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.
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!