Succulent Propagation

I have this love / hate relationship with plants. I soon as spring arrives, I want to see as much green as possible. I want to get my hands in the dirt and scatter plants everywhere. However, once that is done and I have to water and care for them, I’m not quite as excited about them. Anyone else with me?

Succulents, however, are one plant I can usually take care of since they require little attention. I’ve been anxious to purchase some new ones this year, but the local stores just haven’t been stocked with them. I’m assuming the temperatures have been too cold for shipping.

If you happen to recall, last year I created some succulent garden bowls. Well, this past winter I neglected them for too long and the largest one didn’t make it. (Scratch the above comment about being able to take care of succulents.)

As you can tell, there are a couple survivors, but all in all, the garden bowl is not looking good. I still love these little gardens, so I’m anxious to get new life back into them.

While most succulents aren’t crazy expensive, if you’re doing a lot of planting, the cost can add up. So today I’m going to show you how you can grow succulents from clippings of other succulents. Although this requires a little more time and work, it’s much less expensive. It’s also so easy. And if you love gardening, it’s fun as well. Let me show you.

First, you’ll need cuttings from succulents. You can just trim pieces from your own succulents, a friend’s (ask first), or you can purchase some. I found these on eBay. They were about a $1 per clipping, shipping included. I also used all the healthy pieces that survived from my succulent garden bowls.

Next, round up some soil and containers. I’m using these fancy starter containers I picked up at the store. However, you can use anything you might have on hand. Just make sure the container has good drainage (i.e., a hole in the bottom). Succulents like to stay dry. You can also plant the clipping directly in the container you want the succulent to grow in. I’ll show you that in a second.

For the soil, I like to purchase a bag of cactus / succulent mix. Again, you want something with great drainage. If you have general potting soil, you can mix in some perlite which will help with drainage.

Now, you’re ready to start planting. I like to remove as many of the “leaves” as I can from the piece of stem that will be going into the soil. Place each cutting in the soil with a minimum of one inch of the stem under the ground. This is the part where the roots will form.

Once all of your cuttings are planted, do not water for the first week. Just put them in an area with full sun to part shade and let them do their thing. After the first week, water as needed. The plants should start to root within one to two weeks.

That’s it! As your plants begin to grow, you can prune them back or take more cuttings to make even more new plants!

As I mentioned earlier, you can also plant right into a pot. I picked up this cute pot and thought it would be perfect for one of the taller succulents.

Since this pot has no drainage holes, I put plenty of stones in a layer on the bottom to give any excess water a place to sit. After that, I planted the same way as I did the other succulents.

Too cute, right?

Have you ever tried planting succulents this way? If not, give it a try and let me know how it works. I’ll keep you updated on my little collection too. Happy planting!