Are you enjoying your succulent plant life? Of course, not every plant in your collection is probably thriving—some may have gotten mushy, look a bit sad, or just aren't growing like you expected. If you’re actively growing and looking after succulents, running into these kinds of issues is basically inevitable. And yes, nothing compares to the joy of bringing a struggling plant back to health through your loving care.

I get it. I get all of that—and yet, I need to say this out loud.

Do you really need to spend that much time and effort? Actually, let me rephrase: Do you have enough time to give each plant the attention it needs? One or two? Sure, no problem. But what if your collection grows to ten or even a hundred? Most people start small and gradually add more plants, without realizing how much those extra chores are eating into the "time you have to enjoy your succulent life." Time that could be spent making your plants’ environment even better.

I'm writing this as a reminder to myself. There was a time when all those extra tasks quietly stole my hours and tied up my hands and feet, until I couldn’t do what I wanted. Even when I realized it, I couldn’t let go. Only after finally summoning the courage (and, yes, holding back tears) to break free did I realize just how much of a burden those plants were.

I am determined: I’m never going back to those “cursed” days.

So here’s my declaration: If any of the following apply to a plant, “throw it out now.”

Just to be clear, this advice is mainly for folks managing over 100 plants who may be losing too much time and space without realizing it. If you’re a casual succulent grower, don’t take this as harsh; please do try bringing any of these troubled plants back to health if you want the challenge!

This is absolutely NOT about “treating life lightly.” Instead, if you realize you’re over capacity (myself included!), I hope you’ll also become more aware of how much you can really manage. Think of this as a rite of passage to help you reflect and not let it happen again.

Plants That Are Dead, Mushy, or Sunburned

There’s no need to hold onto a plant that’s obviously dead or rotted. I know—it’s hard to keep up. But honestly, if you can't even throw out the ones you KNOW should be tossed, that's a sure sign (just like I said at the start) that your time is being stolen, or those plants are truly cursed. You don’t need some magical spell; just toss them out with confidence.

These usually aren’t hard to spot. In fact, I’m showing these photos here as a kind of memorial service. Rest in peace.

The tricky ones are the cases where the growth point is still left. Sure, with the right care, those little rescued pups might recover, but they’re weaker and smaller than plants you’d grow from leaf cuttings. The stem is damaged, the odds of rooting are lower, and you have to wonder how long it’ll take before it’s a respectable plant again. More importantly, if it got mushy in the first place, it means your growing environment isn’t right. Even if you replant, there’s a high risk you’ll see the same thing happen again.

If you’re determined to give it a shot, check this out:

Plants With Cracks, Mold, or Signs of Disease

Cracked leaves (like after too much rain, similar to tomatoes), lower leaves that wither from lack of water, color changes...it’s easy to think, “It’s no big deal, it’ll bounce back.” But sometimes, these are actually signs of disease. Unlike animals, plant disease isn't easy to cure. Spraying pesticides or improving the environment might help, but the actual success rate is surprisingly low.

There's also the risk it could spread to your other plants. If you spot the signs early, it’s best to dispose of these quickly. (If it’s a rare or expensive variety and you absolutely want to save it, quarantine the pot or tray away from your other plants just in case.)

Plants That Have Shrunk or Become Smaller Than They Were

Plants shouldn’t shrink as they grow—if one used to be healthy and large, but now it’s noticeably smaller, something’s up. It’s a little like the earlier "mushy-but-the-growth-point-is-left" situation: if your plant is getting smaller, the environment isn’t right. Keeping it as is almost never leads to recovery. Sure, sometimes moving it or changing conditions helps, but it will take time. Is it worth it?

Plants That Just Won’t Root

You started out with a healthy cutting or an offset, dried it, put it in some soil, and waited. Easy, right? When was that—six months ago? A year?! If a plant isn’t rooting for a long time, it’s not just the timing or growing conditions—it’s probably gotten too weak to recover. In theory, better care might get roots to grow, but the longer it goes unrooted, the closer it gets to zero chance of success. Is there really time to save it?

Plants That Have Lost Their Variegation

I get it. Maybe you bought a pricey variegated plant, and it seemed to be growing fine… then suddenly, new leaves started coming in normal (not variegated). "It’s just this one, right?" you thought—only the next two, three leaves were normal too. Before you know it, it's just a regular old plant. No way, right? Maybe it’ll spontaneously throw out variegation again someday?

It’s possible, yes. The odds are better than a non-variegated plant randomly turning variegated. But... You might be waiting forever.

Ugly Shapes or Messy Mixed Plantings

This is where things get complicated. The plants themselves are healthy and doing their best, after all. And who decides what looks “ugly”? That’s just our (human) perspective—plants grow however works best for them! Forcing them to look a certain way is all on us, not the plant.

