seems like cloning a succulent might be impossible.
especially succulents with... well... stems you cant get to!

i like succulents. i only have one but id like to have more.
can you clone them? if so, im at a loss on how this would be done..
can anyone give me some tips?

There are only a few ways to propagate plants. By seeds or cloning. Unlike animals, cloning plants is easy. When you root a stem cutting, you cloned that plant. When you buy a named validity, it is a clone of the original plant that was named. This guarantees you get exactly what you wanted. All named fruit trees are grafted stems from the cloned parent of that fruit. It is the only way to get that exact fruit.
So the question is how do you clone a succulent. The most easiest way is to remove a bottom growth or sucker coming out of the plant. Many Hen & Chicks, Agave and Aloe plants are done this way. Stem cuttings left to callus over then planted in fast draining medium is another way. Leaf cuttings left to callus and placed on top of the soil for many Sedums.
Seems most people have their own way of doing this.
Stush

Alex - do you mean scientific cloning by taking a bit of plant tissue and using it to generate a new plant? Or do you mean reproducing the plant by roots or leaves rather than seeds? If it's the latter, a lot of succulents can be reproduced vegetatively. A lot are prone to producing offsets as a means of reproducing in addition to seed production. And, also, a lot are really more agreeable about replicating themselves that way than using seeds as a method of reproduction. Any specific plant you have in mind?

i mean reproducing the plant by roots or leaves rather than seeds. im sorry i didn't specify.
but thank you both.

i want to clone my rock purslane. i know it will root easily in just a cup of water because thats how i obtained the plant in the first place..

i just dont know what to cut off and try to root. it doesn't have any extra shoots growing.
im still an amature at cloning i guess

here's a picture of the plant i want to clone. what would i cut off?

I hope someone answers this. I haven't grown these, but I got one that I think is Calandrinia umbellata 'Amaranth' in with another plant. After a hail hit the container, I was dunking it a day or two later and broken pieces came off in the tub. A couple of days later I saw them floating (and blooming even) in the water and they had put on roots all along the stems. I ended up with a new container filled with it and they seem to be growing. Yours looks to be a different type, but I'd think you could just whack it off and what is left would put up new growth and the new part could be rooted. Probably a good idea to let it callus over, but I think it might root in either water or soil. I see little pieces growing in the lawn where the hail knocked it off and I haven't done anything to those.

well i hope your right, id really like to have another one of these. and it seems that what you said to do is really the only option, ill let it grow a little bigger then ill try it

You can pluck a leaf from your plant Alex, then let it callus. You can also dab a little cinnamon on the cut end, natural fungicide. Stick your cutting in a well draining media, put the container in shade or part sun area. It likes our mild winters a lot, so it is more active growing here during our cold months, and blooms in Spring to early summer. You may want to wait a little bit during Spring to do your leaf cuttings.

just a leaf?? wow.. i grow mine inside so i think i'll try that right now. thanks! :]

Yes, I have the same plant (genus, not sure about species. Saw your post when ID'ing it, which was really cool, I'd been wondering about mine...) That's what I did, a stem cutting as described above, w/o any cinnamon or anything added. Just left it sitting overnight, then stuck in a pot. I've done it a few times, and it all seems to grow nicely, but no signs of any blooms yet.

I started with a single piece sent in trade about 13 months ago. By spring, it had sent up new stems from the roots, so that's when I snapped the tallest one off, and have done it a few more times as other stems have gotten tall enough.

...but I clicked in here assuming you had some kind of succulent that can be propagated by individual leaves. That's fun to do!

Various types of succulents a few weeks after being removed from mama plants:



After taking the above pic, I removed the babies from some of the mama leaves:


I don't think Calandrinia can propagate from 1 leaf, but if you try it, let us know what happens. I'll take a couple leaves off of my plants and see what they do.

wow! i had no idea.. i thought it was un-clone-able. and this whole time i could of been making baby succulents! i like the pictures, its good to see how they will root and such, thanks Tiffany :]

Glad to enable another addict! You may want to rescind your thanks in the future though... I'll keep it handy, just in case! LOL!

Most house plants are vegetatively propagated. The ones that can't be propagated in some way are few! If there are others you want to make more of, just ask how it's done.

oh i think you well deserve a thank you.
and dont worry i think ill be stuck on the coleus cloning for a while :P

right now i have 2 leaves from my rock purslane succulent in a bottle cap of water, trying to root them.
i was wondering, how long am i suppose to let them sit and dry out before putting them in water?? i only let mine dry for about 12 hours overnight

I do not do water rooting for my succulents, but typically if ambient conditions are warm enough even overnight is good period to get the leaves callused.

Do post later how it goes!

My plan was to leave mine sitting without air or soil. I admit I forgot and just now removed my leaves, but will let you know how long it takes them to callous. Sounds like we already have a 2-method experiment started!

tarev > i will keep this thread updated with my progress :]

and Tiffany. let me know how yours goes!