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February 10, 2019 in Succulents & Cacti

How to propagate succulents from division, offsets & pups, leaves cuttings, beheading & water

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I'll make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
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I get all weird about propagating succulents.

Best case scenario. I get extra plants for myself and to share with friends and family.

Worst case scenario. I kill the plant and have to say goodbye to a favorite succulent! 

So glad I cast my fears aside and took the plunge. Although I’ll readily admit that nothing teaches patience quite like propagating succulents. 

But now I have a mini succulent factory. 

The key to it all is being patient. Good things happen to succulent people who are willing to wait.

I remember checking my cuttings and leaves everyday, sometimes multiple times a day to observe zero results, no roots whatever. And then one day……it happened.

So be fruitful and multiply ya’ll! 

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How propagation succulents is a lot like potty training….

I started the propagating process weeks before Christmas hoping the hype would  distract me from helicoptering over my succulent plantlets. 

Nope.

​I hovered. Day after day. I did everything just perfect and still no roots  Not in the ones I propagated in water or the soil. Frustrating!

I waited some more. And then it happened. After about 2 weeks I noticed some growth in the plants propagated in water. It took much longer for the stems started in soil, but some still did produce roots.

Propagation is like potty training. Yup. Just when you think it’s never gonna happen and you’re hurling that pink plastic potty across the room in frustration….something clicks in their brain and they do the deed.   

It was just like potty training my daughter. I thought we’d never get there but within two weeks of being persistent we made progress.  

Succulents are the same way. Give them two weeks. Three even.

I was fussing too much wanting instant results, expecting too much too quick. Succulents are slow.

​Give them time and try different methods to see what works for you. 

Dividing – Plantlet/pup removal

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Offsets are by far my favorite propagation method. 

You do nothing and then one day just notice pups springing up next to the mother plant.

When the pups get to be 2-3 inches in size, many are ready to live on their own.

Although every succulent is a bit different, and some will take longer than others to form a decent root system.

It’s vital that the plant have a good sized root system before removing from the mother. It can take 6 months to a year for solid roots to form.

Some pups come out much easier than others so always use a clean instrument to remove. I like the spoon method! 

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When I notice that it’s time to remove a pup from the mother plant, I use a small, skinny spoon over a trowel to remove the offset.

This technique has worked well for me as a traditional trowel is too big and bulky for the job.

​Something smaller and fine-tuned is required.

Enter: My favorite ice cream spoon.

Tall, skinny and thin it’s able to dig the perfect trench around that offset ready to start a life of its own.

I was surprised by how long some of the roots were, particularly on my aloe blizzard plant but the spoon did the job right.  

​Frustrating when the spoon is needed for ice cream and is coated with dirt but I’ll get over it.

Remember that pruning or trimming the plant will likely encourage more pups to grow.   

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Shown below are plants than I’m attempting to grow from leaves, cuttings and pups. 

All get dipped in root hormone to (fingers crossed) encourage root growth.

​Some will grow. Some won’t. So what! The fun is in the attempts. 

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Dividing – Root separation

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My first observation when I acquired this haworthia coarctate was that it had two very distinct heads. 

​This excited me because my initial thought was…two for the price of one!

So it was a bit of a gamble but I decided when transplanting the hardy haworthia to try to create two plants right away.

Gently using my fingers I pulled the plants apart from each other making sure each plant had its share of the root system.

It’s been over a month now and both plants seem to be thriving! Yay.  

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Cuttings – Leaf removal

The technique is always the same when propagating succulents. 

Gently remove the leaf from the stem. Twist off leaves from the stem by wiggling them.

You need the whole leaf including the base that attaches to the stem. If the base of the leaf does not come off, or if it gets damaged, it will likely rot and not survive.

Let the cuttings dry for 3-5 days until the cut end has formed a callous or dried. This is  like when you cut your finger and several days later see a callous or scab forming. Exact same concept.

​If you don’t allow the leaf or cutting to form a scab, it will absorb too much water the first time you do water it and drown.

