The Untamed Optimist

you do you and people will follow

  • About
    • Q & A
  • College
  • Recipes
    • Breakfasts
    • Lunches
    • Dinners
    • Desserts
    • Snacks
    • Refreshers
  • Wellness
    • Health
  • Style
  • Garden

Explore

  • Q & A
  • About
  • Let’s Be Insta BFF’s
  • Pin Your Favorites
  • Like TUO on Facebook
  • Join the TUO Newsletter

What are you looking for today?

Garden, Houseplants · January 27, 2022

How to Grow Succulents From Clippings!

So you’re finally getting the hang of growing succulents and they’re beginning to form new buds ready for propagation… now what?

Whether you’re experimenting with your green thumb or are trying to save a plant from dying, propagation from clippings is the way to go—but don’t just stick them in the dirt and hope something magical will happen!


Growing succulents from propagated leaves doesn’t have to be difficult. Follow these five steps to a successful propagation garden in no time!

Trimming

The way you trim your succulents is key to their success in the propagation cycle. A succulent trimmed too short will leave it damaged and prone to rotting even if you follow the next few steps to a T.


For those of you who are looking to rescue a developed plant from dying of root rot, you’re going to have to inspect which leaves have not yet been affected by it first.


When it comes to trimming your succulents, you may be surprised to hear that you won’t be needing trimmers of any king! These plants are actually delicate enough to wiggle and break the leaves off for propagation, but you’ll have to be careful about damaging the leaf itself during this step.


You’ll want to support the whole leaf when breaking it away from the stem of the plant, otherwise, it could break in the middle of the leaf. This prevents the leaf from being able to move on to the next stage, compromising the propagation process.

Drying

While it may seem like an extra few days for no reason, the drying stage is critical to propagation, so don’t skip out on this step!


Remember those leaves you just plucked off? Take those and set them on a dry paper towel out of the sun. We don’t want them to completely dry, just enough to create a callus at the end that broke off.
This step takes about a day, sometimes more depending on how large the base of the leaf is, for the callus to form, so be patient and leave your cuttings alone for a while!

Planting and Rooting

Once your cuttings have developed a hard callus on the end, they’re ready for soil!
Gently place the callused end into the soil and cover, careful not to bury the entire leaf. Doing so will slow down the growth process and can potentially cause the leaf to break down in the soil rather than grow new roots.


Now, we wait. It takes a few weeks, sometimes up to a month to see signs of root growth, but don’t lose hope! Your ‘parent leaf’ may begin to shrivel as the nutrients are used to sprout a new plant.
For this reason, you should leave it attached until there are several small leaves on the rooted sprout and the parent leaf looks dead.

Watering

Watering your succulents can be one of the riskiest parts of caring for them, which is why it’s so important to monitor watering the babies too!


Since these leaves don’t have a distinguished root system yet, we can’t use the ‘flooding’ method described in my latest gardening post. Instead, get yourself a clean spray bottle and spritz the leaves twice a day.
The water should stay in the top layer of soil rather than sinking down, so the leaves will be encouraged to grow short roots at first to get their first drink. Once the leaves have 2-3 small roots growing, you can spritz them three times a day until it grows more leaves and is no longer just a sprout.

Waiting

Succulents take a long time to grow, but it’s completely worth it in the end! Make sure you stick to regular watering to keep your plants healthy or they can die rather quickly.


It will take quite a while before your propagated plants are ready for the ‘flooding’ water schedule, and they’re not going to need direct sunshine all day until there are 5-8 leaves. Leaving a sprout in the windowsill all day can dry it out, chancing the death of the plant.


Be patient with your plants while they grow and appreciate the fact that they seem to grow faster while babies than they do as ‘fully grown’ plants. Keep up your plant care and you’ll have a whole garden worth of succulents in a few months!


Succulents are confusing. Don’t be turned down by how difficult it can be to grow them, and know that if they die, there’s always a second chance to salvage the plant!


I have used these tips to save plenty of my plants after a mishap earlier this year that caused several of my succulents to be broken in half, and all of them survived since! Let me know how these tips and tricks help you to salvage your plants and grow more from those that are getting a little too big for their planters!

