I would love to propagate larger cuttings, but for many of these (especially c. barklyi, which I love but can't find in the US--can anyone help me?!?), I only have one or two tiny little plants from which to take tiny little cuttings. In some cases (e.g., c. namaquensis), I've basically decimated my only plant in the hopes of propagating more.
Why, you might ask, am I propagating these stacked crassulas? Am I hoping to start my own nursery? Sell online? Guerilla garden stacked crassulas up and down the California coast in the hopes that they'll overtake our ubiquitous ice plant? The answer, of course, is that I have no idea. I am propagating these plants because I really, really like them, and I want to get good at propagation for reasons that elude even me. Such are the mysteries of the human mind.
I've also been growing from seed again. As you might recall, I had moderate success last year with growing haworthias from seed. (I'll post pics of those sometime.) I decided to try again with a variety of types, and using techniques I learned from this fabulous book. I had no luck with crassulas and little with agaves and echeverias. However, after a few months, some types were doing well enough to transplant, as you can see in the picture to the right. Various mammillarias look good, as do haworthias. I am also excited about the astrophytums, which are in the center row in this pic. I've had two astrophytums in the past, 50% of which perished under my care, so I'm interested to see if I can keep these alive. |