How to...Propagate Succulents
We’re potty about succulents here at Dor’s Garden. They are super easy to grow, make fabulous houseplants and come in a huge variety of shapes, sizes and colours. Once you have one you just need more.
Our nan Dor was way ahead of the curve on the houseplant trend! She always had a variety of houseplants growing at her home. They were part of the fabric which made those bricks and mortar Nan’s house. Dor’s plants were passed down and divided up between to us all when she passed. We’ve been enthusiastically propagating ever since so every one of us has one of each of her collection to keep the memories going.
We’re going to run through how easy and fun it is to propagate succulents from cuttings.
Succulent propagation by cuttings:
One of the easiest methods of propagating succulents is by taking leaf cuttings. In fact, you don’t even need to physically cut anything. Simply find a healthy lower leaf and very, very gently wiggle it free from the plant. It’s important that the entire leaflet comes off as a whole as it won’t grow roots or a new plant if it gets ripped or damaged. Once you’ve managed to wiggle a selection of healthy leaves free, place them somewhere safe so the ends can dry out and callous over. This can take anything from 24hrs up to a week but is vital to success.
Not every leaf may work so be sure to take a number of leaves just in case.
Once your leaves are dry, grab yourself a shallow tray with fresh cacti/succulent compost in and place the leaves on top of the soil. Pop the tray somewhere with lots of indirect sunlight either indoors on a window sill or stash them in your greenhouse. Water gently, just enough to keep the soil from drying out. After a few weeks you should start to see new roots growing along with baby plants. The original leaf will eventually die away leaving you a new little baby plant you can pot on and grow.
With varieties such as Christmas Cacti, you can gently twist of healthy leaf segments, allow to dry over night and then pop the segments either into water or some fresh cacti/succulent compost like pictured above.