What can I do?
This plant has become so leggy. It’s 2.5 feet tall. And all the lower leaves are curling under. Can I chop it off 6 inches from the top and then stick it in soil? What are my options? #SucculentSquad
0ft to light, direct
4” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 week ago
20
Best Answer
@srdesigns absolutely! That's the best way to get it back to looking healthy and fuller. Just wait a couple days for the cut end to callous over then insert it into pre-moistened soil and don't water it for a week or two to avoid it rotting. Also make sure it gets plenty of sunlight to prevent the legginess. Hope this helps 🍀
@Lifeis2short thanks. I don’t know why it got so leggy. It’s in a south facing window and gets lots of direct sun
@Lifeis2short it’s a floor to ceiling window and it is right in the window about a half foot from it.
@Lifeis2short me too. This is the setup I have. That’s a south facing window and normally I have the blinds all the way open. I closed them for this pic so it wasn’t too bright for the pic.
@SvelteKingfern it doesn’t. The sun shines right in that window most of the day. Believe me. I have to turn the AC on in my place even when it’s cold outside because the sun will warm it up so much.
@srdesigns I have about six different types of “mother” plants —I don’t think I’ve ever had a stem not root once I’ve put it in soil. These are among the most fascinating plants, at least among my collection. They are from Madagascar, and as the plate in the Earths crust that Madagascar is in has been isolated for millennia, many plants from the island are unlike anything else. In a couple years you can have several pots full of these guys if you want. They proliferate like crazy. Beware, however, as they have evolved to be an “invader”. Whether through the plantlets on the leaf edges or the roots on the stems (which are always trying to fall out of the pot so they can start a colony), once established they release toxins into the soil so that nothing else can grow. (See what I mean by invader?). They are highly invasive so be mindful not to let the beast off it’s leash ha. I think they make great gifts. They are so easy and resilient and grow fast that even non plant people I have gifted them to love three. Someone is my family is dating a former broadway person and I gifted her one of these stalks last year as this is the plant represented as Audrey 2 in little shop of Horrors. Only two of the kind that I have grow SUPER fast, which explains why this plant was chosen for Audrey 2
@TexanExpat I chopped the top off of mine and had had it sitting out for a couple of days. Plan of putting it in soil tomorrow. Then I took a bunch of the plantlets of the middle part and will try to plant them. Then I cut the middle off down to the base and was going to keep the base and roots and see what happens. It grew so fast. I got a cutting from one of Greg’s contests about a year and a half ago where I got like 20 succulent cuttings. This one grew so fast!
@srdesigns btw your plant is not leggy. This is how they look. What usually causes plants to get leggy is insufficient light. This causes the stem to stretch out (“etiolation”). The intermodal spacing between the leaves is tight , so I can tell it’s getting enough light. You can encourage bushier growth throw selective pruning. When you prune the top off, the hormones are redirected, which will cause new branches or perhaps nes stalks. The remedy to its beanstalk form is to let the plant create a colony of several stalks in the pot over time you can collect the plantlets and create a colony of hundreds in short order
@srdesigns my original one has been trimmed down to nothing multiple times. It always bounces back. The plantlets I haven’t had much luck with but perhaps that is a function of the inferno that is summer here. I like how you style your plants. Are they photoshopped? I never like how mine look in the plant profiles
@srdesigns I think they are just quirky plants. Mine do that too—I think it’s normal because they do that even when plant is flourishing
@TexanExpat I take photos in late afternoon light against a white background then edit the exposure and brightness and warmth etc on my iPhone and then copy the edits and paste them to new photos so they all look similar.
I put a tomato cage around mine. They do tend to grow every which way. Mines outside.