I have always had a love of propagation and to be honest it’s the biggest thing I miss during my current role. It was always a joy to take a cutting and see it as like magic, this little bit of growth turns into a new plant. But I do have a new project waiting to start in my garden at home, it’s a new playhouse for the children, finished off with a green roof of alpines! Sounds good but after working out the amount required, I felt I had to propagate some of the ones I already grow at home and the Chicken and Hen plant or houseleek, Sempervivum, would be an ideal one to start! I love the different colours, shapes and forms of this rather simple but beautiful succulent plant
So here’s how I propagated them, as you can see it’s pretty easy, so why not give it ago and see how you get one
First of all I brought all the items I needed, I cheated with the potting mix, using the cactus compost which is a good free draining compost, ideal for propagating SempervivumsFilled the modules with the compost and gave it a tap to level the compost off, didn’t firm it down too muchThen gently pulled up a small side shoot off the one I want to propagate, notice the small roots coming off the bottom of the plantThen just shorted the stem a little using my razor sharp secateurs, this is just so they fit better into the plugs and I keep the stem on just to stabilise the plant while the roots growUsing a dibber (or 6” nail!) to make a small hole, big enough for the the stem to fit intoGently put the Sempervivums into the hole and gently push compost around the stem using the dibber not your fingers as that will encourage moss to formIf you are propagating a named plants, it’s well worth labelling the cuttings, I like to put date propagated as well, so I know how long it took to root. It’s worth putting the label on the first one you do each timeGive it a good water and place on a sunny window still and wait for a few weeks for them to root, check daily and remove any that haven’t made it
And that’s it a nice easy bit of propagation and money saved, every Sempervivum costs about £2 in most shops so for about a £5 in materials I have saved £67, ideal to spent on other plants!
I hope you enjoyed my blog and let me know how you get on if you have a go
Lovely Thomas I have a friend who has planted these in the lovely garden sifts and hung on wall absolutely fab!
They look stunning on a wall don’t they
Thanks for that, useful and informative. I have a few different succulents, will give it a go.
No problems and if you get any queries, please feel free to ask away