3 Ways How to Propagate Succulent Leaves
Succulent propagation is a rewarding and budget-friendly way to grow your succulent collection. You can propagate succulent leaves in water or soil. Or propagate by doing absolutely nothing!
To successfully propagate indoors, ensure bright, indirect sunlight, and patience as you watch new baby succulents grow from your cuttings.
I have propagated succulent leaves using all three ways, multiple times, with a variety of succulents. I will share my experience and tell you which succulent propagation method works best.
Further reading: Indoor succulent care – How much sun do succulents need? – How often to water succulents?
Succulent Propagation Basics
Some succulents like the Haworthia, Gasteria, and Buddha’s temple grow offsets around their base. Propagating these baby plants is very easy. Just gently remove and plant in their own pot.
Other succulents can be propagated by stem cuttings, like the String of Pearls, Crassula Marnieriana, or Xerosicyos danguyi.
Another popular way to propagate succulents is from just the leaves. Many succulents can grow new plants from a single leaf.
Succulents with plump, fleshy leaves like Echeverias have the best chance of success. Those are a great choice if it’s your first time propagating succulents.
They also tend to grow roots faster than succulents like Sansevieria snake plants. Those can make you wait weeks or months before anything happens.
When to Propagate Succulents
Propagation can be done at any time of year but is best done during the active growing period in spring or early summer. The warmer weather and longer daylight will help encourage new growth.
How to Remove Succulent Leaves to Propagate
Look for healthy leaves to use. My experience is that larger, mature leaves grow roots faster than smaller leaves do. The success rate seems to be higher with larger leaves as well.
Carefully remove the leaf from the stem. Gently wiggle to pull the leaf off. It is very important to have a clean break. The leaf won’t grow roots if part of the leaf breaks off and another part stays attached to the parent plant.
1. Propagating Succulent Leaves in Water
To prevent rot, it is important to let the leaf cuttings dry and callus over for at least a few days.
Put the callused leaves in small, narrow-neck bottles filled with water. Try to keep their ends just above the surface of the water. If they keep falling in, you can cover the top of your bottle with a piece of plastic wrap. Poke a hole in it and stick the leaf through.
Place the cuttings in bright, indirect light. After some time, the leaves will grow roots that reach for the water. They might also already start to grow baby succulents. Once healthy root systems have developed, you can plant them in succulent potting soil.
When the propagated leaves have dried up and withered away, you can gently remove them from the new plant. Or wait until they fall off naturally. Don’t remove the original leaf until it’s dry as a bone. Before that, it is still the main source of nutrients and energy for the baby succulent.
Not every cutting will grow into a new succulent. Propagate a few leaves at the same time for more chance of success. Some succulent leaves will grow roots and new plants, while others might only grow roots, or just wilt and wither away.
2. Propagate Succulent Leaves in Soil
To propagate your succulent leaves directly in or on soil, again start by letting the leaves callus over. Fill a shallow tray with succulent soil (I like to mix in some perlite or pumice for aeration) and place the callused leaves on top.
You can also plant them in the soil with the callused end buried in the dirt. This way you just won’t get to see the roots grow.
You can use a rooting powder on your cuttings to help the roots grow faster and stronger. Dip the end of the leaves in rooting powder before you put them on or in the soil.
Water sparingly until roots start to grow. Too much water at this point will almost always cause the leaves to rot. When the leaves are on top of the soil, spray a tiny bit of water right in front of the leaves. Just to give the roots a little moisture to reach for.
When roots and/or baby succulents start to grow, water the leaf cuttings by just misting the roots. Try not to wet the leaves themselves. Do this every few days or so to make sure the roots don’t dry up.
Keep your succulent cuttings in bright, indirect light. Avoid direct sun until the new plants are more established.
When you see new growth, transfer them into their own pots. Be very careful to not disturb the roots too much. Just cover the roots with soil and keep the baby succulents above the soil.
3. Succulent Propagation by Doing Nothing
You can literally do nothing, and roots will start to grow.
The last time I did the do-nothing propagation method was because I was in a hurry, on my way out the door. A piece of my Burro’s tail succulent broke off, those leaves pop off the stem super easily. (I swear they seem to fall off by just looking at them).
I had no time to put them in water or on soil, so I took all the leaves and just threw them in a small pot and placed them on a bright windowsill. That’s all you need to do. Set and forget.
What I did do was as soon as small babies and roots started to grow, every time I walked passed them with a spray bottle, I would just spray in the pot one time and move on.
Of course, eventually, you will have to pot your baby succulents up in soil. But other than that, and waiting for nature to do what it does, there’s nothing for you to do.
Water Propagation vs. Soil Propagation – Which works better?
So which of these different succulent propagation methods is my favorite and why? I have tested all methods multiple times.
I am a big fan of water propagation for a lot of my houseplants. It didn’t disappoint. Roots showed up reasonably fast and some leaves started growing small baby succulents.
Propagating the succulent leaves on soil also saw roots and babies growing without too much of a wait or effort.
The do-nothing method gets bonus points because you don’t have to do anything. But the roots were smaller and some of the baby succulents stretched out quickly because they were not getting a lot of light. This is a little different when you just put a few leaves out on your windowsill instead of cramped in a pot.
So the race is between propagating your succulent leaves in water or on soil. My winner and advice is to propagate your succulent leaves in soil. Skip the water.
Both methods can work. But in my experience, the roots that grow from the leaves on the soil are stronger and firmer than the water roots.
On top of that, the baby succulents that grow from the leaves in water often come out a little misshaped because they are stuck in the neck of the bottle they are in. On soil, the new succulents have more space to grow a more symmetrical rosette shape.
Feel free to let me know in the comments if you have the same experiences or not. I love to hear how your propagation techniques are working for you!
Intrigued by all this propagation talk? Learn more about the 6 ways to propagate houseplants!
Thank you for the thorough info AND the photos! I recently saved a bunch of baby succulents that were in the trash :/ and I want to make sure they thrive. I was wondering where you got those adorable little colored crystal jars in the photos?
Hi Anna, Thanks for your kind words. And good on you for saving those succulents!
I got those cute little vases a few years ago in a home goods store here in the Netherlands. I wish I could give you a link to an online store, I’m sorry..
@Mod and Mint, I’ve found you can find lovely jars at your local thrift stores 🙂
I find that water propagation produces more roots and faster. And I worry that the roots that develop above the soil can dry out faster. But the roots that eventually submerge in water change color. Can you advise on this? Is there a point where I should transfer the water propagated leaf out of the water?
Hi Janet, I agree that the leaves propagated in water grow roots faster. And you do need to watch those roots on the soil from not drying out. Lightly spray the roots and soil in front of them. The ones propagated on soil usually give me the best baby succulents.
About your question, it’s not super specific when to transfer from water to soil. Don’t pack the soil too tight. Keep it airy. You can use a lot of perlite or pumice to start with. Let the water roots adjust. Good luck!
@Janet, I too am trying to figure out the best way to transition my succies from water to soil. I tried using perlite(it was too fine, I think) idk it seems to stick too much to the roots. Anyway, I’d like to hear, what method you go with and how your works out. Thanks 😊
A lot of people seem to skip over the “do nothing” method, but I came here because I dropped all of my fallen leaves into a little plastic pot and happened to keep them by a window. A week later, I noticed one sprouted roots and a tiny green bit! I wanted to know if soil or water was better from that point on. I’ll take your word and go with soil this time around. 🙂
Hi Lexi, Yeah for new plants by doing nothing! It will take a while before they grow into full-grown plants, but seeing the process is so much fun!
@Lexi, for your new baby just put it in succ soil gently covering the roots. Don’t worry; even if you accidentally bury or cover the baby part as well. Use a dropper or a ketchup/condiment bottle to water around the roots, avoiding the mother leaf itself. As the baby grows, if water gets caught in a baby leaf, I always dry it with my sleeve to avoid it rotting.
