Succulent Propagation 101 June 18, 2009

 

In an effort to expand my succulent collection and possibly someday propagate and sell unusual specimens, I’ve been teaching myself about taking cuttings from succulents and rooting them with the hopes of having regular success.  Generally speaking, this category of plants is pretty easy to get rooted, though somewhat slow to put on new growth initially.  Some genera are straightforward; they put out “offsets” or “pups” – essentially miniature forms of the more mature plant – that can swiftly be plucked off and rooted to grow a new plant.  In fact, several species practically kick off their young’uns themselves, as in the case of my thimble cactus (Mammillaria fragilis),  which makes these plants highly successful at spreading about in their native environments.   In other cases, such as the two Agave victoriae-reginae I bought recently, the plants really don’t want to let go of those offsets.  I used a flathead screwdriver to carefully wedge the offsets away from the mother plant.  Most of my A. victoriae-reginae offsets already had roots at their base so I was able to immediately pot them  up in a loose sandy media, all of which have rooted into their pots and are putting on noticeable growth today.

 

 

 

There are, however, several succulents that had me scratching my head when I decided to get cuttings from them.  My Echeveria lilacina and Echeveria ‘Red Trump’ were both sending up shoots that initially looked like they might be the start of flowers.   I did some reading and googling and finally concluded these were actually the equivalent of offsets for these plants.  Now, I have to admit I’m not entirely sure about this, nor am I confident these cuttings will root.  However, I wanted to document my trial in case any readers are also curious about succulent propagation.

 

 

 

I first removed the entire offset shoot from the Echeveria.  I then cut each into several smaller pieces, being sure to cut below a leaf node, but leaving a little “stem” where roots will hopefully form.   I then set these cuttings out on a tray on a warm dry shelf to callous over on their cut ends.  Allowing them to callous reduces the chances of the cuttings developing a fungual rot/disease later on when they’ve rooted. 

*Just to update this post:  All of the cuttings I took of the Echeveria in this manner have rooted in and are putting on tiny little rosettes that mimic their parent plants.  Really rather adorable.   I even took a few cuttings of outright flower stems later on and they have also put out roots, though the stems is no looking a bit shriveled and no rosettes have formed.  It may take them longer or perhaps they don’t have an apical meristem in them anymore to make a new plant.  I continue to wait and will be sure to leave another update when something conclusive happens. 

 

 

 

I also took cuttings off my Aeonium ‘Kiwi’ plants.  Even though these plants are relatively small, they have put out “branches” below their main rosette, which I removed with a sharp knife right at the “trunk”.  I have read that Aeoniums in particular will root with equal success stuck directly in a well-drained potting mix or left to callous over first before sticking.  I am trying it both ways to make my own observations.  Some of these cuttings are also destined for filling in the holes on my living succulent wreath, which is doing very nicely hung up on the east wall of my house. 

 

 

 

On a recent trip to the local succulent and cacti wholesaler, I also learned about propagating cacti that have columnar forms.  You can basically slice and dice them by taking thick cross sections of a cactus, letting them callous over, and then placing them on top of potting mix.  Eventually – usually very slowly – they will root in and begin to grow into a new plant.  This method can also be used to save a rotting cactus; lop off the good part on the top and throw away the bottom rotted part.