How your hardware store can help you easily root succulent cuttings

For this post I am going to show to you how to easily root succulent cuttings and divisions using materials available from your nearby hardware store. And for this purpose, all you are going to need is equal parts S1 (left) and white sand (right):

You can use either sifted or unsifted white sand and S1, but you cannot use both materials in their sifted form because the mix would be too fine which can impede air circulation around the forming roots. In this post I am using unsifted S1 and sifted white sand. White sand, by the way, is mined from the lahar fields of Central Luzon and is where pumice stones are obtained. White sand is NOT the same as the more commonly available river/construction sand! S1 is crushed aggregate from basalt rocks; it's the same material as ordinary gravel used in construction. If you are keen, you can tweak the mix slightly by adding other minerals; when I do, I often use laterite (often available in some pet shops, especially those that cater to aquascaping), crumbly sedimentary clay, or rough red or orange pebbles. I do not use smooth rocks and pebbles.

Now here are some Portulaca gilliesii (said to be a synonym of P. grandiflora, but I am not sure how sensible that is) that I bought just last Jan. 31, 2018; all of these plants were formerly in that square pot. Eight days later I divided it, and immediately noticed the mix, the consistency and color of which have been likened by myself to lava cake- spongy, porous, and water retentive. Not exactly the type of soil I would want my succulents to be in. So I relegated the old mix away to my pot of Phaius and used the inorganic S1 and white sand. The clump took off immediately. But to really find out how fast the divisions will take the S1-white sand mix, I decided to take a few snippets and placed three tiny bits in the smallest pot available on the market. Four days later the roots from the divisions began sticking out of the drainage holes.

That is the result of just four days after potting the divisions in the new mix.

Out of the three pots of divisions, we are going to repot one to a bigger container, here a refurbished clay dish used for poultry with an impromptu drainage hole:

This is the same division as above, the one I drew an orange arrow from. You can see a pellet of time-release fertilizer in there. Many people seem very impatient and just practically smother the mix with fertilizers.

This photo shows why I favor heterogenous particle sizes- it provides plenty of spaces so the roots don't suffocate and eventually wither away.

I just sat the plant in there, its root ball intact. Then poured more of the S1-white sand stuff around.

Heavy spraying settled the mix. After the moisture from the leaves has evaporated, I placed the pot again to where the other succulents were- in blazing sun.

I have been using a basic S1 and pumice sand mix for all my other cuttings and divisions with great success. In this photo are some of my cuttings from Edithcolea grandis, Boucerosia frerei, Huernia tanganyikensis hybrid, Ceropegia africana subsp. africana, another Ceropegia which may or may not be C. bosseri, and a shrubby Euphorbia whose name I do not know. I have other cuttings from other succulents, but we might get swamped with too many photos if I post them. For echeverias, I modify the mix and replace the white sand with pumice to make the soil much more airy, then add a generous layer of clay on top. The clay is held in one hand and then sprayed over with so that it trickles down to the pot below, resulting in an even spread. Merely dumping lumps of clay would not work. And it's ugly.

All my cuttings and divisions (except those that require a bit more shade such as Echeveria, Haworthia, and Gasteria, among others) receive full, unfiltered sun for about 8 hours each day, everyday. We had 4 days of heavy rains this week, but all of them just sneered at it. No rotting. Then again, you will have to exercise some caution because my conditions are most likely different from yours.

Alrighty kids, time to chuck those store-bought composts and potting mixes away!