While succulents are fun plants to grow inside, most succulents are considered "full sun" plants — meaning they need a lot of light. If they don't get enough light they'll begin to stretch out, growing tall and getting more space between their leaves. This is called etiolation.

While etiolation won't inherantly kill your succulent, it's not great for them. Fortunately, there are some simple solutions to help your succulent get back on track. It's also something you can prevent if you know what you're looking for.

Most often people notice stretching with succulents grown indoors. However, it also happens outdoors when succulents are in too much shade.

Really quick, be sure to grab my FREE watering cheat sheet so you can learn how to tell if your succulents are getting too much water (and how to save them if needed).

Signs your succulent isn't getting enough light

Leaning

One of the first signs your succulent isn't getting enough sunlight is that it will start bending or leaning toward the window. When this happens, many people start to rotate their plant — such as a quarter turn every week — to help the succulent grow more upright.

While this may help the plant look a bit better, it doesn't solve the lighting problem and the succulent will continue to get stretched out.

Loss of color

Many succulents are quite colorful. This color is often brought on by stress due to temperature changes and lighting.

Without proper exposure to light, many succulents will lose their bright colors and revert to a light green.

Notice how this Echeveria 'Lola' is starting to bend toward the light and it's not quite as colorful as when I photographed it for the top dressings post.

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Drooping or flattened out leaves

Sometimes before a succulent leans or gets tall, the leaves will curl backward.

While a tightly curled up succulent is getting plenty of (or too much) sun, one that is flattening out or has it's leaves spreading out is not getting enough. This is one of the earliest signs you'll see that your succulent needs more light.

Space between leaves

Once a succulent has grown for quite a while without enough light you'll notice a lot of space between the leaves. Typically succulents are quite compact and the leaves are stacked right on top of each other.

Without enough light, the stem grows taller in between putting off new leaves. This leaves the stem much weaker than the compact growth.

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Is it unhealthy?

While they look better if they get adequate sunlight, leggy succulents will continue to grow in low lighting. They are more prone to rot due to the plant being weaker, but generally they won't die just from too little light.

Watch the video below (and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great videos) to see how to save your succulents that are growing tall!

How to prevent succulents from etiolation

The obvious answer here is to give your succulents enough light. But, when you get a new succulent or move a plant to a new location, you won't necessarily know if there is enough or too much light.

In this case, once you notice your succulent starting to stretch out — leaning, bending backward or losing color — you have a few options.

First, you can start watering less frequently. Succulents tend to grow slowly, but when they're watered regularly (but not so often they rot) they grow faster. If you're watering a succulent every two weeks and it starts stretching, cut back to watering every 3-4 weeks instead. This will slow the growth of the succulent and also reduce the effects of not getting enough light.

Water and light go hand in hand when it comes to helping your succulent grow.

Second, you can add a grow light (indoors) or move the succulent to an area that gets more light. For succulents grown indoors, supplementing with a grow light is almost always needed. Most windows don't let through enough light to keep your full sun succulents colorful and compact.

How to save stretched out succulents

Once a succulent is stretched out, it won't revert back to it's original compact height and shape. Don't worry though! You can still help your succulent.

Start by increasing the amount of light the plant is getting, or reducing your watering frequency as mentioned above.

When the new growth is compact and colorful again, it's time for a little haircut.

Use sharp scissors to chop off the top of the leggy succulent. I absolutely this pair of pruning shears. Leave at least an inch or two on the base of the succulent with 2-3 leaves attached if possible.

While I've had bare stems without leaves put off new growth, it takes much longer compared to a stem with leaves still attached. There's also a chance the bare stem won't get any new growth, it's always more fun to save it and see what happens. You might just be surprised!

The piece you cut off the top will also survive and eventually become a rooted plant. If the cutting is too tall for your liking you can cut off some of the stem to make the cutting shorter.

Remove some of the lower leaves until you have about 2" of bare stem at the bottom. New roots will eventually grow on this section and will be planted in soil.

Let both the cutting and the base dry out for a few days. Once the end of the cutting has calloused over (dried out completely and looks “scabbed”) you can plant it in soil and begin watering it.

I've found that cuttings need to be watered slightly more often than a fully rooted plant, but not much. Make sure you are using a really well draining soil so the stem doesn't get too mushy and rot. Sometimes I'll place a layer of coconut coir on top of my traditional gritty soil just to keep the top wet a bit longer and help the succulent root faster. Eventually it mixes in with the gritty mix but it still drains well.

You can also take cuttings like this even if your succulent isn't stretched out. It's a really quick and easy way to propagate succulents.

The cutting will start to put off roots, often within a couple days, but definitely within 2-3 weeks. As the roots become more established you'll want to cut back on watering so it's on the same “schedule” as a fully rooted plant.

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The base, or original plant, will start to put off new offshoots within a few weeks. You can continue to care for this plant the same as you were before making the cut.

The leaves you left on the base plant originally may fall off or die at some point. This is very normal, but won't necessarily happen.

Don't be alarmed if they do fall off though! The new rosettes will still be able to grow without the “parent” leaves.

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If you have stretched out plants, you can follow the procedure above to promote new growth, but unless you give the plants more light, the cutting and new offshoots will eventually get stretched out as well.

So, before you make the “cut”, try to find an area for your succulents where they will get more indirect sunlight than they did before or add a grow light as mentioned earlier.

Generally, you want your succulents to get as much bright, indirect sunlight as possible. Indoors this is really difficult. Especially in the winter, it is almost impossible to grow succulents without some stretching.

There are some varieties of succulents that grow well indoors without a lot of bright light too. If you don't want to water very often and if you don't want to add grow lights, those are a great option.

The next time you notice your succulents are leaning toward the light or getting a little too tall you'll know just what to do! Also know, this is something very normal that happens when growing indoors, especially if you're just getting started.

If you'd like to improve your succulent skills and get some one-on-one help with your succulents, I'd love to invite you to join the Succulent Lovers Club! Inside the club you'll have access to detailed succulent care videos, monthly Q&A calls where you can ask questions live, the chance to connect with others who love succulents (and talking about them) as much as you do, and I'll personally answer any questions you have about succulent care. I'd love to have you join!