The scab also decreases the chance of pathogens/fungus rotting your leaves instead of rooting them.

Because succulents are drought tolerant if the cutting starts to shrivel up, it’s fine. In fact,  what a great indicator that it’s time to start watering! 

For me, sedums and echeverias can be propagated with either a leaf or a cutting, although my preference is using a leaf.

Aeoniums work with cuttings only meaning you likely won’t be able to propagate them with just a leaf. 

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Leaf removal is hit or miss. Depending on the plant, some work, others never do form roots. Bummer.

I took five leaves from my crinkle-leaf plant. After 8 weeks, I started to notice some significant root growth in three out of the five.

Keeping in mind, I do live in a colder climate with less humidity and less light this time of year. This delays root forming.

The other two just fizzled. They don’t look dead, but they haven’t produced any roots either. And now it’s been 9 weeks so I’m not optimistic they are going to ever produce roots.

The three that did produce roots seem as though they are capable of producing a full plant. But it is gonna take time!

I let the leaves callous over for a week this time before misting with a water bottle 3-4 times each week laying sideways in the soil tray as shown below.

When I notice the soil is dry I give them a spritz.

They were all dipped in rooting hormone to encourage root growth, too. 

Like your kids, every succulent is strangely different. If you don’t know what will work experiment to see what happens. It’s fun!

It’s safe to expect about 50% of your leaves/cuttings to product plants. The rest will die  and that’s perfectly normal.

As your new plants start to grow and form significant root systems, plant and cover in soil and occasionally mist. If you don’t, they’ll dry out and your plants will probably stop growing.

Some will take months (and more likely years) to grow to a “normal” succulent size. It’s slow and steady. Remember my potty training analogy?  

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I read not to plant your leaves upright when attempting to root them but rather lay them sideways on top of the succulent soil. 

This is because it’s the way it naturally happens in the wild. The leaves would naturally fall sideways off the mother plant as opposed to being upright. 

Since many of my leaves did result in developing roots, I’d encourage the sideways practice. 

I have tried numerous times planting the cut end of the leaf in soil but they always rotted on me. Aways!

​Cuttings are entirely different. With those, you do want to plant in soil. Since they are almost a full-grown succulent already, all they need is to be planted and watered and they should grow roots.

Remember to sterilize the scissors or whatever instrument you use to pluck the cuttings or the leaves.

​Clean is important! You don’t want to contaminate your leaves or cuttings prior to attempting to grow.

Succulents are prone to disease and rotting enough on their own! This is especially true if any part of the base gets damaged when removing from the plant. 

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Cuttings – Beheading

“Off with its head.” Succulent style. Because that’s exactly what you do when you behead a succulent. 

You chop the head off.

Certain succulents stretch out too much and get lanky. This means it’s time to trim them back. By “pruning” your succulents you get them back a manageable state and attractive size.

The top you cut off should be able to root and form an established root system in time. The key is time. Be patient!

The kalanchoe paddle plant? It gets way outta control. It was downright top heavy and you could see those stalks were sagging bringing the entire plant down.

Beheading a succulent usually causes the base of the plant to produce more babies.

​When I cut back my kalanchoe paddle plant it wasn’t long before two babies sprung up beside it. Thrilling!   

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The below succulent was getting spindly and quite unattractive. It had these longish stems that were getting ugly with just a little plant on top. 

It was also taking up too much room in my succulent pot!

So I chopped off the head that was most demanding. The stem I cut was roughly 3 inches in length.

I also removed the bottom leaves but kept the rest on. I let the stem dry and slowly roots formed!

It’s worth a try to propagate the leaves you pluck from the lower stem. Just like a cutting, let them callous for 3-5 days. Then lay flat in a tray of succulent soil. Mist every so often.

You may or may not get roots! But it doesn’t take much effort so you might as well try. 

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The below photo shows the roots that eventually formed. Exciting! But yes, I had to yank mine out of soil to take this photo.

