My latest obsession is the pretty succulent. They are beautiful plants and come in so many varieties and great colours. They are very hardy and need little watering (once every two weeks or once a month depending on your climate and environment) so they make a very good plant for indoors and anyone who doesn’t have a green thumb.
The great thing about these guys is you can actually grow heaps of succulents from the one plant. It’s called propagating and I’ll run you through just how to do it!
Step One:
Choose the succulent. Head to your local garden nursery or local market to pick one.
Once you’ve got your little friend home. Start by carefully removing the lower leaves. Pull off as many as you would like to propagate. Most people usually remove all the leaves from the lower level. That way you have a few if any don’t make it. Hold the leaf firmly and wiggle it until you can feel it pull away. Make sure you get the whole leaf and don’t tear it otherwise it won’t grow a new plant.
Step Two:
Your leaves should look something like this If you have correctly pulled them off in one piece.
Step Three:
Now we wait. This step is the most important!! The leaves need to dry out & callous over before we plant them or else they will absorb too much moisture,rot and die. This usually takes a few days to a week.
Step Four:
Once you feel the ends have dried over, place them in a pot or tray ontop of well drained succulent & cactus soil mixture (you can buy this in a bag from your local hardware/ garden nursery I got mine from Bunnings). Some people dip the ends of the leaves in a plant cutting mixture (contains stimulating root hormones). This speeds up the growth process. You can try this but not essential.
Leave them inside where they can get indirect sunlight. After a few weeks you will notice roots shooting out the ends of the leaves. Then very small succulents will begin to form. Lightly water once you see these. During the process if the soil is dry add water to keep the area moist. Remember too much water is not good. Succulents aren’t big fans.
Step Five:
Congratulations you've successfully growth succulents! Once they get to this size (see image below) or even like the above image. You can carefully remove the new succulents and plant them in their very own pot (remember to use a succulent cactus soil mixture) and watch them blossom! Pretty cool hey!
Now you can start getting creative and making gorgeous features out of your succulents. Mix them with other plants just like this.
Happy Gardening! x
http://kaerriie.tumblr.com/post/165872484339/how-to-propagate-succulents
