How To Root Jellybean Succulents From Leaves Quick And Easy

For this tutorial, I'm going to be using my Jellybean/Pork and Beans succulent plant, but it will work for many different types of succulent plants as well. This is the quickest and simplest way I have found to propagate succulents with great success. I love this method because it's dirt cheap (like my pun?) and it provides me with an endless supply of free succulents!

Here is what you will need to get started:

Materials:

- A healthy mature succulent plant
- Paper towel
- A plant pot with soil. I like to use a combination of sand, peat moss, and potting soil
- Rooting hormone*
- Water

*What is rooting hormone? It is substance, that is sold by most garden centers in the form of a gel or a powder. It is a hormone that works specifically on plants to stimulate rooting. It is highly effective and increases your odds of propagation success quite substantially. I would strongly recommend it. I purchased my bottle at our local nursery for about $10.00 and there is enough in it to last me many years. It can be used for house plants and garden plants. 

Okay, now that you have collected everything you need, let's get started.

First thing's first, we will need to gather some succulent leaves from our mature plants. Before pulling off leaves, take a look in the plant pot. Succulents are known to sometimes shed perfectly viable leaves. See if you can find some laying on the ground or in the soil under your plant. Collect whatever leaves you find. If you can't find any leaves, then select a few healthy looking ones and carefully disconnect them from the mature plant stem.

Teeny Tiny Little Jellybean Leaf

The next step involves a bit of patience. Succulent leaves root best when they are given a bit of time to dry out and callus over. Place your leaves on a clean piece of paper away from direct sunlight and drafts to dry out for 2 days.

Drying out in a safe spot

Once your leaves have adequately dried out, it's time to plant them. Thoroughly water the soil in your plant pot. Gently firm the soil in your plant pot, so that the leaves will have a stable base to root in.

Gently dip the base (the area that was disconnected from the mother plant) of each leaf in rooting hormone.

Rooting hormone? Check!

Press each leaf into the soil.

Once you have your pot of prepared succulents, you can place it in a window that gets plenty of indirect sunlight. I use an east-facing window. If you would like, you can loosely cover your pot with saran wrap to create a greenhouse effect. If you do this, make sure there are adequate breathing holes for the plant. 

While waiting for your succulents to root, which can take a few weeks, make sure that you do not over water them. Water sparingly and only once the soil becomes dry to the touch.

Once you notice new leaves forming on your succulents, you can transplant them into decorative pots quite easily as their root systems are very shallow. I just use a spoon to dig down a little bit and then lift the plant out with some of the soil surrounding it before transplanting.

A few months of growth!

Happy transplanting! If this tutorial helped you to grow your succulent collection, please let me know in the comments section below, I would love to hear from you!

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