Succulents bolt into lanky giants, and only these two methods can save them

Beginners who have just started growing succulents may not have fully figured out the patterns of how succulents grow, and on top of cherishing them so much, they simply cannot control their hands, watering the succulents every few days.

When watered too much, the succulents cannot control the primal power within them and shoot straight up toward the sky. Well then, the result is that the succulents become leggy, no longer the plump round babies they once were, but lanky giants covered in leaves. What is to be done!

To save a "lanky giant," there are only two paths to take: either behead it to turn "one into two," or turn it into a "pseudo-old stump."

The first path: beheading, turning it back into a "plump baby"

If the succulent is not too severely leggy, we can use the beheading method to turn it back into a plump baby. Take a sharp pair of scissors, sterilize them well, aim at the middle part of the succulent's stem, and cut it off in one snip.

After cutting, disinfect both wounds with carbendazim, and place them in a cool, ventilated place to dry. The cut-off head can, after the wound heals, be cuttings-planted into a new pot. In this way, the "lanky giant" goes from "one into two," becoming two "plump babies."

However, it is not recommended to behead a succulent to get new succulents after it has become leggy from watering. This is because if the beheading process is not handled well, it may cause the succulent to become infected with fungi and die of black rot. So, we should still control our hands, wait until the potting soil is dry before watering, and absolutely never let the succulent become leggy.

The second path: plucking leaves, turning it into a "pseudo-old stump"

Some succulents become so severely leggy that, because the body is too heavy, the stem can no longer stand upright. In this case, we can pluck off all the leaves on the lower two-thirds of the stem above the soil, leaving the top one-third of the leaves, to create a "pseudo-old stump" effect.

This kind of "pseudo-old stump" is not the result of the passage of time, but rather us forcibly "aging" the succulent, which is not beneficial to the succulent's normal growth.

Whether beheading or plucking leaves, these can only make a leggy succulent look slightly better, but these methods are harmful to the succulent's own growth. It is like making a child dress up as an adult; the method of pulling up seedlings to help them grow is not advisable. When growing succulents, you must control your hands, water less, ventilate more, and give more sun. Otherwise, once the succulent becomes a "lanky giant," you will have only these two paths left to take.