How To Take Cuttings Of Sedums
The front yard here at Joy Us garden is full of succulents. They’re drought tolerant (important in dry Southern California), easy maintenance and oh so interesting to look at. I just love them because no fussy deadheading or fertilizing routine is needed in their world – and that makes my world a lot easier. Here’s another thing they’ve got going on: these plants just keep on giving and propagating them is as easy as can be. Today I’m going to show you how I take cuttings of Sedums, or Stonecrops as they’re commonly called.
Sedum Morganium or Burros Tail Sedum
I’m working on a book right now (due out very soon!) that involves Christmas ornaments, tillandsias and succulents so I’ve been taking lots of cuttings these days. I then thought: why not make a video showing you all exactly how I take cuttings of Sedums? You’ll find that video at the end. Now I’m going to list out the steps I take when propagating succulents. The Sedums you’ll see are Burro’s Tail Sedum, Copper Stonecrop and Pork and Beans or Jelly Bean Plant.
Sedum nussbaumerianum or Copper Stonecrop
Here’s I do it:
* The first thing I do is to make sure my pruners, whether I’m using my Felcos or my floral nips, are clean & sharp.
* I always take my cuttings at an angle (you can see me doing this in the video below) because that’s how I learned. This is said to lessen the chance of infection. It also gives the cutting a point so it’s a little easier to poke in the soil.
* Remove the lower leaves & cut the stems to a length you desire.
* The cuttings heel off in a box top for anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months in my utility room which gets bright light but no direct sun. You don’t want them to burn. Don’t worry if you don’t see any roots appearing – some succulents won’t show any.
* Easy! That’s it for the cutting tutorial. When planting them in pots I use an organic mix specifically made for succulents and cactus. If you can’t find that, then use a light and fast draining potting soil. When planting directly in the garden I make sure the soil is good and loose. Then I add a little worm compost and maybe some compost if I have it around. Mix it well with the native soil then plant.
Sedum rubrotinctum or Pork and Beans or Jelly bean Plant
I take cuttings all the time to use in other parts of my garden or I give them away. Another easy way I propagate succulents is by leaf cuttings … but that is whole other blog post!
Oh, please be sure to check out our book Mother Nature Inspired Christmas Ornaments. I’ve used cuttings of these plants to adorn some of the ornaments I made in the book. After the holidays were over and the ornaments were packed away, I planted these cuttings in other containers and in my garden. I now have even more to design with!
If you are into succulents check out some of the other succulents in the gardens of Joy Us Garden:
How To Propagate A String Of Pearls Plant
Reuse and Recycle in the Joy Us garden
There’s a Sea Urchin in My Garden
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Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.
I am JUST a beginner with succulents and LOVE the S. Morganianum…I have a quick question about the leaves. If I was to propogate from the leaves, do I let those callus over as well for a few weeks? Thanks!!
Hi Elissa – We all start somewhere at anything. Warning: succulents are addictive once you get into them! I love my morganianums & because they grow so fast here, I’m constantly cutting them back. Regarding propagating via leaf method, I only let them heal over for 1-5 days because they aren’t attached to a stem. Mine just fall off the plant & root right in the garden below. Hope that helps! Nell
When you’re healing off the cuttings, do you lay them on top of potting mix? Don’t they need some watering eventually? How can they survive for weeks while healing off?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Rachel – Succulent cuttings need air to heal them off. I do it on a tray or box top so the cuttings can get bright light (not direct sunlight) & the air they need to successfully heal. Depending on the type & size of succulent I’m propagating, I let the stems heal from 2 weeks to 4 months. And, keep them dry until planting. I once kept aeonium cuttings for 9 months before planting them! Nell
Love your hints and video….every time my leaves fall off into soil underneath plant, they just dry up and die. Why, and how can I get new plants to grow front leaves. My plant is new and small so don’t want to take cuttings yet.
Sandra – Thank you. Succulent leaves don’t usually just dry up & die. Mine would root even if they fell off in the garden. You have to make sure the end which touched the stem is in or just on top of the soil. Nell
Hi Nell, thanks for this video! I was wondering how the pork and beans plant will grow from the cutting once planted (as in, once it has rooted do new “branches” grow and spread from it)? Do you just plant one cutting, or several together? Thank you for your videos- I am just a newbie!!
