How do you grow succulents so they look beautiful? Latest care tips shared

Succulents are higher plants with enlarged vegetative organs, usually having three vegetative organs - roots, stems and leaves - and three reproductive organs - flowers, fruits and seeds. In horticulture they are also called succulent plants or succulent flowers, but the name "succulents" is the most commonly used. They have extremely high ornamental value, so let us take a look together at how to grow succulents so they look beautiful!

Seed propagation

Among succulents, apart from a few species that can self-pollinate, most are insect-pollinated or bird-pollinated flowers and must be hand-pollinated in order to set fruit. Succulent seeds have a short lifespan; for example, the seeds of Conophytum calculus have a lifespan of only a few weeks. Generally, the germination rate of succulent seeds stored at room temperature drops rapidly after 1 year, so many succulents are sown immediately after the seeds mature or stored for sowing the following spring. The germination time also differs between families and genera; some germinate in as little as 2 days, while others take 25 days to germinate.

Leaf cuttings

Succulents often use their thick fleshy leaves, placed on a slightly moist sand bed or loose soil surface, and they will soon take root, with adventitious buds growing from the base of the leaf to form small plants, such as Adromischus, Echeveria and Kalanchoe daigremontiana.

Stem cuttings

Succulents are suitable for pruning and shaping; cut the branches into sections to use as cuttings, such as Adenium obesum, Stapelia gigantea, Euphorbia milii and Euphorbia tirucalli. For Adenium obesum, African baobab and Euphorbia, whose cut sections exude white latex, the wound must be cleaned thoroughly and dried slightly before cuttings are taken, for better results.

Root cuttings

For the relatively precious varieties of the Liliaceae genus Haworthia, the roots are very thick and well developed. Cut off the more mature fleshy roots, bury them in a sand bed with the upper part slightly exposed, and keep them somewhat moist with bright light; new buds can sprout from the top of the roots to form complete small plants.

Grafting propagation

Grafting of succulents is often used to propagate variegated and cristate varieties, such as using Euphorbia neriifolia as rootstock to graft Euphorbia, using Portulacaria afra as rootstock to graft Portulacaria afra 'Medio-picta', using African baobab as rootstock to graft cristate African baobab, and using Stapelia grandiflora as rootstock to graft Stapelia gigantea, giving good ornamental results. However, during grafting, because the plants contain white milky sap that is highly sticky, the grafting operation must be fast and skilled in order to succeed.

Division propagation

Division is the simplest and safest method of propagating succulents. Any succulent with a rosette leaf cluster or a clumping habit can be propagated by division through its offsets, runners, bulbs, tubers and small plants, and this can be done when repotting in spring. Of course, variegated varieties among succulents, such as Sansevieria trifasciata 'Laurentii', Dyckia 'Warrior', Haworthia 'Night City' and Haworthia truncata 'Variegata', must be propagated by division in order to keep the variety pure.

That is all for now on the propagation methods of succulents. Next, let us continue to look at how to grow succulents so they look beautiful!