Hopefully it will be fine when I put it back in the succulent soil lined with perlite at the bottom for drainage.

In the winter months, it’s refreshing to prune back my succulents to get them back to a nice and cute compact size.

Techniques such as beheading also allow you to create more plants to share with family and friends.  

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Water propagation

If you’ve ever attempted to propagate in water then you know one of two things will happen:

1.) To your amazement after several weeks plants start to develop whitish roots from that small plant cutting. It’s just obvious that everything is going to plan. Yay!

2.) To your utter disgust and disappointment, your plant cutting turns to mush and smells quite vile rotting in water. Time to cleanse your vase and start again. Boo-hoo. 

My experience tells me this….try again. And again. And again. Till something works.

Overall, I find water propagation to be faster than other methods.

Propagating a Chinese Money Plant in Water

Obviously I pulled this plant out of the water where it was growing to snap a quick pic.
After you carefully select a stem cutting from a succulent plant you want to propagate (leggy stems work well for this purpose) leave about two inches or more on that bare stem and stick into a small clear glass container.

Set glass/vase in a bright spot like a windowsill where it will receive plenty of bright light.

​It’s always a good idea to remove lower leaves, let the cuttings dry and allow the cutting to dry a few days until the cut end has formed a callous prior to sticking in water.

It takes about 2 weeks to see any roots form at all and about 4 weeks to see significant root growth.

After about 6 weeks you’ll want to consider taking your plants out of water and transplanting them into soil. Preferably soil suited to succulents/cactus mix with perlite lined at the bottom. 

Propagating a kalanchoe in water

Propagating a kalanchoe in Water
It might seem ironic that here I am preaching to root in water, the very medium accused of being guilty for rotting most succulents.

When rooting in water, water in itself is not the main culprit that causes the plant to rot.

Succulents that sit in wet soil are exposed to fungus and pathogens already in the soil that introduce diseases to the plant and this is what causes root rot.

This means when you are rooting in soil, don’t reuse soil from pots sitting around your house. Only fresh succulent soil will do! I like the Hoffman’s brand.

Obviously when rooting in water, the plant stem tends to stay more “pure” as they are not exposed to pathogens present in some soil.

And I’ve tried distilled water, water purified through a reverse osmosis system and regular tap water. All work fine. I never add any nutrients to the water either. 

Typically, you don’t need to change the water per se because the plant sucks up the water so just keep adding water to replenish.  

Propagating a Chinese Money Plant in Water

Propagating a Chinese Money Plant in Water

Last thoughts….

Don’t expect instant gratification with any type of propagation method you try. Very unlikely.

I read all these posts online telling me I’d get roots in 1-2 weeks. Never happened in soil! It was always much closer to the 6-8 week mark.

And what works for the “master succulent gardener” may not work for you and visa versa. You may actually get a plant to propagate that you read online is impossible to do so from cuttings or leaves.

Patience. Is. Key. As is a willingness to experiment. 

​The amount of time it takes varies depending on the time of year, temperature of the area you are propagating in, type of succulent you are propagating and humidity.

But propagation doesn’t cost much…just your time. So what are you waiting for? 

What do you do with your extra plants?

Secret code: cat

89 Comments

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chad Boyd says

    February 26, 2021 at 1:40 am

    Fingers crossed that I can make it work with these tips!

    Reply
  2. Dana says

    February 26, 2021 at 2:26 am

    I didn’t realize you could do this with succulents

    Reply
  3. Barbara Calder says

    February 26, 2021 at 5:17 am

    I usually give away my extra plants. Thanks for the great photos.

    Reply
  4. Liz Kilcher says

    February 26, 2021 at 9:47 am

    great info, thannks!!!

    Reply
  5. Audrey says

    February 26, 2021 at 12:32 pm

    Lots of great information

    Reply
  6. Bradley Marquis says

    February 26, 2021 at 2:35 pm

    cool

    Reply
  7. Belinda Rowden says

    February 26, 2021 at 2:39 pm

    I love succulents, so easy.

