How to branch an African Milk Tree

The African Milk Tree (Euphorbia Trigona) can have the tendency to shoot up to the sky, not letting itself divert from its straight path upwards. I’ve had this problem, and it doesn’t result in a very beautiful plant. Scared of the plant continuing for meters into the air, I decided to do something about it.

Branching an African Milk Tree

Funnily the internet is a bit split on this topic. Some say the plant needs to have the best conditions it can get (enough nutrition, light and the right soil) for the plant to start branching.

Others say the plant should be stressed a bit, put it in a dark corner of the house for a while, or give it very little water.

On my search for a solution I came accross this Reddit comment, the person there advises to cut off a tiny bit from the top of the African Milk Tree.

After some months of hesitating, and the plant getting taller and taller, I decided to take the bet. I cut off a tiny bit of the top of the plant. White liquid will appear where you made the cut, make sure to not touch this as it can be irritating (wash it off quickly). The following days the spot will dry, and (in my case) from the nodes/leaves close to the cut of part branches started to grow.

After a couple of months it looked like this: