What are succulents?

Before we get into the nitty gritty details about propagating succulents, let's shed some light on what succulents are. In simple terms, succulents are plants that store water in their leaves. These thrive in drier climates and are less adapted to humidity. As a result, succulent leaves tend to be fleshy and thick.

3 Main Succulent Propagation Techniques

For those who've heard the term for the first time, propagation is when you produce a new plant using an element from the old one. This element can be an offset, seed, leaf, plant cutting, or mature plant. There are 3 main techniques of succulent propagation:

• Dry succulent propagation is also known as air propagation and can be carried out simply by placing succulent elements on a tray to propagate. This method is the easiest as it requires less effort than the others.

• Water succulent propagation is when you root the succulent plant elements in the water.

• A common way is soil propagation, where you place the callused element on top of well-drained soil or in a succulent planter.

How can you propagate succulents with leaf cuttings?

When you propagate the leaves or plant cuttings, you remove an active, healthy leaf from a mature succulent plant and then use it to grow a new succulent plant. This process works best with succulent plants with fleshy leaves and plums because the leaves can easily be popped off from the plant.

The cutting off of leaves varies from succulent plant to plant. Some plant leaves require a knife, whereas the others can be popped off just by a gentle tug. While removing a leaf, ensure that you remove a healthy, undamaged one from the base of the succulent plant. Moreover, while using a knife for succulent propagation, ensure that it has been sterilized.

Once you've removed the leaf from the succulent plant, leave the leaf in a warm area with access to bright light for around four days so that the wound caused by the cut can be callous over. Once the plant cutting or succulent leaf has been calloused, it is ready to be planted into a planter. Now prepare a planter with soil, water it so it is wet, and then place the leave on the top of the soil so the leaf can propagate a succulent.

Now comes the maintenance part to ensure proper succulent growth. Whenever the soil in the planter gets dry, mist the leaves or plant cuttings using a spray bottle. Make sure to keep them in a place with plenty of sunlight and warmth. However, please do not keep the succulent leaves or plant cuttings in direct sunlight as it might damage them.

After propagation, your succulent might need a few months until it gets big enough to be repotted. It'll take around three weeks for the succulent's leaves and roots to sprout. The leaf turns brown and eventually falls off, which signifies that the succulent is ready for repotting. The leaf turns brown when the succulent receives all the plant nutrients and no longer needs them.

How can you propagate succulents with stem cuttings or plant cuttings?

This method of succulent propagation works best with plants with rosette-shaped succulents or branches stretched out on a long stem. To ensure that the process is successful, it is best to get your plant cuttings either at the end of the dormant period (winter months) or when the growth period begins (usually spring months). This maximizes and gives the succulent the best chance of survival.

You'll need a razor or a sharp sterilized knife to take a proper plant cutting from a succulent that has branches. To stay on the safer side, choose a relatively short succulent plant stem so that it is active and growing. While cutting the stem, hold the stem as close to the base as possible and then cut it cleanly from the succulent parent plant. You'll need a new plant cutting if the item is damaged while cutting. Like leaf-cutting, the stem will require four days to heal, after which it can be repotted. Once the stem has been repotted, ensure it receives plenty of bright light and water. It should take four weeks, after which it will hopefully root itself in the new planter.

You can also propagate Rosette-Shaped Succulents with stem cuttings when they start to grow a long stem due to lack of sunlight or from maturity. You can cut off the rosette with a sharp, sterile Kinfe, which leaves behind a short stem that enables repotting. The cut rosette should be allowed to heal and callous for about four days so that there is no disease or rotting when repotting the plant cuttings. The long stem from which you removed the rosette will continue to form new succulent leaves; hence you should leave it panted or plotted as it was and water it barely until there's a sign of new growth from the stem.