Use the late summer to make new succulents

 

It is funny, quick and brings fast results. Something the kids would love. It’s about multiplying succulents. They are easy to make new plants from, and if you want to practise you can start with houseleek. Houseleek has got its name from growing in small roof cracks. They set new runners of small plants, so you can easily nip some off and make new plants. There is a more fun technique. Using the technique, you take a leaf from a plant and before you know it a new plant has grown from the leaf.

 

How to:

Take one of the bottom leaves and twist if off carefully. The leaf should be twisted off close to the stem otherwise the experiment does not work. The leaf base should not stay on the stem.

 

Place the leaves in your window ledge in indirect sun. The ends should dry out. It takes between a couple of days and a week. Soon you will see a small rosette which is the new plant. Then roots will shoot. That’s when we all cheer. A child is born.

When there are roots you can plant the new leaf in a pot for the roots to seek down into the soil. Soak the soil completely at first, then place the leaf and irrigate once a week or when the soil has dried out. When the mother leaf withers, you can carefully remove the leaf. Then the baby is ready to take care of itself.

 

You will experience that not all plants survive, so nip off a few to plant. Then you will succeed.