Succulent Propagation Project

Several months ago I started taking cuttings from my succulents, and let hem all dry out a bit before laying the leaves onto some cactus potting mix. I took cuttings or leaves from: ghost plant, Sunset seedum, bear's paw, panda plant, and kalanchoe thyrsiflora.

After putting the leaves on soil to allow them to root properly, it became evident that my light source was less than adequate. I had been keeping them on a bench inside my hone with a grow light about 1.5 feet to 2 feet above them. Not only was it not enough light for them, but it was getting very hot as well.

Many of my baby succulents are very tall and lanky, but they are now all sitting in my bedroom windowsill where they get direct afternoon sunlight. They all seem to be doing much better, although none of them are fully established yet.

I also continue to add more succulent leaves, as they fall off the mother plant, or as I get new plants, so my tray of succulent babies continues to produce new plants! Today I added some pork and beans, burro's tail, and jade as well as a couple unknowns.

Resources and Limitations

Both my mom and my dad have major green thumbs. It runs deep in my family, and so I am also fond of plants. Growing up was wonderful. My parents would always have plants everywhere, and all kinds to boot! We had indoor plants, outdoor plants, a greenhouse, fruit trees, flowering plants, vegetable gardens, and all sorts or other varieties.

But after I went to college and started living on my own, I stopped having the same advantages as my parents have growing up. Today I live in a one bedroom apartment. I've got two windows - one that is double wide, east-facing, and tinted in the living room that starts at the floor and is about as tall as the door, and a west-facing one in my bedroom that's about half the size vertically. Needless to say I have limited access to sunlight, and limited space for my plants to grow! That doesn't stop me from collecting more and more plants though!

Even though I don't have a private patio, I do have a second floor walkway. I put a few sunlight needy plants outside on the patio including my Knock Out Rose which really wishes it would be planted in the ground, my Angel Wing Begonia, a philodendron and Kalanchoe. I have filled up my bedroom window with all the succulents I can fit. That window gets the most direct sunlight. The other windowsill holds my Ponytail palms, a fern, a bromiliad, and my African Violets. And lastly, I keep my few Tillandsia in my bathroom. I have switched one of the bathroom light fixtures with a grow bulb and the Tillandsia seem to be growing well there.