Girdling: What it is and how it can kill your houseplants
Plant ParentJuly 27, 2022If you’ve ever secured your houseplants to a stake or trellis or tied the plant together and used something like wire, string, rubber bands or zip ties, you have run the risk of girdling the plant.
Girdling occurs when there is a cut through a stem or the trunk by the item used to secure it. This disrupts the nutrient and water uptake of your houseplant.
The photo below shows a plant that was girdled with rubber band. Fortunately, the rubber band was removed before too much damage was done. The plant had been girdled at the grower before I bought it. Most likely the rubber band was used to make the plant, a ctenanthe, stand upright.
Girdling is used to kill trees so that they can fell them more easily. When the top of the tree is strangled with girdling, it dries out and becomes lighter in weight. However, girdling is probably not something you want to do to your houseplants!
To avoid girdling your plants, yet still secure them to items like stakes and trellises, use Green Garden Tape. This product isn’t sticky, but is more like ribbon. It will expand with the growth of your plants and will never girdle them.
