Succulent plant propagationSearch Drought Smart Plants here: Succulent plants are easy to propagate; many can be rooted from a leaf alone, others will root quickly from a stem cutting. Increase your collection by taking pups from Aloe, Gasteria and some other succulent plants. Learning about propagation techniques is fascinating, and fun. Many succulent plants can be grown by seed propagation, either from your own hybridization experiments, or bought from other growers or suppliers. You can take a leaf from most Echeveria, Sedum and many other succulent plants and vegetatively propagate it, or 'behead' your overgrown Echeveria to get more plantlets. Succulent plant propagation is almost like magic!
Seed PropagationSucculent Plants from SeedSome succulent plants will produce viable seed which can be germinated and give you many new hybrids, which are genetic variations of the parent plants.When your Echeveria or Aloe produce a long flower stalk with little colourful bells on it, you can take a paintbrush and transfer the pollen from one flower to another.
It's only possible to transfer the pollen from flowers that occur at the same time. This is a long term prospect as it can take months for the seed to ripen, and then more time yet to get it to germinate. I've had pots of Echeveria sitting for months, and then finally one day had some tiny baby plants germinate, so patience is the name of the game with this method of succulent plant propagation!
Vegetative Propagation of Succulents'Beheading' Your EcheveriaSometimes one of your Echeveria will get long and gangly, with a nice rosette sitting up on top of a long woody stem. This calls for beheading! Simply take the top part of the plant with the nice rosette off, leave it to callous in dry potting soil, and it will root. Don't discard the long stem though, you can use that for more succulent plant propagation! In time, little plantlets will form, usually at the top of the stem, but sometimes all down it. Wait until these have at least four to six leaves of their own. Cut the little plants off with a razor blade, leave them on the top of the soil as usual, and once rooted you can pot them up separately to make more succulent plants to trade. Propagation by PupsSome succulent plants can be propagated from pups or offsets such as Aloe, Gasteria, Haworthia and others.Simply locate the point of attachment of the pup, and either cut it off with a razor blade, or gently twist to remove it. You can pot these up right away, and in most cases they will root within a few weeks. Succulent Leaf CuttingsTo take leaf cuttings from Echeveria and similar rosette forming succulents, simply twist the leaf sideways and pull it off. Try to get the very bottom of the leaf stalk, as it may root further up, but will be reluctant to form a bud and new growth.Place your leaf or leaves on top of the soil in the parent plants pot. Leave it for up to a couple of months to callous and root. You'll see little pink roots forming and sometimes they go down into the soil by themselves, other times they wave around in the air and don't have a clue. In the picture below you can see the roots and a tiny new plant on some of the cuttings. 
At this stage, I usually help them out by putting them in their own pot, making a little depression in the center of the potting soil and then covering the roots. Try not to bury them too deeply, as sometimes the tiny emerging bud will have trouble getting to the light. Caring for Your New PlantsContrary to your intuition, which will tell you to water, they won't need it. Only water once the roots have started to go deeper into the soil, at which time don't tease it, give it a good drink. Then leave it to dry out almost completely.I can't give you a guideline of how long to leave the cutting as every house is different. If you have dry air - air conditioning or a wood stove - water sooner. If you have high humidity, then you may not have to water at all. Use your judgment and above all, have fun with your succulent plant propagation. Now that I've told you all my propagation secrets, why do you need me? Go to the succulent swap page to find out. Still looking for something? Search the Web here:
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