A leggy, stretched-out succulent is almost always telling you one thing: it is not getting enough light. The plant reaches towards the brightest source it can find, the stem extends, and the leaves space out and point upwards. This stretching is called etiolation, and once it happens the stem will not shrink back.
The good news is that a leggy succulent is easy to fix and easy to prevent. Here is what is going on and what to do.
Not enough light
Succulents evolved in bright, open, sunny habitats. Indoors, they need the brightest spot you have, ideally a south- or west-facing windowsill. In low light they grow tall and thin, the gaps between leaves widen, and the tight rosette or compact shape opens out and flops. An etiolated Echeveria, for example, goes from a neat, flower-like rosette to a pale, elongated tower.
Pale or washed-out colour is part of the same story. Many succulents only show their reds, purples and blues in strong light. In a dim room, they revert to plain green as well as stretching.
If your succulent is bending towards the window rather than growing straight up, that is the same light problem in a milder form. Rotate the pot a quarter turn every few days so it grows evenly.
Can you fix a stretched succulent?
You cannot un-stretch the existing stem, but you can fix the plant. The best route is to behead and re-root it.
- Cut the top rosette off with clean scissors, leaving a few centimetres of stem.
- Let the cut end callous over for two to three days somewhere dry.
- Rest it on top of free-draining, gritty compost. Roots form within a couple of weeks.
- The bare stem left behind will often sprout new offsets, so do not throw it away.
You can propagate the individual leaves you removed too. Our guide to propagating succulents from leaves explains the method. For a general primer on tidying up stretched, leggy growth, see how to prune a leggy plant without killing it.
How to stop succulents going leggy
- Give them your brightest window. A south or west aspect is ideal. Most struggle more than a metre back from the glass.
- Add a grow light in winter. UK light levels from October to March are too low for many succulents, and this is when a lot of stretching happens. A full spectrum light such as the Pianta grow light keeps them compact through the darker months.
- Do not overwater to compensate. More water will not fix a light problem, and wet plus dark is how succulents rot. Keep them dry and bright.
If your only spot is genuinely dark, it may be worth choosing plants suited to it rather than fighting the conditions, see our low light loving houseplants. But if you have the light and want more, browse our cacti and succulents and the Echeveria collection. Get the light right from the start and legginess simply does not happen.