How To Plant Succulent Cuttings?

Believe me; growing succulents is super easy. You can propagate them from their cuttings. Plus, they don’t need much of your attention.

The succulent cuttings are commonly used for floral arrangements, cake decorations, and wedding bouquets. These plants tend to live a long life. If you plant their cuttings and take care of them, all of a sudden, you will have a new succulent plant. 

Above all, all this doesn’t cost anything either. You can do this all with a pair of pruning shears, some posts, and soil. 

In this article, you’ll learn how to plant succulent cuttings for the best results. 

When to Take Succulent Cuttings?

Take cuttings from your plant at the right time to avoid any damage to the parent plant. The bloom is the best season (late spring or early summer) to yield the best results.

Though you can take your cuttings anytime throughout the year, taking them in an active growing period will allow the plant to recover from pruning quickly. It is the time when the new cutting has enough power in it to survive on its own. 

You also need to find a good cutting. Suppose your plant is growing pups and shoots. You can cut them off and plant them just like you will plant regular cuttings. Otherwise, look for areas that require pruning and cut them. 

Large succulent plants can handle cutting pretty well and can recover fast. However, you will need smaller cuttings of smaller plants. 

Almost all succulents can propagate comfortably from cuttings. But there are some types of assaults that are difficult to propagate. These include the likes of hairy or furry succulents  

How to Plant Succulent Cuttings?

Tools You’ll Need

• A pair of pruning shears
• Small pots
• Succulent plants
• Succulent soil 

Step 1 – Cutting Spot 

Find an ideal spot on your plant to make the cut. Using your pruning shears, make a quick and even cut right through the plant’s stem.

Make sure that the cutting has at least an inch of its stem exposed that you can use to plant. You might have to remove the lower leaves if that is the case. 

Step 2 – Allowing the cutting to callous

You can’t just plant the cutting you have just taken right away into the ground. Set it aside somewhere dry for about 24 hours. It will allow the injured part to be callous over. 

Before you plant the cutting, ensure that the injured area doesn’t have any wet sections. If there aren’t any wet areas, you can begin the planting process. 

Step 3 – Plant the cuttings

Place a small plastic or terracotta pot with a well-draining succulent mix. A succulent soil mix will suffice if you are propagating from cutting in spring or summer. 

But if you are growing off-season or during the budding season (fall or winter), it is better to add some fertilizer to the soil to assist in growth. 

Suppose you don’t want to buy fertilizer from the market. You can add compost to make the soil more nutritious. You can make a DIY compost from your guinea pig apples‘ leftover meal or any other meal leftover.

Just poke a small hole right in the center of the soil mix and place the cutting gently in that hole. Once you are done with that, you can firm up the dirt. 

Remember that the lowest leaf on this cutting has to be just above the soil to prevent rotting. Don’t water the cutting right after planting it. Just place the pot in bright conditions but with indirect sunlight and let it be for a couple of weeks. 

Step 4 – Watering once the roots sprout 

In these 2 to 3 weeks, you will notice that roots are beginning to sprout from the cutting. As succulents don’t need much water, don’t overwater them.

Beware! Don’t water them before the roots tend to shoot out from the cutting. 

If you do that, you will risk rotting the newly budded roots. After 2 to 3 weeks, you can tug the top of the cutting to test the roots. If you notice some resistance, it is safe to assume that roots are growing, and you can water your cutting.

During this time, the cutting might need more frequent watering than other succulents to establish itself as a new plant. Still, you have to refrain from overwatering it. Instead, you can ensure that the top one inch of the soil completely dries out between your watering sessions. 

Step 5 – Waiting patiently 

Keep in mind that these cuttings tend to grow slowly. So, you’ll have to be patient. Within a couple of months, you should be able to see some growth.

Step 6 – Slowly move it to a more intense, lightly

You can gradually move it into more intense light as your cutting matures. But you will have to be carefully slow with this, or you will risk scorching the newly budding plant. 

Be careful not to show it too much love, or you will kill it. But, on the other hand, don’t expose it to too much sunlight, and don’t overwater it either. 

FAQs

Can you put succulent cuttings straight into the soil?

No, you cannot put succulent cutting straight into the soil after making the cut. You will have to allow it to be callous first and make sure that you let the injured be fully dry before you put it into the soil. 

How long does it take for a succulent cutting to root in soil?

When your cutting has become calloused, and you have planted it into the ground, just leave it for about 2 to 3 weeks. After that time, you will notice that the cutting is shooting our roots. 

How do you root succulent cuttings?

You don’t have to do anything to make the roots shoot out from the cutting. Leave the cutting in the soil once it has become calloused and place it in bright but indirect sunlight. After 2 to 3 weeks, the cutting will start shooting roots. 

How long can you wait to plant succulent cuttings?

As soon as you have made the cut, you will have to wait at least 24 hours to let the injured area on the cutting calloused out. Then you can plant it in the soil mix. 

Final Word

Planting succulent cutting is an effortless process, as you don’t have to do much here. Just make sure that you let the bruised area calloused out completely before you plant the cutting into the soil.

After that, you will have to leave it in bright indirect sunlight for 2 to 3 weeks, and it will start to shoot out roots. That is the time when you need to water it. 

There you go. Your cutting is well on its way to becoming a new succulent plant.

You may enjoy these related articles:

• How To Replant Succulent?
• How to Make a Succulent Terrarium?
• Why Is My Succulent Dying?