the water out every few days or 1x/week at least. These can be slower to root, but giving it plenty of light will help. Adding a pothos cutting to the water can also help other plants root faster due to the hormones they put in the water. Once it has roots that are 2 inches long and have off-shoots (i.e “roots with roots”), it will be ready to pot into soil.

You can propogate directly into soil as well, but I personally have much less luck with this method and prefer to water propogate first.

### Amy commented on 2026-03-30

Thank you. I’ll give it a try with one of the plants.

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