@Mod and Mint, It’s so much fun i like to take notes as it happens and look back at the notes and I even give the plants names lol.
Have you ever had experience with propagating leaves on soil and the roots are not bright pink, but rather white?
Also- would a grow light be a bad idea before the rosettes form? I’m having such a hard time propagating with leaves and I don’t know why!
Hi Madeline, In my experience some succulents grow very pink roots and some are more white. It doesn’t seem to make a big difference for me in the results.
You could use a grow light, but just be careful that it isn’t too close so that the roots will burn.
Not all leaves make it into a new plant, some just don’t. Keep at it. Try to do disturb them as little as possible, so no picking up the leaves to check on the roots. That might help.
Thanks so much for the info. I currently have some leaves with roots only, and they’re king of long. I didn’t quite understand if I should plant these in dirt yet or not. Sorry if I sound dumb, I just don’t want to jinx it as it has taken me several attempts to get them to root!
@Naomi Garcia, I was having the same problem at first with trying to transplant my cuttings from water back to pots but what I found out was that I was letting the roots grow too long in the water and after they get to a certain point they will have a hard time transitioning back to soil because they adapt to the water, if the roots are longer than 1 inch I would recommend just leaving the plant as a water plants at that point so it can continue to thrive just don’t forget to clean out the water container weekly and gently rinse the old water off the plant before adding new water. Hope that helps
Where did you find the small neck bottles at?
Hey, thanks for sharing all the information with us. I am propagating echeverias in cocopeat and by spraying water on them every day. I have luckily found babies growing at the end 😀
I was just wondering if propagation of flapjacks/paddle leaf/kalanchoe thyrsiflora can be done using leaf propagation? I have failed a lot of times, though I let it callus for a day or two. Will it work with water propagation?
Please do let me know.
Hi Sharvani, I haven’t tried leaf propagation on my flapjack or kalanchoe, but have had success water propagating stem cuttings from my kalanchoe. You might want to try that. Good luck!
I learnt something! I did not know that some leaves will only grow roots and not a baby plant. I’ve got a lot like that and I assumed they would grow a baby plant in time. So thanks for that.
Hi Patricia, You’re welcome. It’s sad but it happens. Propagating multiple leaves at once gives the best chance for success!
Thanks for your comment. Much appreciated.
@Patricia Brambley, sometimes it can take months for baby plants to develop so don’t get rid of the leaves 🍃 they could still make babies! It’s interesting because I’ll take leaves off a certain variety of succulent and some form plants in mere weeks while others take a couple months!
Lonnie
@Patricia Brambley, one thing I noticed when picking the leaves for propagating the very bottom leaves on the plant are alot older and are not as likely to sprout new plants but if I pick leaves from either the middle or nearest the top they are more likely to grow babies. Hope that also helps. I use coconut coir for my leaves and so far that’s gotten the highest success rate it dries faster than most soils
Hello, I am trying to propagate a couple of leaves from my mom’s “Angel Wings” (Senecio Candicans) succulent. I had never seen anything like it and I knew I had to try to take it home to make my own. I’m a little worried now though…The two leaves I got from her plant were cut and then placed directly into water. I didn’t know it was best to let it dry up before placing it in the water until just now… This was a week ago today. One of the leaves has a dark little growth coming out just about where the leaf meets the stem, and to be really honest, I have no idea what I’m even looking for. 🙄
Could this be the beginning of a root?? My other dumb question is… I have plant food – Bromeliad plant food 17-8-22, would it be a bad idea to put some of it into the water with them? Obviously, it would have to be diluted a ton, but would it even be worth it, or are they better off without it?? …okay… I think that’s it… for now.