So maybe you try to “reshape” them—cut back, break them up, and sometimes they end up dying anyway. Sorry, little guys.

But look, the whole point of this article is to stop wasting time on that kind of fiddling. Own up to your mistakes and promise yourself not to let plants get messy again—or just don’t buy varieties that easily lose shape or grow in ways you don’t like.

Plants That Got Too Big

This is almost like the “messy shapes” problem, but here, some may see these as “impressive specimens.” Still, they take up space and become a hassle. Ideally, you’d prune or keep them in a small pot to control size before it gets out of hand, but when things get busy, it can easily become “too late.”

The other problem? No one wants your giant plants if you don’t, either—big ones are hard to rehome or sell (at auctions, large specimens rarely fetch high prices because demand is low). Sure, you might sell on Mercari, but how would you even ship them? If you have a cactus specialty shop nearby, maybe they’d take it, or you could plant it in your garden and just leave it for future generations (*kidding*... or maybe not).

If that's not for you: take an offset or two, then send the parent to the “Dismantling Kingdom”—chop it up and keep just the healthy tip if you want. One thing’s for sure: with larger plants, getting your space back is a huge win.

Plants That Won’t Even Sell Online

After all this talk about “throw everything out,” if you have healthy plants, please try to rehome them through apps like Mercari before sending them to the trash. The trouble is, plenty of plants—especially common cuttings—are so plentiful online that you can’t give them away. Even a whole bagful might only fetch a few hundred yen (if you can find a buyer at all). Multiplying plants is fun, sure, but when no one wants them, all they do is crowd out your time and space. At a certain point, the only thing you *can* do is let go.

But don’t toss everything! Keep a couple. Treat your whole succulent collection as a “giant plant” and prune off the excess, just like you’d do a hard cutback with any plant. No one criticizes a gardener for pruning extra branches!

It’s wise not to propagate too recklessly. Personally, I recommend “beheading” (cutting the top and re-rooting) over using leaf cuttings.

Plants You Just Don't Like Anymore (But Are Still Healthy)

Stop! Don't throw these away.

Sorry for the sudden about-face after all that “throw it away!” talk.

But honestly, getting rid of a healthy plant just because you’re bored or “fell out of love” is the same logic as abandoning a pet dog or cat. PUKUBOOK readers aren’t that kind of irresponsible! If it's healthy and not hurting anyone, just let it live out its life—even if it isn’t in the best spot on your shelf. It’s fine somewhere you rarely see it, or in a small pot to control its size. You don’t have to spend time or space on them—let them quietly carry on. They’ll keep living bravely, all the same.

[Bonus Round] Unused Plant Supplies

This isn’t about plants, but the same principle applies: unused gardening supplies should be thrown out too. Look around—how many do you have? I can see them from here! Pots piled up to ten times what you’d ever use, plastic pots you “plan to wash and use” but never do, accidental tweezers, fertilizers that didn’t seem to work, pesticides too fussy to use, decorative stones you just don’t like anymore, and all those “it’s not junk, it’s vintage garden decor!” pieces that have indeed become junk. Or those expensive tools you bought out of admiration but end up using Daiso stuff because it’s easier. It’s time to declutter. You probably need much less than you think.

My "Decluttering" Experience IRL

I recently had to move, which (honestly) partly explains my lag in updates. The move forced me to do a massive decluttering spree, and here’s what I learned: you can get rid of way more than you think you can, and once you own *only* what you really need, your life becomes so much easier—like, beyond compare.

Take clothes and closets: when you have fewer clothes, it’s easy to pick what to wear, coordinate outfits, and you never accidentally buy something you don't need. No guilt over unworn clothes, no struggling to force mismatched pieces to work. With fewer things, it’s easy to put everything away, so cleaning up never feels overwhelming. Your closet is always organized, so any mess really stands out, making it easy to spot and more motivating to tidy up.

Seriously, it’s stress-free. Sorting my outfits, managing stuff I never used, and struggling with hard-to-use closets used to eat up so much time and energy—I only realized after decluttering.

And honestly, “just toss a few unused things” isn’t enough. You have to go almost overboard—make it so empty you’re uncomfortable! It takes some emotional heavy-lifting for that final step. But what you gain is so worth it. You just have to try to really get that feeling.

In Conclusion

This whole decluttering and minimalist story applies *perfectly* to the world of succulents too, doesn’t it? This article is the direct result of a massive “ruthless purge” of my succulent shelf, and how I finally achieved “minimalist succulent living” and found peace again.

So I’ll never go back to being cursed. Never again.

I truly hope this is helpful to you, too.