    Reply
  8. Marilyn Chatterton says

    February 26, 2021 at 3:17 pm

    Succulents are so popular right now. I have never had any of my own but would love to try to care for them. I adore plants and greenery. 🌿🌱❤

    Reply
  9. monique s says

    February 26, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    Succulents are one of my favorites. I love the texture and the 3-d feel of them and they are easy to care for

    Reply
  10. cynthia says

    February 26, 2021 at 3:34 pm

    I have been doing this for 30 years.

    Reply
  11. Ruthann Dulaney says

    February 26, 2021 at 3:49 pm

    I tried succulents once but it just isn’t my thing.

    Reply
  12. Gayle C Stafford says

    February 26, 2021 at 3:57 pm

    Have my plants just waiting on the right time to divide.

    Reply
  13. Rose Reeder says

    February 26, 2021 at 4:00 pm

    We are moving and will start soon

    Reply
  14. DeeAnn S says

    February 26, 2021 at 4:04 pm

    I just received my order of succulents. Can’t wait to watch them grow.

    Reply
  15. kathleen kaliszewski says

    February 26, 2021 at 4:09 pm

    great

    Reply
  16. itzy310 says

    February 26, 2021 at 5:14 pm

    I have yet to be successful with propagation.

    Reply
  17. Amber Lee Kolb says

    February 26, 2021 at 5:19 pm

    I love this!! I have so many succulents!

    Reply
  18. Monica McConnell says

    February 26, 2021 at 5:28 pm

    I absolutly love succulents. I dont know what it is about them I think they are just beautiful

    Reply
  19. paula burnham says

    February 26, 2021 at 5:29 pm

    I love succulents

    Reply
  20. KH says

    February 26, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    This was very helpful! Somehow I manage to kill even succulents so hopefully this will help my plants live 🙂

    Reply
  21. Patricia Lucey says

    February 26, 2021 at 6:01 pm

    This is my first time at this site and I was amazed with all the information about succulents. I can’t wait to receive my first order.

    Reply
  22. Dave Taube says

    February 26, 2021 at 6:07 pm

    I give my extra plants to friends and neighbors and they are always very appreciative!

    Reply
  23. Brittany Gilley says

    February 26, 2021 at 6:55 pm

    I haven’t tried propagating yet, thanks for the tips

    Reply
  24. Donna Rhodes says

    February 26, 2021 at 7:04 pm

    The whole idea of propogating plants is intimidating to me. It’s nice to see a how to article.

    Reply
  25. Sam says

    February 26, 2021 at 7:07 pm

    Root hormone- that’s a new one. Will have to look into that.

    Reply
  26. Deborah Waddell says

    February 26, 2021 at 7:20 pm

    I think I can do this!!

    Reply
  27. Ronnell Storie says

    February 26, 2021 at 7:23 pm

    Aloe vera is my only succulent. I always make sure I have 2. Know telling how many I have given away. Very handy to have for burns, scrapes, and bites.

    Reply
    • Brenda Williamson says

      February 26, 2021 at 7:40 pm

      I haven’t been successful with propagation.

      Reply
  28. Sandra McFadden says

    February 26, 2021 at 8:10 pm

    Thank you for the info. I have lost so many succulents when I brought them from outside to try to grow the inside. Thanks for sharing all this great information.

    Reply
  29. Terry Poage says

    February 26, 2021 at 9:15 pm

    Thanks for the great information. I’ve never tried to grow succulents before.

    Reply
  30. Crystal Abel says

    February 26, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    I need to divide so many succulents! Thank you for the great tips!

    Reply
  31. Janis C says

    February 26, 2021 at 10:32 pm

    Thank you for the info!!

    Reply
  32. Julie Waldron says

    February 26, 2021 at 10:48 pm

    These are some great tips! It sounds like a fun project.

    Reply
  33. Lisa O'Reilly says

    February 27, 2021 at 12:40 am

    Great tips!

    Reply