Photo credit: Instagram user @plant joy
Almost all succulents will expand “if not given enough light, they become lanky. But more light-sensitive than other succulents are those that change color in response to stress. Their response can be swift, releasing etiolated “growth in just a couple of days. Additionally, stretching out succulents with rosette shapes like Echeveria, Graptoveria, and Graptosedum would make them appear worse from an aesthetic standpoint.
Can you make a succulent grow taller?
The majority of succulents are graceful low-growing plants that neatly tuck into cracks in rockeries, flower beds, pots, and between pavement stones. Although succulent pruning is not typically necessary, it is a simple procedure that can be used on plants that grow long and lose the compact character that makes them so coveted. Understanding how to trim a leggy succulent can help you get the plant back to the size you want while also giving you plant material for another one of these resilient, simple plants.
When you complain that your plant is too tall, you should regulate it. This could be caused by blooms, leaves, or stalks, and the plant may end up seeming smaller or not fitting into its original location. The type of plant you are growing will determine what to do if your succulents get too tall.
Plants go through a process known as etioliation when they are grown indoors or in other low light environments. The plant is stretching upward to catch more light, which causes the stem to lengthen. Transferring the plant to a southern exposure is the straightforward answer. But that leggy party is still left after this. Fortunately, it is possible to top leggy succulent plants, which will remove the excessively tall portion and encourage the growth of new, more compact shoots.
How should a lanky succulent be treated?
When cultivated in the right lighting conditions, succulents adore the sun and thrive. However, you’ve probably cultivated or observed a lanky, stretched-out succulent. In the area you have, these lanky or etiolated succulents aren’t getting the proper amount of light.
Not just succulent indoor plants experience this behavior. You may have seen how your plant stretches to reach as close to the sun as it can by bending toward it. As they extend toward the sun, succulents get taller and spread their leaves farther apart.
The compact shape of etiolated succulents won’t return, but you can give them a trim and grow additional succulents from the cuttings.
How to disassemble the plant and begin reproducing it in order to try again is demonstrated in this video by Laura from Garden Answer.
- Clear the foliage. Cut the roots and wholesome leaves from the succulent’s bottom half with pruners or by snapping them off. Get a break that is as spotless as you can to promote new growth. Get rid of your leaf if it tears. Up to a little bit after halfway up, remove leaves. To understand how to cut the stem and transplant it with the remaining rosette at the top, see to step three.
- Dry the leaves. After removal, let the leaves dry for a few days or until the raw ends have calloused.
- Replant the stem. New roots will be able to sprout if the stem is planted farther below where the leaves were removed. Simply clip the stem 1-2 inches from the plant’s base if it is too long for the pot. It’s alright if you have no stem at all. Simply bury the rosette in the ground to prevent it from falling out.
- Prepare to expand. A tray, saucer, or other container containing Espoma’s Organic Cactus mix should have dried leaves on top of it. Avoid burying leaves in the ground. Put the container in a location that will shield it from direct sunlight.
- Spray the ground until it is damp but not soaked. When the soil seems dry to the touch, rehydrate it.
- Wait. There will be new baby roots that appear in about a month.
- Replant. You can replant your propagated succulents once they have established roots. Put them on display in a recycled planter.
- The roots should be examined every six months to determine whether you need to transfer your plants to a larger pot. Espoma’s Cactus can be used to routinely feed your succulents. For optimal results, use liquid plant food.
Why has my succulent grown in length?
When they don’t receive enough sunshine, succulents swell out. The succulent will first begin to turn and bend in the direction of the light source.
As it grows, the leaves will spread farther apart, making the plant taller.
The leaves are often smaller and paler in color than usual. The succulent will typically turn green or lose the strength of its original color when it is not exposed to sunshine.
This Echeveria ‘Lola’ is beginning to bend toward the light, and it isn’t quite as colorful as it was when I took the photo for the post about top dressings.
The majority of the time, this will occur when succulents are cultivated indoors, but it can also occur outside when succulents are exposed to too much shadow.
