So, I've had these succulents for a few years now and they've grown quite a bit since I first got them... But it seems they have grown in the wrong direction!

I've only recently been getting into plants as a hobby and these three succulents have been neglected for a few years, causing them to almost die more than once (oops). They're alive and hopefully well now, but they definitely still show signs of the neglect. I'm particularly worried about the silver/purple Echeveria as the stem, besides being waaaaay too long, seems to be slowly dying.

All three plants do still produce new leaves, that's how I know they're still at least somewhat healthy, but the stems keep growing too since a lot of old leaves fall off as well.

My main question is: is there anything I can do to get these plants back to a normal height?

Hi & welcome! The 3rd one looks great to me, I wouldn't mess with it yet if it was my plant. The other 2 can be cut, let the wound dry overnight, then stick in the soil of the same pot or a new pot. I usually leave a stump about an inch long under each rosette of foliage, then stick them in as far as possible without any foliage touching the soil. Then I would cut the old stems near the soil level. You can experiment with sticking leafless chunks of stem into the soil too. They might make new foliage. Keep them in the same direction in which they were growing.

Hello and Welcome.
I find that succulents need to be cut back and repotted every 2-3 years to keep them healthy.
Make sure you have pots with great drainage, and fresh gritty soil that does not hold onto water.
"Decapitate" those long stems. Cut off the top, remove some of the leaves just below the rosette. Leave 2-3 inches of bare stem below the rosette. Let the cuttings dry for a day or two, then pot them up.
If you cut the bare long stems down to a little above the soil line, sometimes they will re-sprout from the roots or the stump.
Echeveria will often also sprout from leaf cuttings. Any loose leaves that come off can just be placed on top of soil, see what happens.
You'll be left with the long bare center part of the stem. You can try cutting it into segments, sometimes these will sprout too if placed in soil or just resting on the surface horizontally.
These plants will all look and grow better if they can get a lot more light. Keep them by the window, and if possible get a grow light over the top. I'm in Arizona, in the winter my succulents are next to a bright south facing window AND have a grow light over them that is on for 16 hours a day. This keeps them in good health through the short dark cool days of winter.

Thanks for the tips! I've indeed seen that this happens a lot when they don't get enough light, but that's what confuses me the most. They've all been on a south facing window for the past 4 years and they almost always get a minimum of 6 hours full sun a day. They've actually gotten sunburnt during summer plenty of times (a crassula that's not shown here is still recovering as well), so I don't think sunlight should be an issue?

I'll see if I can get a cheap grow light somewhere! My budget isn't very large atm as something did go wrong with my paycheck this month. But as scared as I am to do it I think I'll try cutting and repotting them! The plants just aren't very happy right now and honestly I wouldn't be too sad if I do lose them.

I've also tried sprouting new plants from leaves before but I've unfortunately discovered that for some reason my cat LOVES pulling them out of the soil with his teeth. The large plants he will leave alone, but those small ones...

Thanks for the advice you two! :D

they are compact at the top, unlike my wimpy stretched out things that get skinny over winter above nice big summer (outside) foliage.
@Baja_Costero ?

Yes, they look pretty good to me too. I don't think light is a problem, given the situation you have described. To be sure, the more natural light the better indoors, regardless.

You have been given good advice. Cut the rosettes off the top of your plants, leaving about 1cm of naked stem below the leaves. Allow the cuttings to heal for a week in a place with good ventilation. Then plant in fast draining soil (eg. 50% perlite/pumice/gritty equivalent) and wait another week to water. Using new soil will give your cuttings the best start. Keep the mother plants, which will probably branch, until you're sure the cuttings have rooted.

This process is a necessary part of keeping these plants long term. As a natural part of aging, as the stems grow longer and longer, the rosettes grow smaller and smaller, and the plant grows slower and slower. All these changes are reset by a hard reboot from a cutting.

You can just chop them down. But with Aeoniums I do it more towards Fall in my area, since they naturally go dormant when temps goes higher so not much growth going to happen. It will wait for the cooler conditions to return.
Then it will grow new little rosettes during winter to spring:



I just stuck the chopped heads in any container last Fall..but I have to amend the soil with more pumice to make it really well draining. Our winter forecast then was rain..and it did get way too wet, but it was enough to drain properly and the cuttings actually did well despite the cold temps and rains. My area does not get snow thankfully.
So they are growing lower level now and has adjusted well..bushier looking actually so they all look much better.



Your location is cooler than mine I think, so your cooler temp growing period may be longer than mine, and they truly love cooler temps, 10C and above, and may start going dormant at 30C.
They do love the cool sun feel of Spring and late Fall. Summer's dry heat in my area is too much for them, so if you can use a sheer white curtain to dampen the heat, that can help your plants too. I do that to my indoor plants here..and those outdoors, just go to summer dormancy.