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Cacti & Succulents

Propagating succulent stems & they are getting softer?

Maggie SanFilippo

8 years ago

It has been about 24 hours since I laid out some succulent leaves to callous/ propagate as well as 2 stem cuttings. A couple of questions:
The leaves seem to have gotten softer since yesterday.. I have them at the top of my barn which has filtered sunlight and I am also in a desert climate so it is very dry..which is why I'm confused they would get softer? What are they telling me by getting soft?
My stem cuttings seem to be getting softer leaves too. Should i plant this directly in soil or put in a cup with water just below bottom of stem? I have seen both options online but am wondering what everyone thinks is best to make these grow big and strong.
Thanks for any help, suggestions or advice!

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Comments (4)

lmontestella
8 years ago
Sorry Maggie,

But with so little info. it's near impossible to say. Don't know what kind of plants you've got or where you are, w/out pix it's too tough to say.

Don't know why you'd have cuttings on the roof, leaf or stem cuttings. Roof & desert sound scorching even tho' you said 'filtered sunlight'.

Could you pls. provide either names of plants or pix or both?

Also, you could just take new cuttings & leave them INDOORS dry, on your window ledge for several days then into tiny (2") clay pots of Cactus & Succulent mix w/ 50% more perlite. Don't water them until you seen new growth.
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Tamiya #1 (AU, SG, MY & ZZZzzzz...)
8 years ago
I've never rooted C&S in water... be asking for rot/mold trouble IMHO.

Tray of sand slightly damp is best to lay your cuttings on.
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Leaves located on the lower region of the plant will naturally eventually kind of wrinkle up and fall off. That's normal, of course. So when you pick leaves to try to root--and I know I choose from the bottom too--you have to learn to tell which leaves are still healthy and which ones are on their way out. The yellow leaves, yes, are wrinkling/dehydrating and were perhaps already on that path, so I also feel they will not have the energy to root. You have to pick really solid, healthy leaves. You'll get better at telling the difference over time. Good luck. Everything else, I'd say go for it.
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For air layer one removes the bark to interrupt the flow from the top to the bottom of the plant while the bottom still supplies the top with water and nutrients. It is a different thing all together. I do not see any reason to do that for a cutting unless I am missing something. In both cases the cuts have to be very clean. The cambium layer needs to be cut very clean with a very sharp instrument. The new roots will form pretty close to the cut cambium after it has calloused. Ficus are easier. You can literally stick them in a pot with soil mix without any hormones. Hormones are a tricky thing also. Some like it strong and some like it diluted. Some do not like it at all and actually inhibits/slows down root formation. For tropicals I tend not to use hormones. Others I experiment to some extent but I have not really nailed down a good formula. Bit of an hit and miss situation here. One thing that has made it easier is the DynaGro KLN rooting solution. I dip my harder to root cuttings in the solution for a few days before putting them in soil. I think it has increased the success rate. Cannot swear by it yet though.
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lmontestella
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Tamiya: Pls. don't advocate using sand for anything involving C&S, not for rooting or in the mix, it'll just rot the plants & will NOT bolster propagation efforts. Folks can try rooting in moistened Perlite or Pumice, or even Vermiculite, but I'd say again, no sand.

Most succulents aren't rooted in water, just mix, tho' there are exceptions. Then again we still don't know what kinds of plants are involved here.
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mesembs
8 years ago
Cactus and succulent cuttings are very easy to root, if you are just sitting them out to callous, I would assume there is nothing really wrong with them, but there is really not enough information to go on...

Is there any discoloration on the leaves you are planning to root?

Do the leaves seem to be callousing okay?

When you plant just use a dish of soil; a good gritty mix. If you try to root them in water, I suspect they would start to rot, but I have never tried it..

Well, good luck!!

~palmsandsnow
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