When Aeoniums Get Leggy
Got leggy succulents? Off with their heads!
When aeoniums get leggy, cut off the rosettes, leaving an inch or two of stem, and throw the rest of the plant away, roots and all.
Replant each rosette as a cutting: Insert it into the soil so the lower leaves are just above the ground. You can do it any time from fall through spring, but an ideal time is fall, after the weather cools, when the plants emerge from summer dormancy.
I show how to do it
In my new video, I show viewers how to trim and replant aeoniums---and I do it while holding my phone in one hand. It's that easy.
I go after leggy aeoniums when they start to look shabby: Every three or four years.
In the video you'll see me snap off the rosettes and use them to create a container garden---a method that's also suitable for other stem succulents.
See how to redo a garden bed in my popular video: How to Refresh an Overgrown Succulent Garden.
Arboreum species
As opposed to more mounding, shrub-forming aeoniums, Aeonium arboreum, A. arboreum 'Sunburst', Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' and others have rosettes atop ever-lengthening stems. (Arboreum means treelike, or trunk-forming.)
Aeonium arboreum atropurpureum
The plants may branch over time, and some can get quite tall. But what remains distinctive about the arboreum species are their naked trunks. Over time, these get thicker and the rosettes atop them, smaller and smaller.
Why the naked trunks?
Like most rosette succulents, aeoniums grow from their centers. At the same time, their lowest leaves wither and fall off. 
So many aeoniums!
I've grown a dozen different varieties of Aeonium in my garden for over 15 years. Learn more about their cultivation requirements and see a gallery of various kinds on my site's Aeonium page.
Related Info on This Site
Aeonium Uses, Photos, IDs, Varieties
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Aeoniums with Annie Starring ‘Lily Pad’
When succulent star Annie Schreck visited recently, we did a video about aeoniums and planted several in container gardens. Learn about handling aeoniums, and discover the lovely ‘Lily Pad’ variety.
How to Redo an Overgrown Succulent Garden
Every three or four years I redo this succulent garden outside my office window. Last time was 1-1/2 years ago when I added the fountain. It’s an important view area because I spend so much time…uh…gazing outside instead of working. (I can’t help it. The fountain doubles as a bird bath.) In my YouTube video, How to Refresh an Overgrown Succulent Garden, I…
What happens if you leave a leggy succulent alone?
Hi Mary — Generally, the trunk and/or branches get thicker and the rosette/s get smaller.
I’ve only got one stalk and nothing much else happening? How do I get it to grow offshoots?
Hi Pat — It depends on the variety. Not all aeoniums branch or produce offsets. You can’t get one to do so if it’s not in its biology.
I planted a cutting last summer. It has got long, and I wonder if I can just plant it deeper in a pot, or must I cut it?
Hi Ann — If you plant it deeper, you risk the stem rotting. There’s nothing to gain, really. It’s not like the plant will produce roots in greater quantity or faster with a long, buried stem. Rule of thumb is to cut the stem to the length that the cutting needs to stand upright. Anything longer (or deeper) is unnecessary.
I have aeoniums- green w red-brown outer edges- in several pots in different areas. They have all become very leggy and tall. The rosettes are becoming smaller and smaller. What am I doing wrong and what can I do to make them lovely again?
They are looking very unsightly.
I’ve covered this topic several times (including above) because I often deal with it. If this page doesn’t give you the help you need, hopefully this video will: Prune and Replant Aeoniums and Senecios.
I have a very big aeonium sunburst with multiple long branches with multiple large rosettes! Loving it but it has become a bit overgrown. I am afraid to cut it back as the rosettes are so big! But the soil beneath it pretty bare and I would like to fill it in. Is it a good idea to just cut a few stems with the larger rosettes and plant those in the soil next to the other large stems to fill in while clearing up some of the overgrowth? Some are about 3-4 feet tall! This was planted about 4 years ago from just one stem. I don’t want to kill it! Would love your advice! Thanks!!
