Stretched Out: Etiolation & Beheading

When succulents become stretched out, the only way to make them cute little ground-dwellers again is to behead them.
Why is it stretched out? Succulents stretch out or become "etiolated" when they don't get enough sunlight. So what can you do about this? You can buy a growlamp (I recommend a T5 growlamp) or move it to a south facing window, which gets more sunlight. Chances are, if you behead your succulent and successfully replant it, it will stretch out again unless you do something to increase its light exposure. Don't worry, stretching out is normal! Most people have super long-necked succulents after winter and annually behead their babies in the spring.

How to Behead
Get a sharp pair of scissors or a razor blade (be careful!), make a clean cut leaving behind at least two leaves on the mother plant, and snip! Let the end callous over a week, then put it in soil. It may take a week up to a month, but eventually the head will become situated and send out roots. Then, it can continue life as normal!

The mother plant will also send out new babies sideways from the stem. If you don't leave some leaves on the mother plant, there is a high chance it will die. And that would be a waste because the mother plant already has a sophisticated network of roots you don't want to just throw away. All of the off-sets that grow on the mother can also be carefully removed (with hands or tweezers) and planted separately.

Black Prince

Black Prince 1 Month Later.
Two new babies coming from the stem and a bunch of leaf propagation babies.