Progress of my Aeonium cutting !

[Hattie the Hen]

I have just been given an un-rooted cutting off a large plant of Aeonium 'Zwartkop'. I have found this article but I wondered if you had more hints on how to get it to root & grow:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/5621823/How-to-grow-succulents.html

I will, of course keep it indoors until next summer.

Any advice, not just from Ron & Joe, would be very welcome as I love these architectural plants so much & have coveted them for years until a friend heard & handed me a piece. He has had his plant for years but has never taken cuttings from it.

Please help an old lady who is hopelessly out of her comfort zone


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[injunjoe]

That is a cool looking plant.
Being a succulent it should root very easy.
I have never had this plant so this is just a good guess, but if it has a nice stem on it, you can use sticks all around it to help hold it up as you place it almost sitting on the surface. For succulents I use sand for my rooting medium. I would bury only about 1/2" of the stem using the sticks to hold it upright and steady.

Looks to me like Leaf cuttings would also work.

That is just what I think, I would like to hear what Ron would do with it.

Good luck; Joe

 

[HiDelight]

I grow a lot of these but have never researched ..I pick a piece off and let it calous a bit and then just stick it in dirt ..they thrive on neglect actually and love to feast and famine
these are so fun to grow you will really enjoy them

enjoy your new adventure

I am as I mentioned going to try to make a small ocean garden out of succulents they look so much like underwater creatures it will be fun mixking with plants that look like seaweed like kales rocks ..I have huge shells and then to put some succulents in to make it sea like ..does this sound silly I wonder?

I even have glass sea balls I was going to put in there and some sand ...

have fun Hattie this is a very cool and very addictive family of plants

 

[Greensage45]

Wow,

I am glad everyone was able to help. I think you need not worry too much, but also considering that this is the time when this plant is watered even less (in the winter), it might be a bit picky about being too moist; not good if you want roots.

So my only thoughts are to try to root it via the stem, if the stem fails and begins to rot then snip it closer to the leaf cluster and then just place that in a sandy medium. I cannot imagine this would be a hard one at all, and from what the internet shows of the popularity of this plant, I would say this one must be very durable.

I think you will have no problems at all!

Ron

 

[beefy]

like has already been said (since i'm late to the party as usual) i would plant the whole stem in well drained soil and if any of the leaves fall off or you dont think it is going to take (and its a succulent so its basically a weed and will take, lol) just let the leaves lay around a few days until the callous and then lay them on the soil and they will form roots at the callous end (helps if you point it down).

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Thank you all for your information - it has boosted my confidence a lot. I have got the cutting indoors laying on it's side, drying off & forming a callous. I will get some sand & grit this week for potting it up.

Should the potted up cutting have any bottom heat ? Should I put a plastic bag over it ? I really want this to grow well.


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[injunjoe]

Bottom heat will promote root!
Unless it looks stressed it should be holding enough water to make root without cover. That advise is just how I would do it, you may have different growing conditions then I!

 

[beefy]

i wouldnt cover it either. its a succulent.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Oh! Thank you for answering so quickly! It's great having access to your knowledge & experience.

I have been poking away on my laptop & found this info on another forum:

http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22472

http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=26353

I just thought I would add it to the pot for anyone else who needs it in the future.

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Well I have got my Aeonium cutting potted up in a very sandy.stony mixture in a terra-cotta pot, on bottom heat by a bright window. It seems to be OK so far. I am letting it dry out between waterings.

I have just found this article:

http://www.phoenixtropicals.com/aeonium.html

Now this has confused me a bit as it tells me that the Aeoniums do their growing in the winter & I need to feed it. I presume I should wait till after it roots.....???????? Does anyone have any idea?

I also found this info to add to the file, as I suspect I shall want to grow more varieties, I can feel another obsession coming on!

http://cacti-succulents.suite101.com/article.cfm/black_rose_plant_aeonium_arboreum_zwartkop

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Edited to add a link to a blog showing Aeoniums & other succulents growing outside in the very South-West of the UK. It is very much more mild a climate in the Scilly Isles because of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream Drift. Scroll down for photo:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/allotment/2008/oct/17/organicgardening-gardeningadvice

:rose Hattie :rose