Propagating succulents is much easier than it sounds. In most cases all you need is a little cutting or a leaf, a bit of soil with sand, some pebbles and container, succulents are not very demanding so it can be anything, even unused cup or a bowl. No growth hormones needed.
First twist off couple of leaves or cutting and leave it in shaded place to dry for a while, otherwise they will start to rotten while placed on soil. I like to put leaves in an empty container on a book shelf where they can rest in peace.
After about 3 days put them on the top of container with soil in well lighted area but not in direct sunlight.
Keep spraying with water quite often, but not too much at the time. Some cuttings can be placed after the 3 days of resting straight in the soil if you can’t wait, such as Haworthia attenuata babies or jade necklace… the last one can be also propagated by separating stings of the plant in the roots.
Continue spraying the cuttings and leaves until they will root, it should take about 2 weeks for the roots to show, at this point they can be placed root end in the soil to speed up the process. Sometimes leaves and cuttings take longer to develop roots, as long as they are not rotting or drying out there is a chance they will root, so be patient…
Once leaves and cuttings are rooted properly place them in new pots filled with some pebbles on the bottom for drainage and soil / sand mixture. Water less often than when they were rooting.
rooting jade plant / money plant
rooting jade necklace
rooting purple Echeveria
Decorate with some colourful gravel and share with friends and family.
baby zebra cactus & jade necklace in recycled tea drinking cup
purple pearl Echeveria
zebra cactus / baby Haworthia attenuata in a new pot
NOTES
Not all leaves and cuttings will root so start with couple more than needed, just in case.
Above succulents in clay tea drinking dish were made for my sister.
Check out more articles about succulents, planting and gardening.
In the last photo that is not an Aloe vera, but a small Haworthia attenuata.
You are right Rob, this is Haworthia attenuata, I have it’s full name in the post with succulent names here: https://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/succulents-gallery-with-names/
I bought the original plant (mother of the babies) as Zebra aloe and have been calling them this ever since because it is easier to pronounce than the Latin name but I realise it may be a bit confusing to readers. I’m going to correct the name in the post. Thank you for pointing this out!
Finally, decent description for someone that is a beginner. Thank you for that post! Im Polish, always try to look for sources in polish first but nothing decent. Glad i found your article. :)
Thank you Marta, I’m glad that you found it useful!! :)
I have just finished having a good sized potting shed built. I can hardly wait, I’m going to start with succulents. I saw many years ago a wonderful succulent called baby toes and by golly they did look just like baby toes but I haven’t seen any sence. I would love to find some.
I really liked your lesson. Thanks so much.
Thank you for your comment Donna, I have never heard of baby toes succulent but it sounds lovely, I will have to look for it as well :)
Im looking to try this with my Zebra Cactus, my only question im not quite clear on is – once the leaves have started producing roots, do i only plant the tips of the leaves just enough for the roots to be in the soil, or do u plant the whole leaf fully in the soil?
Thank you for your help.
Hi Brad, with the Zebra Cactus you can put it straight in the soil as it is already the whole new baby plant. With separate leaves of Echeveria for instance I would leave them on the surface of the soil and let them root… Hope it helps.