How Do You Know When You Need to Cut Off Succulent Leaves
Succulents, like your other houseplants, will grow over time and need to be pruned. Some need lilliputian if any pruning and some will require much more than, it but depends on the blazon of succulent and the surround. Whether you lot're deadheading, trimming, removing expressionless leaves, or making more extensive cuts, this guide on how to prune succulents will help you out.
Pruning succulents is easy. They by and large don't need it on a regular basis, maybe once every year or two. How I clip my indoor succulents is the aforementioned as how I prune my outdoor succulents. The latter grow faster and need it a bit more than often.
Check out more posts from our Succulents Indoors series:
- How to Choose Succulents and Pots
- Modest Pots for Succulents
- How to Water Indoor Succulents
- 6 Most Important Succulent Care Tips
- Hanging Planters for Succulents
- 13 Common Succulent Bug and How to Avoid Them
- How to Propagate Succulents
- Succulent Soil Mix
- 21 Indoor Succulent Planters
- How to Repot Succulents
- How To Prune Succulents
- How To Found Succulents In Small Pots
- Planting Succulents In A Shallow Succulent Planter
- How to Plant and H2o Succulents in Pots Without Bleed Holes
- How To Make & Take Care Of An Indoor Delicious Garden
- Indoor Succulent Care Basics
Scout the video below to encounter pruning succulents in action!
NOTE: If you lot're interested in seeing how I prune my hanging succulents, yous'll find a video showing this towards the cease of the post.
When to Prune Succulents
The best time to prune delicious plants is during the jump and summertime months. Early fall is fine too, peculiarly if you live in a climate with warmer winters.
If your succulent breaks or spills over in winter, then past all ways prune it. I pruned my large Pencil Cactus in January because it broke during my motility in late Dec.
Otherwise, I practise my succulent pruning in spring and summer with the occasional pruning in September and October. I live in Tucson, AZ.
Why Should Y'all Clip Succulents?
There are quite a few reasons to clip them, some of which depend on the type of succulent and how it grows. They include: aesthetics (yous want it to grow and look a certain fashion), to control the overall size, legginess, to thin out, to remove broken or dried stems, to rejuvenate and stimulate new growth, to propagate, to deadhead flowers, or to create bonsai.
Tools used
Pruners, floral snips, pair of scissors, or a pocketknife.
I utilise my trusty Felco pruners on thicker stems and Fiskar Floral Snips for thin or more delicate stems. I've used both of these pruning tools for years and wouldn't want to be without them.
Important to know
Whatever yous employ, make certain your pruning tools are make clean and sharp. This ensures a healthy cut (especially if yous're taking cuttings) and lessens the chance of infection.
How to Clip/Trim Succulents
If you're new to the wonderful earth of succulents, it'due south best to sentinel the video and to get a visual idea of how I prune. Succulents you'll run across me clip: Panda Plant, Echeveria, Sedum, String Of Buttons, Jade Institute, and Princess Pine Crassula.
Yous'll start past making a make clean cut straight across the stem.
Most succulents I know of take nodes which are the points where a leaf or side stem attaches to the main stem. The graphic in the link volition illustrate information technology for you. Information technology's best to clip one/4-one/2″ right below a node.
Where you make the cut lengthwise depends on the type of succulent and your purpose for pruning it.
How much you clip off is up to yous and the extent of pruning the succulent needs. I sometimes tip prune (pinch off the very end) and only take off an inch or 2.
When I recently pruned my Pencil Cactus and Grey Fishhooks, I took off 3′ and iv′ stems. The Pencil Cactus had broken stems and wasn't able to stand up on its own. Because of the pruning, it doesn't demand to be staked.
In regards to the Fishhooks, pruning was done to control the length, get rid of dead stems, and stimulate new shoots at the top. It grows outdoors on the patio outside my kitchen forth with 2 other hanging succulents.
Summer is very hot here in Tucson and fleshy succulents aren't their happiest at this fourth dimension of year. They look and do better if the trails are kept shorter.
