Growing Succulent from Cuttings

Growing succulents from cuttings is a much more affordable way to easily expand your succulent collection, not to mention propagating succulents is simple and fun! Nobody can guarantee 100% success in propagating plants from cuttings but this guide should give you a high success rate.

Every grower will have a method of propagating from cuttings that works best for them. This guide is based on the way that we produce thousands of plants every year and has proved the most effective method for us.

We prefer to root the majority of our succulents individually in 5.5cm pots, this pot size is perfectly suited to succulent cuttings giving plant enough room to develop. Some people prefer to root succulent cuttings in groups in larger pots or seed trays. Whichever method you use, it’s essential that you use a gritty, free-draining potting mix / compost. Choosing the right potting mix helps to ensure that your plants will not be standing in water and that there is enough air at the root. Most growers will have their own ideal compost mixture suited to their growing environment but generally all contain a base of standard potting medium (compost, often loam based) blended with ingredients to assist in drainage such as grit, sand, perlite. Loosely fill pots with your potting mix without heavily compacting the potting mix.

Stem Cuttings & Head Cuttings

To prepare stem cuttings, ensure that there is at least 1/2″ – 1″ of clear stem before the first set of leaves. Lower leaves can be removed if necessary. This will ensure that you don’t end up with buried leaves that can rot and cause the cuttings to fail. If you’ve purchased cuttings from ourselves or another grower they may well have been ‘prepared’ already. Plants most commonly propagated from stem cuttings include Crassula, Portulacaria, Senecio. Head cuttings are common for genera such as Echeveria, Graptopetalum and Sedum.

Gently push the end of the stem into the compost, applying gentle pressure to push down the compost so that around 1/2″ of the stem is inserted. The aim is not to compact the compost, it’s simply to ensure that the cutting is supported and doesn’t wobble around in its planting hole.

Offsets

Offsets are preformed babies produced by mother plants. These are detached whilst still young and can be potted in much the same way as stem cuttings. The main difference with offsets is that they are capable of rooting much faster and sometimes already have roots when detached from their mother. Propagating from offsets is common with succulents such as Gasteria, Haworthia and the more compact species of Aloe.

Where to keep your cuttings while they’re rooting

Choosing the right location for your cuttings can make a huge difference in their success rate.

• Bright, indirect light – keep them somewhere with good natural light, but avoiding prolonged exposure to direct sunlight.
• Good air movement – unlike a lot of other plants, succulents won’t root well in closed propagators. Just like the full grown plants, succulent cuttings don’t like high humidity environments.
• Comfortable temperature – Too cold and they will start to become dormant, retarding root development. Too hot and they will quickly dry out. We find that anywhere between 10°C and 25°C is ideal.

Watering succulent cuttings

Like the mature plants, cuttings from succulents have a level of water holding capacity that is greater than other plants. We tend not to water for the first week while the cuttings settle into their new environment. After the first week, we water once every 10-14 days. Allowing the compost to dry slightly before watering again. This encourages the cuttings to produce roots, seeking out the water.

It’s important to realise that every environment is different and exact watering requirements will be based on factors such as temperature and humidity, growth rate of different species and time of year. Dryness of the compost and a slight wrinkling to the leaves are the best indicators that cuttings are ready for a drink.

Ongoing care of succulent cuttings

Depending on species, most succulent cuttings will start to root within a few weeks. Some growers like to gently pull the cuttings to test whether they’re rooted or not. This can cause damage to the developing roots and slow development. We prefer the much less invasive approach of looking at the bottom of the pot to see if there are any signs of root growth.

Once you are sure that your succulent cuttings have rooted, its safe to reduce the frequency of watering a little, gradually bringing them in line with your normal cactus and succulent watering regime. For us this tends to be every 2 – 3 weeks through the growing season. You can also gradually acclimatise them to brighter light, monitoring closely and giving the plants time to adapt to brighter lighting bit by bit.