Posted By: byshannonamos@gmail.com · In: Garden, Houseplants

How to Grow Your Nails Long and Strong
Vegan Oat Blueberry Pancakes

You’ll Also Love

My 2021 Garden Plans Are Bigger Than Ever…
Bring Your Spring Spaces to Life With Indoor Plants!
Garden Prep Guide for Beginners: Get Ready to Grow

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • ‘Be My Valentine’ Iced Brownie Dupe
  • Managing and Maintaining 3A Curls
  • Oven Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
  • Caramelized Blueberry Topping
  • Candy Corn Cookies

Reader Favorites

Managing and Maintaining 3A Curls

20 Words of Advice for 20-Year-Olds

keep reading

  • About
    • Q & A
  • College
  • Garden
  • Instagram
  • Recipes
    • Breakfasts
    • Desserts
    • Dinners
    • Lunches
    • Refreshers
    • Snacks
  • Style
  • Wellness
    • Health
There’s nothing better than completely transform There’s nothing better than completely transforming a space with a new garden…

This shady spot in the yard misses much of the direct sun in the surrounding beds and the grass has gotten choked out by English Ivy and roots from nearby shade trees. It’s also an awkward spot to mow when those few patches of grass grow too tall. So I opted for a shade garden instead.

The only problem with adding a new garden bed in is that it can get pricey, and quick. Factoring in the time, materials, and exhaustion—it doesn’t always seem worth it until you see the bigger picture coming together.

But I had a vision for this space. An area full of plants that would thrive in these conditions and eliminate the need for future tending. No more mowing and even taller, prettier plants to view in the meantime.

So that’s what I set out to do. It’s not done yet by any means, as one day the entire area should fill itself in, and maybe then we’ll mulch between the plants. But for now, I’m perfectly fine with watching and waiting for that day to come.
I know, I know. It’s been a while since I last g I know, I know. It’s been a while since I last gave y’all any update about what’s to come with TUO! #theuntamedoptimist

Truth is, life got a little overwhelming this past month. I’m finishing up my degree, taking my business into new territories and making mistakes to learn from along the way, and then there’s the blog. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not stoked to have missed posting for y’all this month, but I did need time to focus on other important things in my life.

That being said, I’ll be tying up some loose ends this week and you can expect to see big changes coming to the blog before Mother’s Day! 🙌

I don’t want to spoil too much for now but keep an eye out because you won’t want to miss this! 😁
If you’ve kept up with my stories recently, you If you’ve kept up with my stories recently, you got to see this gem come to life after sitting for a little over 24 hours 😍

My wild violet syrup recipe is coming very soon to the blog, along with a refresher recipe showing you how to use it for an all natural pink lemonade!

Be the first to get it delivered to your inbox by signing up for the TUO newsletter 📥
to be fair, their puddle made an 8ft wave into the to be fair, their puddle made an 8ft wave into the oncoming lane

edit: why’s it look like I’m sniffin the text 🫣
eternally yearning for when my garden looks like t eternally yearning for when my garden looks like this again 🌱

but as usual, we’re taking it one day at a time around here and getting everything in line for the garden to thrive with more sunny days 🙌
if you found a boulder the size of a yoga mat, wou if you found a boulder the size of a yoga mat, would you take advantage of the opportunity? I know I couldn’t pass it up 😊
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve gotten in th It’s been a hot minute since I’ve gotten in the garden to take pics of all our current blooms, so enjoy this pic from much earlier in the season, before the daffodils all bloomed 🌼🐝

If you haven’t yet, get outside today and soak up some rays while doing something you love. Whether you’re taking a lake trip, playing fetch, or just sunbathing with a good book, there’s never a bad time to take in your environment for all it has to offer 🌅
your friendly reminder that even food bloggers eat your friendly reminder that even food bloggers eat boxed taquitos… we just go outside to take pictures with the flowers when we do 😉

I popped a couple in the air fryer and got to making some guac before stirring in my shredded lettuce for a quick avocado salad ✔️

The blue corn chips made it feel extra fancy 😎 but I’d also make room for some rice next time as this wasn’t enough to keep me full while working in the garden.
  • Q & A
  • About
  • Let’s Be Insta BFF’s
  • Pin Your Favorites
  • Like TUO on Facebook
  • Join the TUO Newsletter

Copyright © 2023 The Untamed Optimist · Theme by 17th Avenue