How to Revive a Dying Echeveria
Echeveria are succulents native to dry, desert environments and are adapted to full sun, infrequent rainfall, warm temperatures and grow in gritty well draining soil.
The reason for a dying echeveria is usually because of overwatering and poor drainage which results in the leaves turning yellow, mushy and dying back. Drooping leaves and tall stems indicate the echeveria has insufficient sunlight.
Here is a table summarising the most common problems with echeveria…
| Symptoms of Dying Echeveria: | Reasons for Dying Echeveria: |
| Echeveria Losing its Leaves: | Lower leaves drop naturally as the plant matures. Sun burnt Leaves shrivel and drop off. Overwatering and poor drainage also results in echeveria losing leaves. |
| Echeveria Growing Tall with Drooping Leaves: | Not enough sunlight causes stretching. The leaves droop due to inadequate sunlight for photosynthesis. |
| Echeveria Leaves Turning Yellow: | Overwatering and poor drainage causing root rot. Cold temperatures and high humidity are often contributing factors. |
| Echeveria Turning Purple: | Some species of echeveria turn purple as the plant matures. Leaves can turn purple due to excessively high temperatures, or sunlight, cold temperatures and due to drought stress. |
Keep reading for how implement the solutions to save your dying echeveria…
Echeveria Losing its Leaves (Lower Leaves Dying From The Bottom Up)
Echeveria always lose their lower leaves as the plant matures. The lower leaves most often dry out, before dropping off and dying.
This does not indicate that there is anything wrong with your echeveria as it is a natural part of the plants life cycle.
The echeveria redirects its resources from the lower leaves to supporting and growing the new leaves as they are closer to a source of light.
The moisture and nutrients of the dying leaf is reabsorbed into the plant to preserve its resources.
As the leaves are reabsorbing the available nutrients in the leaf, do not try to remove it too early.
You can remove the leaves if they come away easily with some gentle manipulation but if the plant is resisting, do not try to pull the dying leaf off as this can cause unnecessary damage and you are denying the plant the opportunity to reabsorb useful resources.
Echeveria Leaves Dying Due to Sun Burn
Echeveria grow best in full sun otherwise they tend to grow leggy and the leaves droop. However if you have moved the echeveria from an area of shade to an area of intense full sun without giving the echeveria a chance to adjust to the conditions then the echeveria’s leaves can burn.
The leaves may scorch yellow brown or even turn purple depending on the level of sun burn. Once the leaves have been scorched they do not recover again.
As the leaves are scorched they can no longer photosynthesize and therefore they cost the echeveria resources without contributing anything in return.
The echeveria then reabsorbs the available nutrients from the burnt leaves which causes them to die back.
The plant should still survive as long as it has not been scorched entirely and you do not need to specially do anything for the plant to revive other then ensure you take good care of them i terms of watering and sunlight etc.
It is imperative to expose the echeveria to more light gradually to give the plant time to acclimatize rather then move them straight into full sun.
I personally have had success with moving succulents into full sun by moving the plant into 20 minutes or so more each day over the course of about 2 weeks.
The increased light intensity prevents the echeveria from turning leggy and stimulates the production of farina which is a natural white powdery substance that acts as a sun screen to prevent burning.
After the plant has adjusted to more sun, then it does not get burnt and maintains a nice compact shape.
Leaves can also drop off due to overwatering and poor drainage. Scroll down to the section about leaves turning yellow for how to revive the echeveria as the process is the same.
Echeveria Growing a Tall Stem and Drooping
Echeveria are succulents that have adapted to growing in open areas with full sun from Texas to Argentina.
Indoors the echeveria has fewer hours of light and if you do not live in a sunny climate, in a southerly latitude then the light is not at the same intensity as it would be in its native environment.
Even if the echeveria is on a window sill it may not have enough light. This results in the echeveria elitotating which causes it to grow tall and leggy, as it stretches in search of more light.
The leaves also droop in appearance if they do not have enough light as they grow weak.
Echeverias need full sun to stay a compact size. In more northerly latitudes further away from the equator the sun is often not intense enough for the echeveria’s requirements even if they are located in a South facing window.
The echeveria may also just have grown leggy as the plant matured as the lower leaves have died back.
How to Revive a Tall Echeveria with Drooping Leaves
Once the echeveria has grown tall and the leaves have drooped, the plant cannot recover its original appearance.
The drooping leaves do not stand up again, even if the plant has been moved into full sun.
