Propagating Succulents

I love growing succulents! They are easy to care for and come in great colors and textures. A pot of succulents is perfect for the deck in Maine...because they can go weeks without water and they love the sun. They thrive on neglect!


But they do need to come in for the winter...so every year I make room inside for the succulents along with the ferns and begonias I can't bear to toss out. It saves me a lot of money in the spring.

I had several containers this summer....this one sat on a table on my back patio in Lexington. I added in one of my favorite tiny perennial grasses....that I just plunked in the ground for the winter. I will pot it back up in the spring.  But the succulents had to come inside.

This one was in Maine this year...and now has moved inside to the dining room. There are a couple of buds so I will wait to cut this one back.

This whole pot was propagated from last years plants!  They did well!

Over time the succulents can get a little leggy...but they are very easy to propagate.  I was doing it wrong until a few years ago when I came across this article on Pinterest. Now I know what to do.

To propagate I top off the plants and pull off the bottom leaves exposing the stem.  Then I let them sit for several days so the ends dry out.  I used to put them in the soil right away...but I learned that the ends need to callous over or they will draw up too much moisture.  Now I know why I used to have mixed results.  I let them dry for 3-5 days....checking the ends every few days.

Here are a few of them all potted up ready to root.  I just have to find a somewhat sunny window.

The "mother" stubs should grow new plants from the places where there were leaves.  After a few years they get thick and woody so sometimes you just have to let the "mother" go.  I generally have plenty of new plants from what I topped off. The picture below is from the article. Mine on the left should do the same thing.