What to Do if Your Succulents Have Grown Tall, Awkward, and Stretched Out

Dim winter light can contribute to succulents having a stretched, “leggy” appearance. Here’s how to fix tall, awkward succulent plants in a matter of minutes.

This is one of those little houseplant care tricks that I’d always heard was super easy to do, but that I’d never actually taken the time to learn myself. I was pretty much forced to, though, because eventually, all the potted succulents in our house were looking absolutely ridiculous, and I’m so glad to know about this indoor plant tip now. So easy! So satisfying! 🙂 I think every gardener must come across this issue at some point. We visited a local greenhouse, Colasanti’s, a little over a year ago. Let me just say, that place is magical. Jack and Chris had a great time playing some mini golf while Kennedy and I got lost in the houseplant section filled with all kinds of tropical indoor plants and cacti. I bought way too many big plants, and Kennedy picked out a tiny little succulent container-garden, which has since become completely stretched out while sitting on our windowsill. So that’s what we’ll be working with today as we learn how to fix leggy succulents and allow them to thrive.

See also: How to Propagate a Succulent Plant

Why do Succulents in Planters Become Stretched Out?

Basically, succulents become leggy and stretched out when they don’t have enough bright light. They try to grow towards their light source as quickly as possible and become all tall and gangly in the process. Despite their reputation as easy-to-grow , drought tolerant garden plants, you might be surprised at just how much light plants like succulents need to remain happy and maintain a compact, attractive growth pattern. Chances are even a relatively sunny window in your home just isn’t enough and will be too much of a low-light situation.

We’ve installed some extra windows on a side of our house that gets full sun in the morning and a plant ledge right under them to help us get enough sunlight for my favorite arid houseplants. Although our mudroom is super sunny, it’s not really convenient to have it filled with all my botanical projects, so our new plant ledge does the trick for plants like these succulents and plants from other low maintenance plant families are quite content there as well. The room is still a bit unfinished, but the plants all lined up in their little pots on the ledge don’t seem to mind at all.

More houseplant guidance for common issues: How to Fix Leggy Fiddle Leaf Figs

How to Fix Stretched Succulents With Long Stems

It comes down to four basic steps:

• Cut the stem to an appropriate length for your new pot
• Remove any excess fleshy leaves and foliage below the main rosette
• Dry everything out for 1-2 days to prevent root-rot
• Re-plant in fresh succulent/cactus potting soil for good drainage

Step One: Cut

You can really cut the stem anywhere and it will start to grow roots out of the sides and bottom once you replant it, but if you have a longer stem to work with, that will help it become nicely anchored into you new pot. You can also replant with just a little one-inch stem, or even no stem at all, just nestling the base of the succulent right down in to the soil. Always use clean, sharp pruning shears to make cuts like this.

Find out how to easily sharpen your hedge clippers or pruning shears if yours could use a little touch-up before you start this process.

Step Two: Remove Excess Leaves

You want to create a nice rosette shape, just like you probably had when you first bought your succulents, so remove any leaves that are below that. Save those leaves because you can actually plant them into soil and a whole new succulent will grow from each leaf!

Step Three: Dry

It’s a good idea to expose any cuts or breaks you make in a succulent for one to two days. This allows it to kind of scab over and protects the succulent from bacterial infections that can occur if they’re exposed to any excess moisture. If you place your freshly cut succulents directly into the potting mix without air drying first, chances are that they’ll probably still dry just fine, it will just take a few days longer for the cuts to heal over and you increase the risk of something going wrong just a little bit. It’s up to you though!

Step Four: Replant Leggy Succulents in Well-Draining Soil

The final step is to replant your succulents into a new pot filled with cactus/succulent potting mix. This is super easy. Just make a little hole with your finger and push the stem of the plant down into the potting mix. The bonus is that you don’t even have to water them for a week while they get used to their new environment!

Read next: How to Grow a Rabbit’s Foot Fern (The Easiest Fern to Grow)

Caring for Your Newly Replanted Succulents

Try to get as much light as possible on your newly repotted succulents to prevent them from stretching out again. If you’re really having trouble, you can introduce a grow light to increase the number of hours of light that your succulents are getting each day.

Water your succulents about once every two weeks, or once every four weeks during the winter months. If your plants have very shallow roots, it can be helpful to use a spray bottle for watering them so that you don’t flood them right out of the pot by accidentally adding too much water. I love these simple clear glass spray bottles because they’re attractive enough to leave out and that way you don’t ever forget to actually use them.

Affordable gardening ideas: Top Ten Dollar Store Gardening Supplies

Do you have any stretched succulents that could use a refresh?