For The Stingy Succulent-lover

 My oldest daughter, Jasmine, has fallen in love with succulents and the wonder of propegation. She has spent hours reading up on the tricks and methods of propegation for different types of succulents. I love to watch her experimenting and carefully babying her little plant babies. Today she is sharing her knowledge with us in a guest post!

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I love springtime;

I love green plants.

I am crazy over succulents

and I'm Miss Conservationist

who delights in

saving her precious pennies.

This is how I grow

my succulent

collection with little cost

and great fun.

The leafless stem above

is the remains

of a leggy succulent.

Propagation

works best when 

your plant has

become

leggy and unhealthy,

with leaves

spread far apart

as the plant

tries to get

the maximum amount

of light it can.

At this point,

You have two options.

#1. Allow your

plant to continue

growing in this manner

until all the leaves

wither and the succulent

dies. 

#2. Start propogating!

To do this, start by

removing the

leaves from the stem

of the succulent, leaving only

a small rosette at the top.

When removing

the leaves from the succulent,

start with the bottom leaves

and work your way up to the top.

Wiggle each leaf gently

until you

feel a little snap.

Be sure to get a clean

pull, leaving 

no part of the leaf

attached to the stem.

The leaf nearest you

shows a clean pull. 

The one further

 away is broken on the edge

and will

not grow a new plant.

Last, cut off 

the rosette at the top with a pair of

sharp scissors.

Lay the leaves and rosette

on a saucer or a shallow tray.

Keep the saucer with the leaves

on a windowsill

that gets lots of indirect sunlight 

until they callous over.

Notice the difference between

the two leaves above.

The one closest to you has

calloused over

and has a bit of a protective

"scab" on it.

This scab will keep the

leaf from

absorbing too

much water, thus

preventing it from

rotting.

This leaf is an example

of rotting.

It has turned a

yellowish brown

and is limp and 

waterlogged.

It will die soon. 

So no watering until

the leaves

have scabbed over, you hear?

At this point,

lay your leaves on top of a

container of dry soil. 

As you can see in the picture 

below, the tips of the leaves will

really not be touching the soil at all.

  

And now, remember

that rosette

you snipped off the stem?

When it forms a "scab", 

simply place the stem into the ground

and it will grow roots and 

continue to grow.

Water it as you would

water a full grown

succulent.

Now back to those leaves.

At this point, we

begin the W and W process -

watering and waiting.

This phase can be kinda tricky

because succulents don't 

need much moisture.

Water the leaves very rarely

before baby plants begin

to grow. I water mine

once a week  with a spray bottle.

When you see tiny roots and baby

plants beginning to grow,

give them a good soaking

whenever the soil is

TOTALLY

dry.

The key here is to not over-water.

Overwatering is one of the

most common

reasons that succulents die.

 If you give them too much

water and they start to rot, 

there's basically nothing

you can do for them.

However, if your plant

isn't getting enough water, 

you can easily take

care of that!

ALWAYS err on the side of

underwatering.

After many hours and days

and weeks

and possibly even

months of waiting, 

your baby plants will be

ready for planting.

The ones in the picture

above aren't quite ready yet. 

I like to wait

until the original mother

leaf that was pulled off the stem

withers and dies.

Then simply remove the mother

leaf from your baby succulent,

( being careful

not to remove the roots)

 Place

your succulent

in well draining

succulent/cactus soil,

and continue

to water once a week,

or whenever

The soil is TOTALLY Dry.

It takes anywhere from

6 months

to one year for succulents

to reach a

"normal" size.

Make sure your babies

get lots of sunlight,

a good soaking

only when the soil is

dry, and lots

of patience.

This particular

succulent has been growing

for about 3 1/2

months,

and it's still

itty bitty.

So don't worry if it

seems like

your plants just

aren't growing, it takes awhile.

Here's an example of a

"normal size"

succulent.

Note that, although

this method of

propagation works for

most succulents,

it doesn't

for others. I've tried

propagating

blue chalk sticks

using this method with

a zero success rate.

These plants require

a cutting for 

propagation, so the point is,

 don't be afraid to experiment.

Maybe you'll find that you need

to use a different

watering method or

less sunlight than I do. 

Figure out what

works for you.

Have fun.

And whatever you do,

DO NOT OVERWATER!

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Have you tried propegating succulents? We'd love to hear your tips!