I've done pruning posts on the following succulents: Pencil Cactus, gangling succulents, Christmas Cactus, Burro's Tail Sedum, Grey Fishhooks Senecio, and Paddle Plant (Flapjacks Kalanchoe).
How to Prune Gangling Succulents
I normally cut succulents down to the point where foliage is more abundant or close to the base to stimulate new growth, depending on how they're growing. One of my outdoor succulent organization pots grew gangling and I cutting all of the plants back. You can read nearly information technology hither.
I propagated all the stem cuttings and replanted them back in the same pot. Nosotros want those stalk cuttings for new plants after all!
How to Deadhead Succulents
Deadheading succulents is a proficient idea considering nobody wants to expect at dead flowers. I expect until all the flowers on the stalk die and then remove the stem. Sometimes the stem is stale and sometimes not, y'all can remove it either manner.
Removing dead leaves
Most succulents lose lower leaves as they grow taller or wider, it's their nature. One you might be familiar with is the popular Hens and Chicks.
It looks much better if you lot remove them. The expressionless leaves should pull correct off.
If yous accept a lot of discolored leaves it'south often a sign of improper watering, either likewise much or likewise fiddling. This guide on watering succulents indoors will help.
How to Prune Succulents in Pots
I wanted to add this in because this post is almost pruning succulents in pots. When I lived in Santa Barbara (an platonic climate for growing fleshy succulents), I had them growing in my front, side, and back gardens. You tin see my front end garden hither.
I pruned my succulents there more often than I do my indoor succulents here in Tucson. They grew much faster. The pruning principles were the same, but the trimmings were in greater quantity. I did it mainly to control size and grade.
What to do with Succulent Cuttings
You can either compost them, give them abroad, or propagate them. Check out this post on propagating succulents 3 simple ways for more details.
Pruning Hanging Succulents
At that place are a few reasons that I prune trailing succulents. The main i is to control the length and/or denseness.
In Santa Barbara, my hanging succulents grew fast and would oft striking the ground. Hither in Tucson, the trails look a bit ratty and dry by the end of summertime and so I clip them in tardily spring to combat this. It too stimulates new growth to appear at the pinnacle once the summertime heat subsides.
A couple of other reasons are to remove dead stems and to propagate.
My abaft succulents all have thinner stems so I use my old standby Floral Snips to exercise the pruning. I like them because they brand precise cuts on their delicate stems.
How I trim hanging succulents
FAQs About Pruning Succulents
Should I cut back my succulents?
Yes, especially if they're spindly or getting also big.
How practice y'all prune overgrown succulents?
The plants in delicious arrangements are prone to crowding each other out. You may need to clip them, mayhap aggressively, to keep shape and grade.
Can you cut off the top of a succulent?
In most cases that I can think of, yes. It'due south chosen tip pruning. What it does is control the height or width and helps the plant to fill in.
What to exercise when your succulents become also tall?
Definitely cut them dorsum.
Tin can yous cut off a slice of succulent and replant?
Yes, and you tin can repot information technology also. Make sure the cut end of the stalk heals over before you plant information technology. Check the mail on succulent propagation for more details.
Why are my succulents getting gangling?
If your succulents are getting leggy or stretched out, in that location are a few chief reasons: it's the nature of the succulent and how it grows, it's reaching for the lite source, or the calorie-free level overall is too low.
Can a delicious grow from a stem?
Aye, don't toss it!
Should you cut the expressionless flowers off a succulent?
Yes, cutting the dead flowers and the stalk off. The succulents volition wait much improve with them gone.
Why is my delicious losing its lower leaves?
Succulents losing lower leaves is part of how succulents grow. If the plant is losing a lot of leaves and they've turned yellow, information technology'south a sign something isn't correct, usually over or under-watering.
Should y'all cutting the expressionless leaves off of succulents?
Yep indeed.
Pruning and trimming succulents isn't hard at all. Follow this guide and yous'll go comfortable with it in no time!
Happy gardening,
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