I would pinch off the flowersso the plant can focus on growing more leaves. It looks etiolated,needs more light. You can cut it back and give it more light and it will grow fuller.

Here's a pic of mine. I have it outside and it loves it!

I agree, I'd cut it back and get it more light.

I have several together in one pot, and I could *not* keep up with picking off the flowers. It was making me crazy. I kept pinching the tops, trying to get it to bush out more, and it did, somewhat ... But it also got incredibly tall and leggy. Some new baby growth from the base looked nice, but eventually it was a big ol' woody tree thing and looked awful.

Finally last year I chopped it. I'm not kidding, I had to cut it down almost 2 feet! I don't have the before and after pics on this phone, but I'll look them up.

It's begun flowering again, but I'm showing no mercy - I just pinch all the tops where it is flowering.

Hi

I use them as garden plants and find that's the nature of the beast lol I let them grow up, flower, whack them off and they'll start over again lol Trying to keep the flowers off was almost impossible!!! One bad side effect of this method is that I have a gazillion of them coming up everywhere !!

Good luck finding a method that works in your situation gary

Needs way more light. Its stretching. Dont put it straight into sun tho, it will burn. Put it closer to a window ,gradually increase the light. I would also prune it hard and when its actively growing again pinch out the tips of new shoots once they have 2 sets of leaves.

Nice set of plants there Al.

Pruning plant can give it the whacked off look. Simply keep new growth pinched back. You may have to pinch back the same growth many times...get tough.

ONE pinch (the apical meristem) ensures
back-budding/branching, but how enthusiastic the plant is in cooperating
depends on several factors - primarily the plants current state of
vitality and where it is in the growth cycle - it's current ability to
carry on photosynthesis/make food.

Anthony has fallen into the habit of intentionally leaving misleading
one-liners so others more conscientious about ensuring the information
you get is accurate are compelled to come behind him and clean up the
messes.

Cutting a plant back hard is a little like the sacrifice one makes when painting a house or arranging for elective plastic surgery. Both require temporarily sacrificing appearance to some degree in order to arrive at a more attractive end result.

Al

Again it depends on the plant. Many plants (Pelargonium, Impatiens) respond well to to hard pruning, while some (Trichodiadema ) dont. Often buds break right behind where you pinched to so you end up with a top heavy plant. The way round it is to prune hard, which I do to my buddleia every spring. But again it depends on the plant. Polka Dot plant, in the Acanthus family, is pretty tolerant of hard pruning provided it is in good health and has after care. I.e. it isnt fed or put in hot sun.

The internet can be dangerous. Its important to use common sence. AL = information vacuum. Keeping new growth pinched back to encourage branching has been around longer than any of us. HAHAHA !

I use experience. If I lack experience in a certain plant then I ask on GW or elsewhere and ideally try growing it myself.

Okaay - it doesn't matter how well the plant responds - what I said is, one pinch is all you need to force back-budding. It can be achieved by pinching out the apex or by whacking it back to the soil line in many cases. Also, if a plant is reluctant to back-bud more than a node or two proximal to the pinch, pinching over and over STILL leaves you with a top-heavy plant unless you take the plant farther back, as I initially suggested.

Al

AL.... You do not know the tree will become top heavy and even if it did that would be easy to correct. Keeping new growth pinched back could cause new trunks or stems to form anywhere.

Yea Al got it, apical dominance. No matter how much you pinch it wants to grow from the tips (the apices)-thats apical dominance. I've experienced it in pelargoniums. Pinch the tips out to make it bushy because its got a bit gappy and instead a bud breaks close to where I pinched. If I kept doing that it would get top heavy. To overcome that you need to chop hard. But not all plants can take that.

Anthony, you have absolutely no reason to be here arguing with Al. You have not shown one bit of proof or intelligence for anything you've posted.

Dave: You are fighting a losing battle when you go up against common sense. lol ( I have every right to be here. )☺

AL: Your claim that a house plant that dries out over 1 week deprives roots of oxygen is FALSE !

Anthony, do find pleasure in being annoying?

Dave...I am happy to know I have something to give. Houseplants are far more important than people know. It takes many years of experience to verify this.

Keeping new growth pinched back COULD cause new growth to grow anywhere, but it doesnt always

Anthony, you have nothing to give. No one takes your advice and all we do is correct you. If you like wasting your time, that's fine.

" Does anyone know how to help it not want to grow so tall and skinny? Any help or advice would be much appreciated"

The plant growth regulator, Paclobutrazol, shortens internodes.

See article,

Hypoestes phyllostachya Responds to Growth Regulators
James T. Foley and Gary J. Keever

, in

http://aurora.auburn.edu/bitstream/handle/11200/1007/0102RESE.pdf

For $0.97, you can buy 15% Paclobutrazol WP, with free shipping from China, here:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Paclobutrazol-95-Tc-98-High-Purity-Plant-Growth-Hormone-Flower-Fertilizer-Gardening-Fertilizer-15-G-Pack/32655798781.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.10.kB8HyY&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_8,searchweb201602_3_10017_301_406_10040,searchweb201603_3&btsid=efeb0652-9625-4e38-a9b0-9f68a2e1af7d

No chemicals needed, just good light.

Grow it in shade and it will stretch

"No chemicals needed, just good light.

Grow it in shade and it will stretch"

No good light needed, just Paclobutrazol.

Grow it in shade with enough Paclobutrazol and it will NOTstretch.

No thanks

What do you propose doing in the Winter; use artificial light?

Cut back hard and put it on a bright windowsill. I'm in northern England. It rains a lot. But I kept one of these years ago like that.

Dave.....Im not here to give advice. That is your hangup. I'm here to share ideas. ☺

Ha, yeah, ok.

My polka dot is a plant I rescued. It looks like this. What can I do to make it bushier?