How to propagate cacti and succulent plants.

You may have a favourite cacti/succulent that you want to have more of cheaply, or want to grow some for a charity event.

I will be mainly talking about vegetative propagation, cuttings etc.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Craft knife
• Clean surface
• Healthy plant
• Plant pot
• Sandy compost

1. Select a healthy strong plant. Diseased plants are not good, the plants you produce from it will also be diseased.

2. Cut the stem, length may vary, generally cut just where there is bare stem on succulents or with cacti from where the stem grows from the main body.

3. Leave to dry for a few hours-months. Bigger cuts will need longer to dry, whereas small cuts like that of a sedum will only need a couple of hours. This is to stop the cutting rotting, which is the most common cause of cuttings from succulents failing, not wilting like on normal plants.

4. When the cut has caloused over insert into a gritty compost, a cactus or seedling/cutting compost is best, do not wet it, dry compost is least likely to lead to rot.

5. Wait, they should root fairly quickly, some cuttings require bottom heat, but most dont. Smaller cuts (e.g sedum) can root in a matter of days.

Tips & Warnings

• Rooting hormone is not needed, in some cases it can actually stop or slow down the rooting process.
• Have fun, and dont stress over it, cacti are very hard to fail at taking cuttings from.
• Dont lift the cuttings out the pot to see if theyve rooted, as any root growth will be broken, making the process either longer or fail all together. Wait until you see strong growth ontop, or you see roots coming out the bottom of the pot.

[debraleebaldwin]

on 1/27/2009 The best time to take cuttings is when the plants are coming out of dormancy, which for most (but by no means all) succulents is spring. Start cuttings during the plants' main growth season, and they will take off lickety-split. -- Debra Lee Baldwin, author, Designing with Succulents (2007) and Succulent Container Gardens (2010).