propagation – Suburban Succulents

This process is moving slowly and relatively purposefully– We are in no particular rush to disturb the succulents cause we have no intended purpose with them currently. (Announcement on Patreon Jan 1)

Around Christmas, we were graced with slightly warmer temperatures. I spent a couple afternoons working in the garage replanting succulents and setting up a better grow space. All you need is a light sweater out there with all the lights on. 😉

Long shot of part of the succulent table. This is what was repotted and cleaned up from the greenhouse.
a snapshot of the succulents in the garage on a table
This is our red/blue grow light.
Crassula tetragona growing under LED lights
Grow tray of propagated succulents under LED lights
More succulent displays planted out in the garage. Looking to be moved to their next home to grow on
Here are some echeverias potted up into their new home to hopefully grow into the summer.
The Grapto’s are finally in their own pot! Long live!

The exploration is on for a “best” set-up our space for growing plants in the garage– we have tables to move around and a couple of grow lights that we have yet to plug-in (we still need bulbs). This will increase the grow space significantly for the plants and maybe help knock them out of their winter rest period. We are preparing to pot-up succulents into 2″ pots for spring/summer sales but need to acquire more pots. The struggle is real!

Oh yes, we are still growing succulents in the greenhouse in our backyard. Varieties like Crassula, Sedums, Sempervivum, LARGE echeverias, and elephant bush are thriving and do not seem to be bothered by the cooler temperatures and rain. For now, we plan to leave these outside. The experiment continues… we’ll keep you posted.

That brings us to the inside… Inside the house, or at least downstairs has exploded with succulent arrangements and potted displays. I am starting to understand how the indoor houseplant clubs are such a popular concept in areas with cold weather conditions. Not needing to put on a coat to go outside to hang out with the succulents, what a treat! I must admit, our upstairs space has always been busting with my personal non-succulent house plants- so now, basically every room you enter our house, you can count on a breath of fresh cleaned air. 🙂 I love it!

So many succulents, so few places to store them all!
the succulents have taken over the windowsills
the succulents are happy inside the house!

With that, we hope you’ve enjoyed the photos & content we’ve posted. Let us know in the comments what suggestions you have for us to best utilize our space- inside or out! We love feedback.

If you are interested in learning more about our business goals and supporting these goals in the coming year, check us out on Patreon.

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Wishing everyone a safe New Year and hope for prosperity to come your way in 2019.

Division day happened, hundreds of plants were cut, stripped of their bottom leaves & topped to grow on...

tray of succulents — tray of leggy succulents ready for division

We set-up, we divided, we conquered, AND now we are growing a ton of new plants as a result.

So what do you do when it’s time to clean up leggy or overgrown succulents? Provide new soil, cut the plant, save the leaves (& stems if you are a succulent hoarder like myself), and use the tops in a project or plant it to grow on.

division setup — preparation of well-draining soil for our succulents

Be sure to provide new soil when you transplant any plant not just succulents. If you want more information on the benefits of a custom soil mixture for your garden, see our resources about soil recommendations, which we also offer in our store ;)… furthermore—a well-draining, porous soil is going to help when it comes to keeping your succulents alive. If your soil is mainly dirt or is a few years old, it probably won’t have a nutritious enough environment for the succulent to continue to grow properly. Basically, it will cause root rot and then becomes a breeding ground for bugs and fungi.

Here are some more helpful tips for cleaning up your leggy succulents– when you pull the leaves from the stems, be sure to get the entire leaf piece– try a twisting & slight pulling motion to remove the leaf from the stem. If you break the leaf, you still may be able to grow a new plant- I suggest saving everything as it doesn’t take up too much space and you never know what you may grow!

Before you plant your new leaves in soil be sure to let them harden off (callus) for a couple days. I have tried putting leaves directly into the soil as well as letting them harden first and I definitely get better results when I let them harden. The only caveat, if I forget to plant them a couple days later or they get overly exposed to sun/heat, the entire batch can get burnt & die. However, if you plant them right away, you run the risk of them rotting…

While waiting for your succulent leaves to callus try to avoid watering them. Be sure to place the leaves and cuttings in a dry, warm area and mist lightly with water. Same goes with the stems if you chose to keep them, just place them on top of the soil and bury any roots.

I suggest planting out your succulent leaves into large trays- spread an inch or so deep of soil to grow leaves– spread 2-3” deep of soil for larger succulent tops as they will need more soil to grow strong roots.

cut tops — tray of succulent tops that have been cut

Once you have the tops (rosettes) of your succulents cleared of the leggy mess they grew into over the last season, the world is your oyster- you can make many projects or designs or even just grow them on to get larger each year. Be sure to let the stems callus before planting into the soil to grow on.

In the photos here I have planted out trays of leaves and tops- I will use these for future projects, but for now, I am just growing them to increase the plant count of our farm. Note- I am not saving any stems as I have a separate tray of saved stems that is growing on, but for the sake of what it looks like after the division and cutting massacre, see below and as always be sure to check back for more!

Tag: propagation

The Indoor Re-Potting Continues

Succulent Division Day!

Let us know in the comments what you think?!