Appreciation post: The old lady who saved my 30 year old jade plant

Last month I was repotting my jade plant that I got from my grandmother in 1993 and I snapped the main trunk clean off. I was about to toss it but my 80 year old neighbor Margaret came over and told me to just stick the broken piece in dry dirt and leave it alone for 3 weeks. I did exactly what she said and now it has new roots growing out the bottom. Has anyone else had success with this kind of propagation method or did I just get lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucas97220d ago

Read an article from some university extension that said this method works best for succulents because they're prone to rot if you water them right after cutting. Margaret sounds like she knows her stuff.

michaeladams20d agoTop Commenter

Tried letting my jade plant cuttings callus over for a couple days before potting them in dry soil. Worked way better than my old method of just sticking them in damp dirt right away. Ended up losing a few to rot before I switched. Now I just leave them on the counter for a day or two until the cut end looks dry and hard. Then I pot them in a mix with lots of perlite and don't water for at least a week.