How to Propagate Succulents From Cuttings

One of the very best things about gardening is getting something for nothing. Propagating your own plants from seeds or cuttings is one way to do just that. Not all plants require the same techniques for propagation - this eHow focuses on growing your own succulent plants from cuttings.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cactus Mix Potting Soil
• Garden Shears
• Planting Containers

1. 

   Use a sharp knife or garden shears and remove a small piece of the plant. Cuttings should include a piece of stem if possible, or at least two leaves. See Tips, below.

2. Allow the cutting to dry for a few days in a warm, dry location, away from full sun. Succulent plants will rot if a scab has not formed over the cut end - air drying allows the cut end to form a seal.

3. Dip the cut end of the succulent cutting into a rooting hormone, after it has dried.

4. 

   Set the prepared cutting directly into a pot of pre-moistened, fast draining soil, such as cactus mix.

5. Place the newly potted cutting inside a large plastic bag. The bag will act as a miniature greenhouse and provide heat and humidity while roots are developing.

6. 

   Keep the bag away from the foliage by inserting chopsticks into the potting medium. Tie the bag closed with a twist tie or rubber band.

7. Place the bagged cutting in a bright location away from direct sun.

8. Remove the cutting from the bag after a week or 10 days.

9. Water the cutting after it has been removed from the plastic bag. Succulent plants store water in their leaves, so that they can survive while forming new roots, without supplemental water.

Tips & Warnings

• The size of the cutting you take will depend on the size of the plant. Pork-and-beans (Sedum rubrotinctum) will be a much smaller cutting than a Hen's-and-Chick's (Sempervivum tectorum). Some types of succulents, such as jade plants, can be grown from a single leaf.
• Water only when the soil feels dry to the touch.
• Avoid fertilizer until you begin to see new growth.

[debraleebaldwin]

on 1/27/2009 Covering the pot with a bag might work for tropical cacti, such as the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) you show here. But the majority of cacti and succulents are dry-climate plants, and this would be too moist an environment for them; the cuttings might rot. In general, keep cuttings on the dry side. They don't really need moisture until they form roots.
-- Debra Lee Baldwin, author, Designing with Succulents (2007) and Succulent Container Gardens (2010)