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Hi everyone, my son read about doing a leaf prop from a jade plant,… | Plant Pro Tips | Planta community

Tandra

Hi everyone, my son read about doing a leaf prop from a jade plant, so on a whim and a little experiment we thought we'd give it a go. So we removed around 6 leaves from the mother plant and laid them on soil on a plate and misted the soil occasionly. 5 leaves rotted and died, this one survived and started growing fine little roots, I moved it to this pot and I'm amazed it survived and has worked. What I'm wondering is, is it safe to remove from the Mother leaf (which is currently giving all her nutrients to her babies) and repot the babies (it's currently in a pot with zero drainage 😱) Or should I wait for the Mum leaf to completely dry out and die before attempting anything? I'm being extremely cautious with watering as there's no drainage. Any advice would be welcome, I really don't want to get this wrong now we've come this far. Thank you.

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12 comments

  1. Mikel’s Plant Posse

    I’m still playing the waiting (and misting) game here! Great job on yours!

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    • Tandra

      Thanks Mikel! Yeah the waiting is painful, just waiting for some sign of life. It must've been a good couple of months before I saw anything new growing. It's so worth the wait though. Good luck with yours 🤞

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  2. Oleander Mom

    I don’t really find that a single leaf starts very well. I have better luck taking a 3 inch stem with multiple leaves and putting that directly in a pot.

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    • Tandra

      Yeah that's what I usually do, it is definitely easier and has a better success rate. This was just an experiment that I didn't think would actually work. Im amazed it did 😃

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  3. Mikel’s Plant Posse

    This is Nova, my first cutting doing very well, from my mom’s 50+ year old plant!

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    • Mikel’s Plant Posse

      She’s about 3 months old now.

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    • Tandra

      That's brilliant Mikel! 😃 This is Fergus, a stem cutting from my main plant. Fergus is about 8 months old now. It's lovely seeing them thrive isn't it 😃

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    • Tandra

      This is Jade, I've had her for around 25 years now.

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  4. Kirsten

    I’ve propagated quite a few jades and other succulents and I remove the mama leaf once it is completely dried out. It will pick off easily. If there’s still some nutrients left the leaf won’t pick off as easily and you risk tearing off any roots still attached. By the looks of your picture, it seems it might be halfway there.

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    • Tandra

      Brilliant, thank you so much Kirsten. I will wait longer until the Mum leaf is totally spent then 👍

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