Succulents need a boost after the dim winter light typical of cold climates—early spring is a perfect time to assess & prep them for summer.
You’d think someone who loves gardening like me would have a house full of plants, but indoors, only the most drought-tolerant stay alive, which is why I have befriended succulents. I regularly forget to water them so I’m often offering up heartfelt apologies.
By spring, succulents need a boost, not only because of my treatment. My south-facing windows provide ample natural light, but 5 hours of horizon-hugging sun diminishes its nutritional value. By March, some succulents start looking a bit sad, showing signs of stress, others may be heading for the heights.
Leaves on spring succulents may have dried up, while stems can become as leggy and awkward as a 12 year old who’s just hit a growth spurt.
Spring succulent assessment and maintenance
First, let’s celebrate our successes! Are any of the succulents thriving?
Some plants may be perfectly content and you don’t need to change a thing. These will have dense foliage with enough space in their container to accommodate more growth over summer.
Some may be so happy they will outgrow their space this summer. In this case, a new container will be in order, but it should only be 5cm (2”) wider than its current pot.
Some plants may be so happy, they may be outcompeting their neighbours by encroaching on their space, which does need to be addressed.
How do I know if a plant needs a bigger container?
This combination photographed above, of Kalanchoe luciae (flapjack succulent or paddle plant) and Crassula ‘Bluebird’ needs to be repotted; I’ll use it as an example as its characteristics demonstrate a few reasons to consider a bigger container. These two succulents were initially planted together when they were much smaller. They are both such success stories, quickly outgrowing container after container, and now making babies. They each deserve a spacious container of their own now. I will miss them in combination though — I just love the contrast in foliage and the colour pairing. The Crassula has a gray-green colour that appears a silky, silvery-blue in sunlight, complimenting the coppers and reds of the Kalenchoe, which emerge here in spring and fall when the light is equally split between night and day. Its huge smooth leaves also contrast the smaller crinkled leaves of the Crassula. But I digress.
How can I can tell these two plants are too big for their space? There are a few ways.
Leaning leaders: The Kalanchoe is so big it’s bumping into the Crassula; it’s main stem, the leader, is leaning over to try to find room for itself. Plants have a hard time straightening out once their stems stiffen, so it’s helpful to catch this reasonably early.
Losing leaves due to shade: The Crassula is loosing leaves on one side only because it’s been shaded out by the Kalanchoe. Although I pruned it into a bushy, tree-like shape, at one time my Crassula ‘Bluebird’ had side branches distributed evenly on all sides. However, where it was shaded, its leaf clusters became stunted instead of extending into side-branches.
Stretching stems: The Kalanchoe luciae stretched its main stem to find space and sunlight, evident by its elongated stalk and gaps between its leaves. It’s naturally a ground-level creeper, so upward growth could be a sign of stress. The new growth at the top has found more sunlight resulting is denser foliage. In the summer, when I repot it, I’ll plant the cutting deeper into the soil to promote more compact growth in the future (see below.)
Making Babies: These 2 plants also have babies, which are now maturing and will need more space to thrive. Last year at this time, the Kalanchoe babies were smaller than my pinky finger, but they are now hand-height.
How do I know if plants are outcompeting their neighbours?
Some plants may be outcompeting their neighbours by encroaching on their space. Vigorous plants may shade out a neighbour, or dominate the soil space, depriving others of nutrients. If so, they may need to be put in a separate container, or next to a new neighbour that will fight back. Did you know that in the ocean, reef corals actually do that? They fight with each other over territory. I have two succulents that do this. While I considered trying them together, I don’t like the foliage combination, so instead I have isolated them into their own containers.
Did you know that ocean corals fight with each other over territory — just like succulents can?
So, how do you identify vigorous succulents where they’re in combination together in a container?Compare the growth of each plant:
Some plants may be bigger, healthier, and may have multiplied, while their neighbours may have done the opposite.
Other plants may have suffered in the wake of the dominant plant. They may not have grown any wider, with some stems dying back altogether, and few (if any) sideshoots.
For example, the Sedum clavatum pictured in the header is one of my favourite succulents, with dense clump-forming foliage in colours of soft aqua found in shallow tropical seas, but it doesn’t play well with others. It has overtaken most plants I’ve tried it in combination with, although it doesn’t like shade itself so planting it with the big Kalanchoe was a fail too. Last fall I gave up and planted this Sedum all in one pot, gave much of it a hard hair cut (see how to below), now the new growth is coming in nicely and will fill out the pot this summer.
Furthermore, the other succulents have bounced back after struggling beside the thuggish Sedum. I almost lost the Graptopelatum photographed below. Last fall, when I pulled the Sedum apart from the other succulents, its roots dominated the soil, while the Graptopelatum roots were delicate and shallow. Now, the surviving rosettes are filling out, and there are a bunch of new babies emerging from a piece of stem that was near death.