Hi Jess – Welcome to the world of gardening! Pork & Beans is a really easy plant & spreads from the roots. I like to plant at least 3-5 cuttings in a cluster. I think it looks better & they spread faster. Yes, new branches will appear off those roots that spread. Hope that helps! Nell
I have a long strand of some Burrows tail variation, I believe, that snapped off. Could i cut this three foot strand into say, four pieces and root them – or does it only root off cuttings taken at the terminal tip ?
Hi Ryan – You can root them from different pieces of the stem as well as the individual leaves. Just make sure you put the end of the stem that is growing closest to the soil in the soil. Hope that makes sense! Nell
Hey what do you do after the leaf cutting have started to created small leaves? Do I leave it to grow
Hi Chels – You can either leave it to get larger, or transplant it into its own pot. It will eentually need its own pot. Nell
Hi Nel,
I am finding I love succulents and in the process of learning about them. I live in a zone 5 climate; cold winters! Can you confirm sedum morganium would not be hardy for me? I had been told that stonecrops/sedums were hardy, but I have not had success with burrows tail. I have a nice variety of sempervivum and stonecrops that are and a few indoor succulents as well. The information in your blog is great. It would be helpful to us “newbies” to know your growing zone. Thanks!
Pam
Hi Pam – Sedum morganianum doesn’t like to go much below 35 degrees F. Your winters would be much too cold. I usually talk about the winter temperatures in most of my posts. I was gardening in zone 10a & now I’m in zone 9a. Nell
Hi, how often should I water the leaf cuttings that’s starting to grow babies?
Hi Liv – Mine are in a shallow saucer so I water lightly them about twice a week. You may only need to do it once a week, depending on the conditions. You want the surface to be slightly moist but not constantly drenched. Nell
Hi–I have about 8 Showy Stonecrop Sedum plants. I’ve had them for about 4 years now in my flowerbeds. I got them from the clippings from my grandma’s plants. She had them all over. She called them ‘Live Forever’s’! I am going to be moving in a couple of months and I want to have some at my new house because they are kind of sentimental to me. I will start new ones with the clippings from the current ones. Do you have any tips for doing this since it will be getting close to winter?
~~Thanks, Melissa
Hi Melissa – Sentimental plants are the best! Showy Stonecrop stems get cut all the way back in late fall/winter & re-emerge in the spring. If you take the cuttings now & plant them at the end of Sept./early Oct., they should be fine. Otherwise, you can pot the cuttings up & plant when the weather warms in late winter/early spring. Nell
Hi Nell, I have two varieties of this hanging plant, one with basically round leaves that I have always called the “Burro’s Tail” and the other with leaves shaped like an inverted comma which I have always called the “DonkeysTail”. Am I right with these namings ?
Hi! I live in Nc where the summers are hot and the winters get cold and dark. I had a donkeys tail that was thriving this summer and it slowly started to die I’m pretty sure because it wasn’t getting enough sunlight. After a few attempts to recover it, I was seeing no improvements. I got rid of the bad parts but have a few cuttings I was able to save. Then I noticed the stems are a grayish color at the bottom and look dried out. Did the plant get sick? Can i still propogate these cuttings, or take the leave and propagate those? Thank you!
Hi Sharon –
Yes, it sounds like it’s suffering from lack of light. It may have been overwatered too.
If any parts of the stems are plump & fleshy, then you cut them back & propagate those. You can always propagate by leaf cuttings too. Nell
Hi! I just started getting into the addiction that is succulents. But I made a huge mistake – I left them in the sun for a few hours and my sedum morganianum along with the rest of them got horribly sunburned. That was a couple weeks ago but they’re not improving; just getting worse. Is there any way I can bring them back?
Usually not Makayla. Their stems & leaves are full of water so they burn in a heartbeat. You can put them in bright shade, cut the stems back to 3″ & see if any new growth emerges. Nell