Your Succulent Isn’t Getting Enough Light
All plants require light, but succulents particularly crave it. Your pal may be leggy if you don’t provide a sunny area where they can soak up the light.
Insufficient sunshine causes succulents to develop lengthy stems. They begin to turn and spread out in search of light during a process known as etiolation, which gives them a “leggy appearance with a long stem and smaller, spaced-out leaves.
It can be challenging to determine how much light your plant needs right immediately because every plant is unique. Try transferring the succulent to an area where it will receive more light if you find it starting to grow a long stem without adding more leaves. You might want to think about buying a tiny tabletop grow light if your house doesn’t have a place where the sun shines.
When ought to succulents be potted again?
Evergreen succulents have always captured my heart. Succulents are low maintenance plants that thrive in containers because to their unusual forms and thick leaves; I have a large collection of these well-liked varieties.
Repotting succulents every two years is a good general rule of thumb, if only to give them access to new, fertile soil. The beginning of a succulent’s growing season is the optimal time to repot it because it provides the plant its best chance of surviving. My gardeners, Ryan and Wilmer, took advantage of the snowy weather earlier this week to repot many succulent plants and propagate a variety of cuttings. Here are some pictures of the steps we took.
In times of drought, succulents, sometimes known as fat plants, store water in their fleshy leaves, stems, or stem-root systems. Because of their eye-catching shapes, succulents are frequently planted as attractive plants.
I needed to repot a few of the succulents in my collection either they had outgrown their pots or I wanted to relocate them into more attractive clay containers.
He stamps my name and the year the pot was produced on the reverse side. When I host big events in my home, they invariably look fantastic.
To aid in drainage, a clay shard is placed over the hole. Additionally, I like using clay pots because they permit adequate aeration and moisture to reach the plant via the sides.
We always keep the shards from broken pots; it’s a fantastic method to use those parts again.
Wilmer carefully takes a succulent from its pot without damaging any of the roots.
Wilmer then conducts a meticulous test to determine if the pot is the proper size for the plant. He picks a pot just a hair bigger than the plant’s original container.
Prills are the name for osmocote particles. A core of nutrients composed of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium is covered by the prill’s beige shell.
For the finest drainage, we mix equal parts of sand, perlite, and vermiculite for succulents. The correct soil mixture will also aid in promoting rapid root growth and provide young roots with quick anchoring.
Wait a few days before watering the succulents after repotting to give them time to become used to the new soil.
Wilmer shifts to the following plant. This one too need a little maintenance attention. He picked up any fallen leaves.
In order to promote new development, Wilmer lightly pruned the roots after manually loosening the root ball.
Wilmer inserted the plant into the pot after adding some Osmocote and a little amount of potting soil.
The pale blue-gray leaves of Echevaria runyonii ‘Topsy turvy’ curve upward, are prominently inversely keeled on the bottom surface, and have leaf tips that point inward toward the center of the plant.
Echeverias are among the most alluring succulents, and plant aficionados greatly respect them for their brilliant colors and lovely rosette shapes.
An aeonium is a succulent with rosette-like leaves that grows quickly. Aeonium is a varied genus that includes little or medium-sized plants, stemless or shrub-like, and plants that favor sun or shade.
Succulents should be placed on a table so that they can get enough of natural light even when the sun isn’t shining directly on their pots.
Moreover, propagation is fairly simple. Here, Ryan uses sharp pruners to cut a three to four-inch portion of stem off the mother plant.
There should be about a half-inch of stem showing. A handful of them are ready to be planted here.
Ryan provides plenty of space for the plants. There will be plenty to use in mixed urns during the summer if all of these take root and grow into succulent plants. Four to six weeks following planting, new growth should start to show, at which point each plant should be repotted independently.
Inside my main greenhouse, all of my priceless plant collections are kept on long, sliding tables. They all have such lovely looks. Which succulents are your favorites? Please share your feedback in the spaces below.
When should cacti be pruned back?
