is that really a jade leaf?? i would have said, like, spinach or something, haha

(seriously, though-- could it be something like kalanchoe blossfeldiana? i ask bc of the scalloped leaves & veining, and i think that to propagate them you need part of the stem as well-- but i could be entirely mistaken)

Thanks. Didn't take a photo of the parent plant in its dim office home. It had pencil thin two-and-a-half-foot long stems coming out of the soil, which had been looped around one another presumably to minimize space, all bare of leaves except for a few at the "growing" tips facing distant light. The receptionist had said it was a "type of Jade".

Photos of Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana searched online, all with dense foliage and brilliant flowers, looked absolutely nothing like I remembered the parent - until I found a single image entitled "Unhappy looking Kalanchoe." You all have some expert eyes!

I was mostly curious if a leaf from such a withering parent plant just may not have enough stored energy to generate a plantlet - with the new ID, if it makes it, it looks like it could make an attractive plant.

I agree with kalanchoe, and yes - it probably will. It already has roots. Just don't "love it to death" :-)

And, there is a current thread about kalanchoe, did you see it?

click here for kalanchoe

Thank you for the reassurance, and thread-link. The kalanchoe pictured there looks like a super-fit olympic athlete compared to the parent plant of my leaf. I hadn't expected the moist soil recommendation made in that thread for leaf-propagation of any succulent, from the general sense I'd gotten around here.

Hello Ash:

The moist soil mentioned in the other kalanchoe thread was referring to soil that is extremely fluffy and airy with just a slight bit of moisture. I put the tip of the leaf into the soil as if I were going to root the leaf itself, this causes the leaf to produce plantlets along the edges of the leaf. On completely dry soil the leaf would shrivel up. Hope this helps.

Tracy

Thanks for the details. So interesting - I had never before seen leaf-edge plantlets as in your photo. I'll surely be doing some more web-searching now that I know it's kalanchoe.

Yes, sometimes plants can be difficult to identify when they have been poorly cared for, like your office Kalanchoe. When you see a healthy specimen, it is hard sometimes to see that they are the same plant.

Christopher.

Plus one month. The Kal leaf not only survived, but has grown a mass of roots. But no plantlets. (Amusingly, every time I try to lay it down on the medium as mentioned above, the leaf very soon lifts itself up.) Have read here how some leaves can happily live on but lack the potential for propagation, and also that some leaves might take months to produce.

Here is a Kalanchoe leaf I found rooting the other day. They often start producing plantlets with no soil.

Christopher

Thought I'd update. The "leaf" in question is still going - but solo - never making a plantlet.
Happened to be back there and while looking over the (still) poor mother plant, spied what looked like a plantlet, barely visible, "growing" very high on an otherwise bare, dried-out stem.
After 4 months - and under CFL-only - think I'm on the way to my first Kal.

Seems to be slowing down - when kept indoors only, does this still have a growing season and quiet season?