What is the white powdery stuff in between the petals? How can I treat it?
I have read elsewhere that putting a fresh cut into the soil immediately may lead to rot or disease. Do you let the cuttings sit for a few days to let the cut ends callous over?
Letting the cut end callus is recommended to prevent microbes from entering the raw wound. In practice, however, it does delay planting (not a long time, maybe a day or so) which means stopping when you’re underway, gardening, and just want to get the job done. So, I don’t bother…unless it’s a valuable or finicky plant. If I’m filling a garden gap with, say, blue senecio cuttings, after preparing the soil, I cut-and-plant, cut-and-plant. Btw, I once found a pile of cuttings below my potting table. They’d been there two weeks, and looked pretty sad. I threw them away.
Hello when are the rosette heads ready for deadheading? It doesn’t look it’s best and will this encourage new growth
The rosette heads can be deadheaded whenever you get tired of looking at them. After years of watching aeoniums bloom, I’m over it, so I cut them back when the rosettes begin to elongate. This makes them branch, which is interesting, and not as long and floppy (they stay more compact). However, the rosette is going to die regardless. No, it doesn’t encourage new growth.
I need help!! I have an aeonium that has grown to be 6 ft tall! It has flowered and the leaves have died off. Please see the photo at https://photos.app.goo.gl/84Pr9NcARyhRdK987
What should I do? I’d like to keep this plant alive if possible. Should I down most of the trunk? Should I replant the part that cut off? Will the base and roots grow a new trunk and rosette(s)?
Hi David — Unfortunately, once an aeonium rosette elongates into bloom, there’s no way to prevent it from dying. However, if the main plant has other rosettes that haven’t flowered, those will continue the life of the main plant.
My aonium rosettes are falling off the plants. They are older plants. What’s going on? This hasn’t happened before.
When some species of Aeonium get old, their stems dry out and become hollow, causing the heads to fall. You’ll notice hairlike, reddish aerial roots. It’s one way the plant reproduces.
I just noticed one of my aeonium plants had 2 other plants on it which never grew and the big head fell off and now that is what the trunk looks like a dry piece of wood, is it dead at this point.
If the trunk is dry and hollow and the main rosette is drooping, that part of the plant is dead. Salvage the other two rosettes by removing them from the main stem and replanting as cuttings.
Okay, “Off with their heads!” is my new mantra for dealing with any kind of problem! 😂 Seriously though, this is a super helpful post, and I love how you make succulent pruning sound so easy, even when you’re filming with one hand! I’m definitely guilty of letting my aeoniums get a little too “leggy” – it’s like they’re trying to audition for a ballet!
The tip about replanting the rosettes is brilliant. It’s basically free succulents – who can say no to that? And I appreciate the clarification about Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’ – I always thought mine was supposed to look like a Dr. Seuss creation!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to channel my inner succulent executioner and give my garden a much-needed trim. Hopefully, I won’t accidentally decapitate anything too valuable! Thanks for the inspiring (and slightly terrifying) advice! 🌿✂️😄
Azalea! What a delightful comment! Truly made my day. Thank you. Btw I call removing succulent flowers “Morticia pruning” (an Addams Family reference to her cutting off perfectly good roses and throwing them away). It helps keep the strength in the plant. Not aeoniums, however. (Evil cackle)
What zone can you plant outside. I live in Virginia Beach. Thank you
Hi Kathleen — Aeoniums do best in Zones 8 and 9. They can handle some frost and high temps (in the high ’90s) if protected. Dappled shade is ideal, full sun in moderate coastal climates. Like their native Canary Islands and Morocco, they like a dry, maritime climate with wet winters. Aeoniums go dormant in summer, and don’t seem to do well in Florida or Hawaii—probably too humid and too much summer rain. Best region to grow them in the US is along the coast of California from the Bay Area south, to the west of mountains and deserts.