@Rachel Lorraine, that could be roots or possible baby plant. For succulents I wouldn’t really do any fertilizer as it can actually be too much nutrients and things that doesn’t always get used by the plant so it could easily rot or the leaves can easily burn. If you do want to fertilizer I would wait until it is a fully grown plant and I would only do it once at the beginning of the growing seasons so only 2 times a year at most and I would recommend something made specifically for succulents/cacti or seaweed fertilizer. Hope that helps.
Hi Rachel, I know it’s been a while but how did your cuttings do? Did they make it? If you don’t let succulent cuttings dry out before putting them in water, there is a higher chance that they will rot. So I always recommend drying out first.
Like @Suteshi also said, no fertilizer when you are waiting for roots to grow. Just change the water regularly to keep it clean.
Let me know, I’m curious what happened. 😊
Question: I’m new to Succulents. I have a stem or leaf that clearly now has a Pup on it but I have several that only have Roots into the dirt. Do I plant the ones with just roots? Why are they different & Well the ones with the roots eventually grow pups?
What is the best way for a petal leaf succulent?
How did you get such gorgeous long roots on the bottom right photo props? Also, I noticed too that the green little multibead succ babies grew well and had a high rate of success in soil.
Those long roots you see are roots grown in water. Good job on the succulent propagation! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thank you for clarifying for me the different propagation methods for succulents, in my case Jade .. doing this for the first time and saw so much conflicting info I was worried I was on the wrong path .
Seriously so helpful !
Hi Kimberley, a little late, but still thank you for your kind comment. 🙂 Glad to hear it helped you!
I received a flower arrangement that includes 2 succulent plants! I’m so excited! What is the best method for rooting a whole plant cutting? As far as I can tell, it’s a Mexican Snowball succulent. They have it in a water pick to place it in the flower arrangement.
Hi Judy, that sounds like an interesting arrangement. Do you see roots growing in the water pick? I would treat it like a regular water propagation project. As soon as you have decent root growth simply pot the succulent in some succulent soil and let it grow from there. Good luck! Thanks for you comment 🙂
@Mod and Mint,
Hello, I so wish I had found you a few weeks ago. I love how you explain so many aspects of succulents.I am a complete newbie to succulents. A few weeks ago I saw a beautiful one on the internet and the flowers on it looked like white roses. So…I ordered three of them. They arrived today. And I am so confused. There was no moisture in the leaves and the stem looked totally plastic with a hole in it running all the way to the top, I think. The leaves on it are thick and very strong. I could not break one off. Had to cut it off. Makes me think it is fake. It arrived in a cardboard box with no dirt and nothing else either. I do not know since you said a lot of the professionals cannot always tell the difference. If they are fake it will be a matter of live and learn. Hope you will respond to me and straighten me out…LOL Thanks a lot.
Virginia
Hi Virginia, I do hope you got real succulents, but what you are describing does sound like they aren’t real. *insert sad face*
Could you go back and check the listing you bought them from? Watch out for mentions of “nearly natural” or “artificial” since that just means fake.
Look for “Live” plants and carefully read the listing and reviews before you buy. Sometimes plants are shipped without soil if they are cuttings. But it doesn’t sound that is the case here.
Maybe if you can, go to a local plant shop to be sure you are buying real succulents next time 🙂 Good luck!
Thank you so much for all the valuable education; I truly appreciate your time. I’ve tried the water & soil method and my experience was the soil was quickest. I’m fixing to try the do nothing method.
I am in love with your sight! I have learned so much by reading how to take care of my plants. My husband built me a greenhouse and I love plants. So far it has been trial and error. Now that your sight popped up on my Facebook page I am so excited. Thank you
I read this article after I put two jade cuttings in succulent soil and watered them. I haven’t watered since. I just stuck two clippings in the soil but did not read about callousing before hand. It’s been approx two weeks. Should i pull them out and let them callous or leave as they are. The leaves are firm.
Thank you, Susan
Great article.
Thank you
M Easter plant is in a pot with dirt every so often a leaf faLLS OFF. iDO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PLANTS MY LATE WIFE DID IT ALL .am i watering it to much or not enough i could fell the dirt is damp. THANK YOU