Propagating Succulent Leaves
Gardeners love increasing the number of their plants without having to spend lots of money. One way to increase the number of your plants is to use succulent leaves. Succulent leaves are leaves that are fuller, more rounded, that hold more water than other types of flat leaves on trees and plants. Succulent leaves are those like the Jade plant, the Burn plant, those that belong to the crassulas and echeverias families.

Posted Monday, April 10, 2006

When you are first looking at the plant that you want to remove leaves from, choose carefully. If you are going to remove a few leaves or a large number of leaves, you want to do so without loosing the shape of your plant. To keep the general shape and appearance of your plant, take leaves from all over so you aren't left with a bald spot!

To select leaves from a succulent plant, choose a plant that was watered recently and pull off a few fresh mature leaves (thick and juicy feeling) gently so as not to damage them. Try to pull the leaves off close to the stem of the plant, without leaving stumps or portions of the leaves on the plant. Preventing this will save your plant additional stress when trying to heal.

Allow the leaf to sit and dry out for two to three days. This will allow the end of the leaf to heal a bit and then you can insert it into a well draining potting mix. The mix you are going to find the most success with when using leaves from a succulent plant is a mixture of peat and grit or the finest of sand. Keep the use of your sand to a minimum so that the roots can form and spread easily through the soil.

After leaving the leaf dry for a few days, you can use a spoon or a knife and make a hole in the soil to insert the tip of the leaf into. Try to keep from planting too close to the edge so your new plant has plenty of room to grow.

Watering will tighten the soil around the leaf, packing the soil in gently. When you find that little roots and small shoots are starting to form, you can put your young plant in the sun with the rest of your plants or you can put the plant up for sale.