How to Stake Indoor Plants for Support

How to Support Plants With Simple Stakes

The most basic form of staking, ideal for single-stemmed plants that are a little top-heavy, is to use simple straight stakes. Examples include flowering plants or those that have outgrown their stems quickly.

1. Drive the Stake

   Drive a stake deep into the soil alongside the plant you are staking. Commercial stakes made of bamboo or vinyl-coated metal work well for this purpose, but almost any material will work. When staking a potted plant, make sure to drive the stake all the way to the bottom of the container, since potting mix is a loose medium that will not support stakes as effectively as garden soil.

2. Tie the Plant

   When you're tying the plant off, be careful not to tie it too tight. This can cause injury as the plant grows and the tie cuts into the plant's stem. To prevent this, use a stretchy tie, such as strips of nylon or special plant ties. Taller plants may require several ties at different points along the stems.

How to Support Plants With Wire Loops

An effective and less visible plant support can be made by using a piece of heavy-gauge wire, such as a wire coat hanger, bent into a loop with the ends embedded in the container's potting mix. Garden centers and online retailers sell green vinyl-coated wire that is ideal for this use. Wire loops are perfect for plants that are creepers or that need to be trained to their shape. A good example indoors is jasmine, which grows with long branches that flower profusely but cannot support their weight.

1. Shape the Hoops

   If you are making your own plant loops, use wire cutters and pliers to bend a piece of rigid wire to the desired shape, with two vertical legs and a round loop where the plant stalk will fit.

   Garden centers also sell prefabricated loops, some with single legs, others with two legs, that will work well for this purpose.

2. Secure the Plant

   Loosely tie the plant to the wire support as it grows. This has the added advantage of creating a lovely and sculptural hoop-shaped planting.

How to Support Plants With Moss Poles

This is the most complicated kind of staking and is best for climbers that need support to grip onto. Examples include golden pothos vines, monstera, and climbing philodendron. Garden centers and specialty craft stores sell special climbing poles made from fern bark or moss that are designed for climbing plants. Alternately, a climbing pole can be made by filling a narrow wire tube with damp sphagnum moss and tying the plant to the pole until it latches on by itself.

These stakes can be invaluable to growing a climber, but be aware that it will take extra moisture to keep the pole damp and encourage the plant to latch onto the stake. This is especially true for poles that use sphagnum moss, which dries out quickly.

1. "Plant" the Moss Pole

   Insert the moss pole into the center of the pot, driving it all the way down to the bottom of the pot. This is best done at the same time you are potting the plant. Firmly pack the potting mix around the pole to hold it securely.

2. Secure the Plant Stems

   Some plants will naturally cling to the moss pole with tendrils as they grow, but others, such as pothos, will need to be tied to the pole with stretchy ties or vinyl-coated wire as they grow. Make sure to keep the ties loose so they do not damage the plant stems.

How to Support Plants With Cages

Multi-stemmed plants that are top-heavy with blooms or foliage often require a different type of support offered by some form of cage. There are several ways to accomplish this kind of staking. You can use a simple purchased wire cage that surrounds the plant, or you can use several stakes with twine strung between them to form a support system. Or, you can use wires to create intersecting loops that form an informal cage for your plant.

In these cases, it's often not necessary to tie the plant to the support because the cage itself will support the plant's weight. Instead, make sure the plant has room to spread out within the cage.