How to Propagate Succulents

When Dave and I moved out to Colorado, one of our first house plants was an Echeveria Succulent. We got it a few years ago for our new home, and placed it in front of a kitchen window. Since then it has stretched out and around the curtain, reaching for the direct sunlight that comes through the blinds. We started calling it our Mr. Seuss plant. It got so long that Dave had to make a support to hold it up! 

During my sister’s visit a couple months ago, she pointed out that it was starting to root. Apparently this meant that the root ball could no longer support the plant’s new size. She said I would have to cut and replant it. This terrified me, I didn’t want to kill a plant we’ve had for years. So I researched and watched a ton of videos on how to properly cut a succulent before finally doing it myself. It was scary but successful, and I am happy to report that Mr. Seuss is doing fine and is happy in its new pot!

Before making the cut, I had to remove some of the plant’s lower leaves. So the next thing I researched was how to propagate succulents, and it was actually easier than expected. Here’s what I did.

I placed the leaves on dry soil and let the ends dry out for two days. Then I sprayed the ends and surrounding soil with water every other day or so. This was to entice the leaves to form roots to collect the water. I started to see roots form after roughly three weeks, although I read it can take longer.

After the roots were more established, I started to see new growth. I couldn’t believe that there were tiny plants sprouting from the detached leaves!

I then planted each one, leaf and all, into a new pot. And just like that, I have six new succulents!