Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m not innately good with plants. I’m not a member of that special group of gardeners who just has a natural sense of when to water, how deeply to plant or what grows where. Yes, I’ve killed plants.
Before you take a leaf cutting, fill a new pot with a light, well-draining potting soil.
Photo Credit: John Donley
Choose a healthy, young leaf and cut it at its base with a sharp knife.
Photo Credit: John Donley
Allow your cutting to heal completely in a dry, warm spot before you plant it.
Photo Credit: John Donley
Press the healed leaf, cut-side down, into the soil. Then give it a little water and set it in a warm, partially sunny spot.
Photo Credit: John Donley
You can give your new stem cutting added stability if you tie it to a small stake until the new roots take hold.
Photo Credit: John Donley
So it follows that on my quest to become a gardener – because I truly believe that anyone can be a good gardener if they’re willing to really try – I wanted to start with something easy. Something foolproof. Something you can’t kill (at least not easily).
Enter succulents. Think about it: They can survive drought conditions (after all, they store their own water in their juicy leaves). They seem to flourish where nothing else wants to grow – in desserts, among rocks, in poor soil. They grow in the ground or in a range of containers, and they come in all shapes and sizes. You can even get varieties that flower beautifully if you want color! All they ask for is a little well-drained soil, appropriate levels of light and water and – if you want them to really shine – a few nutrients and plenty of warmth.
Different succulents (and their cousins, the cacti) thrive in different climates. Some prefer dry sun, while others like moist shade. But as a rule, they’re easy to grow (and great plants for beginners like me).
I got my first little potted succulent a while back, and so far, we’re getting along famously. I only made the mistake of overwatering once. (I forgot that it doesn’t really need any water until spring and summer, when the plant is actively growing.) Anyway, as I was reading up on succulent care and maintenance, I kept coming across articles about propagation – which simply means, in this case, that one plant can produce lots of plants if you know how to help it along. According to what I read, propagating is relatively easy and quite rewarding.
Since I’d blossomed into an experienced succulent owner by this point, I figured I’d give propagation a try. After all, what could be nicer than having a few more plants to care for and enjoy?
The first step toward a bounty of new little succulents was figuring out which method of propagation to use. I learned this really depends on the kind of succulent you’re working with. Some succulents literally propagate themselves, sending new baby plants out from their roots, up through the soil. You can just gently pull the little “babies” out and replant them in a new pot.
Making divisions is another form of propagation. This method works well with those succulents that look like tight little crowns. You just take a sharp, pointed tool (like a small shovel) and cut out some of the crowns – along with their roots – then plant elsewhere.
But taking cuttings is probably the most popular way to propagate. It works by cutting one of the plant’s stems or one of its leaves just as the plant is entering its active growth stage, usually in the spring. This method is effective for many common succulents like Haworthia, which is the kind I have.
To take a cutting, you’ll need a new pot filled with cactus potting soil. Then simply use a sharp knife to cut a healthy young leaf from your plant, and set it out to dry in a warm spot for about a week – until the wound heals completely. Once it’s healed, press the leaf, cut-side down, into your new soil. Set the pot in a partially sunny spot, water enough to keep it just damp, and in anywhere from three to 12 weeks, you should see new plantlets growing up around the leaf. When that happens, you can gently pull the plantlets out and plant them in new pots. Voilà! Not only will your parent plant be healthier, you’ll have a whole family of babies to raise now!
Take it from an amateur gardener: You can propagate your own succulents! And in the process, you’ll gain some serious confidence and enough momentum to move on to new and different gardening projects.
