Succulents are one hardy plant that everyone loves to have more of on their window sill. Propagating (produce more from a parent source) is an easy way to help your little succulents be fruitful and multiply.
Propagating from Leaves
Sometimes our tiny succulent friends drop their leaves. Maybe they were too dry. Maybe they were overwatered. Maybe they just decided it was time to jump ship and get a place of their own. Or maybe you just clip one to start a new one. Whatever the reason, save those leaves!
One lone leaf can soon become another piece of green in your plant family.
To start a new plant from leaves, follow these easy steps:
- Lay the leaf on a towel, old t-shirt, or piece of paper towel. You are going to want the cut end to dry out. We know, it sounds counterintuitive, but trust us on this.
- After it is dried out a bit, go ahead and place it on top of some potting soil. Start with a smaller pot that you will likely transfer it into later. Just let it lay on top and don’t place it in the soil yet. Again, trust us.
- Put the pot in a sunny space and mist it with water as the soil starts to dry. Not too much – likely only once or twice a week. Soon you will start to see baby roots appear!
- Off of those new roots, you will start to see the teeny plant sprout. But hold on – it’s not quite time to transplant yet! Wait until the baby plant gets to be roughly an inch and a half, maybe even two inches before you introduce it to its new home.
- When the little sprout gets big enough, carefully remove the original leaf and place the new growth in the pot. Voila! You just propagated, friend!
- Continue to care for it like your larger succulents. For a few tips on how, check out some pointers here.
Propagating from Stem
From time to time, you will have a succulent that bucks the system a bit. It might grow tall and lanky. It might start looking sickly. You may just want to thin out a grouping. Again, whatever the reason, you can use this as a chance to increase your succulent population in a few easy steps.
- Cut down the stem that you are wanting to remove. Be sure you use a clean utensil and give it a clean cut.
- If there are leaves on the side or base of the stem, go ahead and remove these as well and follow the step above for additional propagating.
- Next, if the stem is out of the soil, you will want to plant it in its own, smaller pot with fresh soil being sure to water when the soil becomes dry to the touch.
- With some light and love, you will see baby plants starting to grow around the stem in no time!
How’s that for easy peasy succulent propagation? Oh, and if your collection suddenly morphs into a greenhouse – no one has ever said no to a succulent gift!
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