What to Do When Succulents Become Leggy? The Most Practical Solutions Are Here

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Text and images: Curator

Succulent plants becoming leggy usually refers to a phenomenon where a once-compact plant has its stems and leaves stretch out wildly, leaves drooping downward, branches and leaves becoming slender and weak, and the color changing from various jelly-like hues to green and white.

Leggy growth often causes the ornamental value of succulents to plummet, which is why it is something the vast majority of succulent enthusiasts dread to see. So what causes succulents to become leggy?

Generally speaking, the most direct cause is insufficient light. Therefore, do everything you can to increase the light your succulents receive. Good lighting conditions (a good care environment) can not only effectively prevent succulents from becoming leggy, but also give you the confidence to snap photos and post them on social media - my succulents are so cute.

But what if there is no way to increase the light? For example, the helpless situation mentioned earlier of having to keep them indoors in winter, the upcoming rainy season in the south, the occasional holiday when they are placed indoors for decoration... and other temporary situations where lighting worsens. This brings us to the indirect cause of leggy succulents: overwatering.

Excess moisture accelerates and spurs succulent growth, while insufficient light makes the succulent seek out light on its own - growing taller and spreading wider simply to make better use of the available light. Therefore, when lighting conditions worsen for a short period, you can consider reducing the amount of water given or stopping watering altogether, letting insufficient moisture restrain leggy growth. But this is only a temporary fix, not a fundamental solution. The best solution is still to give succulents ample light. As long as light intensity is sufficient, no amount of water will cause leggy growth - but if you water without restraint, it can lead to root rot and black rot...

Some flower lovers may also wonder: why does it seem that with similar light duration and intensity, succulents placed on a balcony or indoors become leggy more easily than those grown outdoors? For example, during a long stretch of overcast and rainy days, succulents on a balcony that never get rained on become leggy, while succulents left out in the open getting rained on do not. This issue may be related to ultraviolet light. UV light can inhibit plant growth because it increases the activity of indoleacetic acid oxidase in plants, thereby promoting the oxidation of auxin into 3-methyleneoxindole, which does not promote cell elongation. Unlike direct sunlight, as long as it is not an overcast day, there is still plenty of UV light present. Glass refracts a large amount of UV light (there is now UV-transmitting glass as well). Therefore, balconies with obstructions and indoor spaces behind glass clearly have lower UV intensity than outdoor growing environments. In addition, let us also briefly discuss the currently trending smog. Smog has a strong light-reducing effect. When smog is severe, UV light cannot penetrate, and UV light becomes much weaker. The fact that succulents grown outdoors in continuous rain do not show obvious leggy growth is also related to their usual care environment. Succulents that have always been grown outdoors receive extra UV exposure, so their auxin levels are inherently lower. Short-term environmental changes are not enough to cause drastic growth changes - with a solid foundation, of course it is not obvious.

If succulents have already become leggy, you can consider appropriately reducing water and returning them to a suitable care environment (increased light). The parts that have already become leggy cannot be changed, but new leaves growing from the top growth point can still return to being compact and plump. At this point, you can consider continuing to grow them and waiting for time, the magician, to cast its spell. As time passes, they will develop their own unique shape and their own beauty. (However... leggy parts usually have slightly poorer stress resistance and are more prone to pests and diseases, so do not count too much on this method to quickly obtain an old stump.) Besides continuing to grow them, you can also consider cutting off the normal top growth point for stem cuttings, while the leaves from the leggy parts can be pulled off for leaf propagation.

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