Is your plant stretching out? Let’s get the whole picture of how to fix a leggy Echeveria without cutting it back. Read along!
Stretching or “etiolation” is quite the worst thing that can happen to a pretty succulent like Echeveria. It mostly happens because of low-light conditions. Despite being hardy, succulents need their vitamin D. So, if you are trying to be gentle yet fix your leggy Echeveria, here’s how to do it without cutting it back.
Ways to Fix Leggy Echeveria Without Cutting It Back!
1. Fix the Lighting
Though etiolation is not inherently bad for your Echeveria, it can make your plant look unsightly, to say the least. A lack of sunlight affects the normal physiological processes in Echeveria, and these processes are how the succulent makes food for itself. With no food and thus no energy, your plant tries to fend for itself, stretching toward the light.
2. Slowly Introduce More Sun
If the etiolation is minimal, you can try to reverse it by shifting your plant to a brighter location like the south- or east-facing window. However, be careful when doing this, as your plant needs to adjust to the brighter light gradually. Expose it to a couple of hours of bright sunlight at the beginning, and then increase that time to 4 to 6 hours of direct sunlight.
3. Don’t Forget the Window!
Also, clean your window glass regularly! Dusty or foggy windows can block a surprising amount of sunlight. Keeping the glass clean ensures your succulent gets every bit of light it needs.
4. Use a Grow Light if Needed
And if natural sunlight is hard to come by, you can use a grow light as a backup. A simple LED grow light placed 6–12 inches above your Echeveria can help it stay compact and healthy, especially during winter or in low-light rooms.
5. Propagate Your Echeveria
Now, if your Echeveria is too far gone, you will have to propagate it. But that still does not mean you have to cut back the whole plant! What this means is you only prune (with your fingers) to propagate. Since you cannot get etiolated succulents back to their original shape, this is the next best option.
6. Propagating Through Leaf or Stem Cuttings
Propagating succulents such as the Echeveria is super easy through stem and leaf cuttings. Simply pull out your stretched-out plant from its pot and harvest all the bottom leaves, leaving only the top rosette on the main stem. Each leaf you harvest should have a curved end that can sit in the soil and produce new pups.
If you tear a leaf, throw it out; it won’t produce new Echeveria. Now this step can obviously be done with your fingers too; you can twist a leaf between your thumb and forefinger and pull it out.
After twisting off all the bottom leaves, you are left with a nice stem cutting (albeit a little stretched). But you can repot the stem and leaf cuttings into new pots with a fresh, well-draining cactus or succulent soil mix and regrow them into a gorgeous succulent!
7. Let Cuttings Callous Before Planting
Just make sure to let the cuttings callus over for a few days before planting them. This helps prevent rot and gives your cuttings a better chance to root successfully.
8. Water the Right Way
Also, once you’ve propagated, try not to overwater the babies. Mist the soil lightly every few days until roots form—then gradually water like a normal succulent.
Now, do you always have to get your pruning shears out? This was the perfect example. Try out these hacks with your Echeveria and let us know how it goes for you in the comments below!