Graptopelatum ‘Purple Delight’ recovering from being overcrowded and outcompeted.
Second, don’t worry — Some succulents naturally die back a bit, and may become semi-dormant in our low winter light.
Don’t worry, they’re not dying, you’re not a plant killer — at least with succulents. This die-off occurs on the lower rings of some of my large rosette-forming succulents, like certain Aeonium and Echeveria. Plants can be triggered into dormancy or semi-dormancy because of temperature, light conditions, and drought. Many plants will dry out leaves as part of that process. Other plants naturally shed their lower leaves as part of their maturation. Whether a plant has lost leaves due to dormancy, stress, or growth, in my experience most succulents can recover, even after enduring ridiculously terrible conditions.
Don’t worry, you’re not a plant killer, some succulents become semi-dormant, and with only a few exceptions, will recover from abuse/neglect.
An accidentally abandoned Echeveria ‘Imbricata’
Owing to its Echeveria gibbiflora parentage, Echeveria ‘Imbricata’ typically sheds its bottom leaves as it matures and if it becomes semi-dormant. However, this poor specimen in the photo was accidentally abandoned, receiving water only a few times in the years after I became disabled. It is still alive though. That’s what I call a tough plant!
What do I do with my semi-dormant succulents in spring?
Easy: simply pull off all the dead, dry leaves.
If considering removing leaves that are still alive, just ugly, there are a couple things to keep in mind. Unlike dead leaves, the spot where a living leaf attaches to the stem will likely sprout a new plant or side-shoot. Also, we don’t want to damage the stem, nor the other leaves, so be gentle.
Also, assess the size of the container; these shrunken plants can still double or triple in size over their primary growing season. So, will the container accommodate a big growth spurt?
And to finish — chop chop. Be brave, some runaway stems need cutting back.
While succulents can be pruned at any time of year, I prefer early spring to ensure they fill out more densely during their primary growing season. We’ve learned that plants stretch to reach the sun in low winter light, to make room for themselves, and with the return of spring, they grow more quickly. All of these factors can contribute to leggy, runaway stems, which I trim purely for aesthetic reasons. I prefer bushy succulents with fat rosettes of foliage. I keep the removed pieces to create new plants, what’s called a cutting, a propagation method favoured by gardeners worldwide. Starting with succulents makes it easy to learn propagation methods, as they quickly grow new roots and foliage, so results are tangible. Now that I’m comfortable with several propagation methods, I have produced dozens of free plants, for inside and out in the garden!
What do I look for when I cut back my succulents?
Choose long stems with few to no side shoots.
The stems might be spindly, or wobbly, unable to support their own weight.
The densest foliage is typically found on the top half of the stem.
The foliage on the stems might be patchy, with lots of stem showing.
How to cut back succulents:
Be brave.
Use any sharp, sterile, non-serrated knife. Many succulent stems are the consistency of a melon or a cucumber so I simply use a regular kitchen paring knife. A sturdier knife is needed for those succulents with tough stems, like my Crassula and Kalenchoe pictured above. The knife must be freshly sharpened, cleaned, and sterilized. I sterilize it by quickly passing a flame over the blade (avoiding black marks), but you can choose your preferred method.
Now, chop. Cut the leggy stem off. Just do it. I swear, it’s so easy, and the succulents will survive. These tips will help though: cut just below a leaf, about 5-7cm (2-3”) above soil level, avoiding brown, dried up stems.
Create a new plant by transforming the sliced-off piece into a cutting. Cut the piece down further if needed to 7-10cm (3-4”), pull off all foliage near the base, leaving 2-5cm (1-2”) of dense foliage at the top. Make small hole in the soil with a pencil or your index finger then gently push the stem into the soil up to the dense part of the foliage. This technique is used by professionals and amateurs alike — some hybrid plants can only be multiplied like this. If you’re interested, we’ll talk about propagation methods in more detail in separate posts.
The example showcased this time is Pachyphytum oviferum (moonstone succulent, or sugared-almond plant.) Stretched out, floppy stems, with dense clusters of foliage only at the top is this succulent’s natural state in the wild, eventually shedding its bottom leaves while developing tough, nubbly stems that drape over rock cliffs. Again, I’m cutting this back for purely aesthetic reasons.
This leggy Pachyphytum oviferum is a good candidate for a hair cut; although not visible, a large proportion of the stem has flopped onto the soil, plus we can see it has patchy foliage on the lower half and has even developed wiry copper-coloured roots emerging where it wants to start anew.
This Pachyphytum oviferum is recovering nicely from getting pruned back last fall, with clusters of new foliage emerging everywhere. The cuttings that were potted up have developed into compact, new plants.
My last piece of advice to you, have fun with it, succulents are resilient.
Photo Header: Photo credit Tao Chamberlin, Land of the Living.
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