Leaf-propagating succulents from 1 leaf to a whole plant, a succulent lover shares her experience

A succulent lover shares: My leaf-propagated succulents, from 1 leaf to a whole plant, how did I do it?

Four years into the hobby, having been through countless cycles of "buy and die, buy and die," I naturally picked up the essential skill of "leaf propagation" along the way.

In October 2017 I ordered online a batch of common variety leaves, by rough count two or three hundred of them, including varieties such as White Peony (Graptoveria 'Titubans'), Graptopetalum paraguayense, Echeveria 'Perle von Nurnberg', Sedum 'Marcus', Graptosedum 'Bronze' and Pachyveria 'Clavifolia'.

At the time I had no spare large pot or potting soil at home, mainly because I hadn't expected so many leaves to arrive, so I found a large foam box, one without drainage holes, lined the very bottom with a layer of broken asbestos-cement tiles, then filled most of the box with garden soil, breaking it up and leveling it. On the top layer I thinly scattered the only half-block of soaked coconut coir brick I had plus a little fine river sand.

The leaves were simply laid out in rows at random, and then several heavy rains came; although they were kept under the rain awning, every time the rain blown in by the strong wind still drenched them through and through. Other than that I never watered them on purpose, and after about half a month, one after another they all sprouted and grew roots.

December 21, 2017

After almost two months, the survival rate of the leaf propagation was about 95% or more.

They went through the cold winter, during which I covered them with clear plastic film, did not water, and saw no growth.

March 12, 2018

Finally the weather warmed up, and many of the leaves had dried up, so I resumed normal watering, and the watering method was quite rough: a big ladle, either plain water or mixed with a bit of succulent nutrient solution, poured over them from top to bottom (if you can collect some rainwater, it is also rich in nutrients).

June 3, 2018

They grew really fast; after just over two months of normal care they grew so densely there was no gap left, emerald green and dripping, pink and tender.

There were too many!! Some were squeezed inside and could not grow bigger, so I quickly invited a few relatives and friends, and whoever wanted some took some home to play with, picking the big good ones, and please don't be polite.

June 27

The leaf-propagated seedlings repotted last month are in good condition; look at this Echeveria 'Perle von Nurnberg', in the height of summer when everything should be plain cabbage-green, it has actually started to color up.

Cresting is fairly common in leaf-propagated White Peony (Graptoveria 'Titubans') and Pachyveria 'Clavifolia'; in my view, multiple heads are just twins or triplets, and a crest is a conjoined twin, and since rarity makes a thing precious, I gave them a single room on purpose.

Learning leaf propagation not only lets you become a big grower, but at the critical moment, even if the mother plant dies, at least you still have the offspring.