Either one works. Many also root with no soil at all. Bright, full shade.

Sam,

Where you are, they'll root if thrown onto the soil, but they stand a better chance of developing a stronger root system if they root into soil.

I do very limited propagation, but I typically root into Gritty mixes....which makes it exceptionally easy to re-pot / pot up, since the mix falls away from the roots without trauma.

Josh

Josh (greenman28)
tell me, please, how do you propagate Arborescens with orbicular leaves? Either my conditions are not suitable, or I do improperly. I root into Gritty mixes with a few amount of the pine-ground. Other Jades are rooted easily.
Oksana.

Thanks for the responses y'all. I was just curious. I don't really have a problem with propagation, but I was wondering how everyone else did it . But one thing I have noticed is if I buy a plant that already has a leaf that has fallen and has begun to self propagate, it usually has a much better root system than the ones that I do myself. And I'm curious as to why. I've had a pretty high success rate with propagation, but I'd like my root systems to be stronger. I wonder if it's because nurseries and big box stores tend to over water? I have no idea..

Sbgibbons, nurseries and big box stores always treat their plants by auxin. Therefore they have better root system.

Oh okay, that makes sense. Maybe I should look into buying some rooting hormone. Thanks Osk2n2.

Hello!
Oksana, I just take a cutting, let it form a callus on the cut end, and then insert into a gritty mix. After a week or two, I usually dribble some water around the cutting. I've started several cuttings of C. arborescens and they have all rooted within three weeks.

Josh

Josh,
thank you!
I, too, so do. But.... they do not survive ((
Do you have different day and night temperatures? and by how much?

Sbgibbons
rooting hormones - it's like to live on anabolics all your life.
It you want?
Oksana.

Oksana,
I live in northern California, and I have started cuttings in all seasons. Our temperatures range from 20F in the Winter to 110F in the Summer. Spring and Fall are usually quite warm, 80F's - 90F's. When I start cuttings, I always keep them in bright shade. In the picture above, I had the cutting on a sunny windowsill because I was propagating during the Winter when the sun is weak.

Josh

The wording of your sentence kinda confused me. Lol. I'm sorry. Are you saying rooting hormones are bad? I've seen A few people on here say that they use it, so I wasn't aware that it was a bad thing..

There are several different types of rooting aids that have different chemical make-ups. These compounds vary in their ability to encourage root formation on a plant to plant or species to species basis, and when used inappropriately they can actually be counter-productive.

Cuttings need to metabolize stored carbohydrates in order to produce new roots. For that, they need to breathe - just like established roots. It's important to use a well-aerated rooting medium that provides the plant with either water vapor between the soil particles or a microscopic film of water on the surfaces of soil particles. That's how plants take up water - a molecule at a time. They don't 'drink' water by the drop, so the less free water in the substrate, the better your plants will like it - as long as there is enough water to support the cutting w/o stress. One thing you DON'T want to do is try to root in a medium that supports significant amounts of perched water and stick your cutting so deep the proximal end is submerged in the excess (perched) water held in the soil.

I use the gritty mix because it doesn't hold perched water and I always have it on hand. I usually propagate under lights or outdoors in open shade and in a wind-protected area.

Al

in open shade... may be, is my problem in this? I keep my Arborescens cuttings in the brightest area.
I know that bright light may inhibit growth, but did not know that may inhibit rooting.
It is not happening with Ovatas.
I'll go to put the cuttings in the shadow. Because my other conditions are the same as your.
Thank you very much, Al and Josh!
Sbgibbons,
my crassulas grow roots well in acid soil without hormones.
With best wishes
Oksana.