Succulents benefit most from pruning at the start of their growing season, although you can prune them at any time. If you prune around the end of the growing season, new growth might not appear as rapidly, but it will develop gradually and accelerate once they begin to grow vigorously again.
There are numerous succulents that grow best in the summer, but there are also quite a few that grow best in the winter. To determine when your succulents are actively developing, check at this dormancy table.
My succulents are often pruned in the spring, after spending the winter indoors. Typically, they become quite stretched out and lose some of their initial beauty.
I can freshen the arrangement by pruning them without needing to buy new plants. It’s a fantastic approach to grow your garden!
How much sunlight are required for succulents?
1. Ensure that your succulents receive adequate light. Depending on the type, succulents need six hours of sunlight each day because they are light-loving plants. You might need to gradually expose newly planted succulents to full sun exposure or give shade with a translucent screen because they can burn in direct sunshine.
What does a succulent look like when it is overwatered?
How can you tell if your succulent is getting too much water? You can usually determine if a succulent is being overwatered or underwatered by looking for telltale indications. A plant that has received too much water will have soft, mushy leaves.
The leaves would either turn translucent in color or appear lighter than they would on a healthy plant. A succulent that had received too much water would frequently lose leaves readily, even when only lightly handled. Usually, the lowest leaves are the ones to suffer first.
The plant will look to be unhealthy overall. When this occurs, the plant is either being overwatered, sitting in the incorrect soil that does not dry out quickly enough, or both.
Your plants are being overwatered if you have been giving them regular waterings or if you have been following a watering schedule regardless of how the plant appears.
On the other hand, a succulent that has been submerged will have withered, wrinkled, and deflated-looking leaves. The leaves will appear thin and flat. The entire plant will appear withered and dry.
The leaves of a good succulent plant should be thick and solid, not mushy or desiccated.
To learn more about this subject, visit my post titled “How To Tell If Your Succulent is Over or Under Watered,” in which I go into great length about how you may determine whether your succulent plant is being over or under watered.
This String of Pearls ‘Senecio Rowleyanus’ plant leaf is one that has been overwatered. If a succulent’s water storage capacity has been exceeded, it may physically burst from overwatering.
Why is my succulent still inside yet growing taller?
We adore cacti. They look very charming in any room of your house, are simple to care for, and are understanding to those of us who lack a green thumb. They can withstand extreme dryness and heat both indoors and out, making them adaptable. They work well both individually and together in a container garden. It would be difficult to find someone who doesn’t gush about how lovely and simple these tiny plants are to maintain indoors.
However, nobody warns you that your succulent might begin to alter shape. Here’s some information on why your succulent might be growing taller if you’ve seen it.
Why It’s Happening
Etiolation is the process through which a succulent begins to develop a longer stem and paler, less densely packed leaves. Etiolation is most frequently brought on by a plant not receiving enough sunlight, which results in a change in the plant’s development, shape, and color. Since indoor succulents are rarely exposed to direct sunlight for lengthy periods of time, this problem most frequently affects them, however it can affect any succulent.
How To Fix Succulent Stretching
There are strategies to control the growth of your lanky plant even when it is impossible to make it again compact. Start by attempting to add extra light to its regular routine. Your succulent won’t be able to grow much longer if you do this.
Pruning your plants is the best technique to try and “recorrect” the growth. Take a sharp pair of shears, and make a cut directly above a row of leaves. Depending on the kind of succulent you own, the precise place will vary. You should leave the plant with a sufficient number of strong leaves so that it can continue to photosynthesize and survive. By doing this, you may get rid of a lot of the undesired, leggy growth without damaging the current plant. In addition, you can use the clippings to produce a fresh, healthy plant. After trimming your succulent, you should allow the cut end to completely dry in a well-lit place so that a callus can develop over the exposed end. Usually, this takes two to three days. The clipping can then be placed straight in the ground to produce roots over time.
For these new clippings and the freshly cut succulent, you can apply what you’ve learned about etiolation and how to prevent it in order to avoid repeating the same growth pattern.