Do you know that you don’t need to spend a fortune to purchase new plants all the time? Because the ones you got in your garden can produce more baby succulents on their own! This miraculous process is called propagation. Sedum and Echeveria are two varieties of succulents that can be propagated from both leaves and cuttings, while Aeoniums can only be propagated from cuttings. This guide will give you our tips on both ways to propagate your succulents successfully.
PROPAGATION FROM LEAVES
You can simply take a leaf that has fallen from your succulents or gently remove one off the stem. Make sure to use a twisting motion to pull the leaf off the plant entirely and avoid breaking it. Poor cuttings can result in the leaves not being able to sprout roots.
Put the leaves on a paper towel until the cut ends dry out so that they will not rot when planted. After a couple of days letting the leaves dry, transfer them on top of some succulent or cactus potting soil.
<Photo via craftsy.com>
Give the leaves bright filtered sunlight and mist them with water whenever the soil dries out, about a couple times a week. Roots will start sprouting and baby plants will appear after a few weeks!
<Photo credit: thesucculenteclectic.com>
When the baby plant reaches about half an inch tall and the original leaf dries up, gently remove the leaf, scoop the baby plant out of the soil and replant it in a pot. Avoid causing too much distress to the roots, which eventually need to be covered with soil.
<Photo credit: thesucculenteclectic.com>
<Photo credit: garden.sffood.net>
PROPAGATION FROM STEM CUTTINGS
For succulents like echeverias that have etiolated, i.e, grown leggy from the lack of sunlight, propagation from stem cuttings is ideal. You can use a sharp pair of scissors to cut a piece of the succulent through the stem. The leaves on the side of the stem or the rosette on the top of the stem can also be removed.
<Photo via Needles and Leaves>
Before being buried in soil, the stem cutting needs to be let dry for a few days to prevent moisture from causing rot. Next, plant the base of the stem in soil and water a few times per week when the soil is dry.
<Photo viagarden.sffood.net>
Baby plants will start to grow around the stem in a few weeks, replacing the leaves that we removed before planting.
<Photo via pieceofeden.blogspot.com>
We hope you can now be confident to start propagating your succulents and create your own growing garden. We encourage you to experiment with multiple leaves and stem cuttings to find out the right amount of light and water that works for your succulents and stimulates new growth.
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