New Beginnings

If there’s one good thing that comes from budgeting, it’s creativity. And as much as I love to support local nurseries, I just can’t support them EVERY DAY with my wallet to grow a jungle in my backyard  (although trust me, I desperately, DESPERATELY, want to). Every now and then on my walks, I stumble across the craziest stuff. This morning, a sizable branch of light green jade which I was able to make into three stalks, and a few weeks ago, a waist-high purple aeonium that was pulled from the community planter and left leaning against the wall like a lonely preschooler who just had their lunch money stolen (don’t worry, I saved it). Some might call it thievery, but I call it being resourceful where otherwise neglected and broken plants would be tossed into a gardening bag during maintenance day every Tuesday. And I won’t let that happen.

So, I turned to propagating (great post on this here at Needles + Leaves… I’m warning you, you will not leave this site for at least half an hour). Essentially, it’s the practice of growing plants, nominally succulents, by using their cuttings and taking parts of the plant to grow somewhere else! In three words, geeeeeeenius and cheap. Today is the first day I’ve begun the process for some new leaves, so I hope to show you their progress along the way. After snapping off a few fleshy leaves (note: they must make a clean break and be healthy), I set them over a shallow tray of soil and let them hang out in our kitchen bay-window that gets ample sunlight (but no direct sunlight, the heat is too much for young plants). As you may be able to tell from the photo above, there’s a few that are already well into the sprouting process, while the others are just starting out. In about a week, we should notice tiny, transparent pink roots forming at their tips – and that’s the start of something good! Once the plants grow further, the main leaf will eventually shrivel and die off, and new babies will be born! (Spritz them with water every few days to stay slightly hydrated). Burro’s Tail (the pebble-like leaves in the center of the photo above) do especially well with propagating, because it’s leaves fall off so easily – I’ve come across many fallen leaves in the pot that have already sprouted!

With the jade, I’ve let the thick stalks sit in water, which works to establish new growth. Once the roots begin to become more noticeable and likely to withstand being covered in soil, you can plant them. I’ve broken this one stalk into three because I’m greedy. (PS – the Mason jar you see in this photo is actually a Trader Joe’s marinara sauce container - they were hiding this two-fer in plain sight! Just take the label off, and you’ve got yourself a fancy vase)!

Have you ever tried propagating? Have a fab week!

xoxo