Aeonium arboreum

Is it to late to take cuttings ?

[ 26. June 2007, 11:23 AM: Message edited by: MacGardener ]

 

Hi Mac,
Aeonium are a genus of perennial succulents, some of which are short lived, and evergreen, succulent shrubs grown for their rosettes of bright green, or blue/green, occasionally purple leaves.
they are frost tender, prefer partial shade and very well drained soil most will grow from autumn to spring and are semi dormant in mid summer.
propogate by seed in summer or, for branching species, by stem cuttings in spring or summer hope this helps.
arboreum being a branching var. you should be able to take cutting pretty soon.
the flowers are produced on 2-3 year old stems, which then die back, so can be cut out.
they cover quite a bit of ground, i had a couple which covered an area 4' x 4'

 

In that case - off with its head & I'll take the risk.

Thanks

 

Mine did several laps of the garden in a storm and consequently lost it's head :rolleyes: I gave that bit to my friend, who just bunged it in some gritty compost in the greenhouse, and hey presto! 2 for the price of 1 :D :D

 

Just cut a piece off and put in gritty compost water it and it will take, they are very easy. :D

 

I bought this at a charity plant sale yesterday:



and was wondering how to propagate it. Do I cut off the smaller rosettes complete with some stem and pot them up, or will individual leaves root, or both?

 

I take cutting most of the year as and when needed, or a piece breaks off .(so yes the small rosettes will root Scungee ) As said nice gritty compost, I just pop them in amongst growing plants and they root with ease .
Never tried from a leaf cutting ? maybe someone else has .
Dave

 

Would the pots with cuttings consisting of rosettes be better in a well ventilated cold frame until they are rooted?

 

I find aeoniums root very easily, if you have a stem to root, leave it to callous over for a few days before potting it up.
I've not tried leaves either, but if it does work it would be a much slower means of propagation.

At this time of the year I'm sure a cold frame would be fine.
They dont really like greenhouse conditions at this time of the year.

Thats a nice plant scrungee.

 

Thanks, as I said above it was from a charity sale, and initially I wasn't going to be able to attend, but as it was pouring with rain I rescheduled my day just so I could go and support it because the weather was going to put lots of people off.

Does £2 sound a good price? I was hoping to propagate it and so I'd have enough plants to put some in a few of our tubs.

 

2 quid is good, you'd pay more at a garden centre.

I guess you know its not hardy?

I'm thinking you might be better rooting the cuttings this year, then overwintering for summer bedding next year.

 

I cut 6 rosettes from the base yesterday (as there's now about the same amount starting to form higher up, so also thought whilst re-potting it should perhaps be buried deeper?

How tender are they - do they need coming indoors or being kept in a heated greenhouse overwinter?

What I'm after is enough plants to fill several tubs next summer (and then every summer after that), all for my initial outlay of £2.

 

Well I would not pot lower, it might just cause stem rot.

Maybe you are just using your original plant as a stock plant , for cuttings?
If so the appearance will not matter.

I dont think they will take any frost, so you need frost free conditions and kept fairly dry in winter.

I believe many Aeoniums actually do their growing during the short days, ie. winter, but most can be convinced to grow during the long days, ie. summer.

 

I think I have to agree with this as mine did well in 'our' winter (no frost) but now seems to be suffering with the heat ... and we haven't even got to our 'heat' yet. (Off subject, I like this little character as he reminds me of Kenny from South Park ... ) The other succulents, mostly various Kalanchoes, are suffering the same fate even being watered daily, sometimes twice.