1. I don't know. I always water from above, and that's what most people here do, I believe, because that works best.

2. If you have a small pot with holes in the bottom, it will be fine. Just don't over-pot, using a pot too large with lots of excess soil. Many people do this, and succulents don't benefit from it.

3. 60/40 will be fine as well.

4. I'm thinking it is too small to be moved yet. Others will comment on this. Don't worry about removing the "mother" leaf. Just let it fall off naturally.

It's quite low in the pot. Do you keep it turned so the edge of the pot doesn't shade it too much?

It looks very sweet. Congratulations on your success.

1. Get a plastic tub. Put your pot in. Fill with water to the soil surface. Take pot out and let it drain somewhere.

Be careful to watch for pests. Watering from below could help them spread, depending on the type (same applies to top watering). If you are watchful, no issue.

Don't reuse the water for too many pots. The salt content in the water may accumulate and pH also shift. Also, perlite floats.

I do this for all my succulents during Fall-Winter, adult and seedlings.

2. Use anything cheap and with a hole or put a hole in it with a drill. I don't think biodegrable/fabric pots are very good for this. Try small plastic pots.

3. Yes it can work. You may need to adjust to your growing conditions.

4. Many options, good threads, and don't water your propagations too much!

Socks covered it all very well, so I'll just address #1.

Bottom watering consists of immersing the pot in water nearly up to the lip. I don't think there are many disadvantages, but definitely doable for a beginner. Some say it reduces the chance of rot, which makes sense, but I don't think it make a significantly important difference. I do this method for some of my smaller plants (for large plants you would need a lot of water), and I think the biggest thing it does is save time, especially for a large volume of plants.

One question for you: Why are you interested in bottom watering? (Just curious).

A general tip for you. I have found more success with leaf cutting by keeping them on the dry side. It helps them absorb the parent leaf, but also helps prevent rot.

There was a thread by Ewwmayo at one point about bottom watering.... I will see if I can find it.

Ha. Found it.

Here.

Oh, thanks! I forgot about that thread.

Don't really have any more updates there other than what's there. It's sustainable, convenient (for me), and works well.

For some succulent species I would say it's necessity/best practice. For certain root issues, it can help resolve the issue. For others, there is very little benefit.

Of course there are many nuances, similar to watering from the top. It can be as easy or complicated as you want.

I think everybody here knows I like the method, haha. Note that I also can't wait to start top watering my plants when I move them outside. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

wow, thanks guys!

Socks, what is your policy for when to transplant? I'm worried that if I let it sit in it's current pot, I might kill it before it gets a chance to grow a whole lot. And yes, I turned the pot a little for the camera so I didn't have to lean over some other plants, but it is partially shaded at some times in the day. I figured maybe that partial shade is what set this one apart from my other (slightly sadder looking) leafs, but should I shift it around so it gets more light?

palmsandsnow, to answer your question about why I would want to bottom water; in the past, when I watered, some of the perlite would shift around and sometimes even the leaf would kind of lift. I figured that certainly could not be good for the roots, and might be the cause of my failures. This time, i've been using a spray bottle and spray so little that no water pools. I should also note that I have watered this thing about 5 times since October, and its roots still look nice and pink from what I can see.

Ewwmayo, is there a reason you only bottom water in fall and winter?

Alright, that makes sense.

I do like the idea of sometimes watering from the bottom. I don't fill the outer pot to the rim. I just pour some water in and let the water be absorbed. I find that it helps me avoid getting water in the crown of plants.

Audrey

The soil in your photo doesn't look like it has 50% perlite, but maybe I am just not seeing it right. And the plant debris should be picked up, it may start decomposing ad attracting fungus gnats. It also looks better. JMO.

Using some grit on top would keep perlite from floating, and may be keeping the leaves from touching wet soil.

There are plants I water from below but I do this one at a time and throw the water out every time. My plants live in close quarters, so critters I can not see may already be pot-hopping. But they're not getting express trips from me. I hate having to deal with pests so I do everything to avoid making things easier for them.

Hi Audrey,

An important point has been missed. Succulent leaves set to propagate don't need to be watered. Rooting succulents don't really either. P.s remember that by definition, succulents can hold water in their fat fleshy leaves, that's what makes them succulent.

I don't water propagations at all until I see new growth. I am not a fan of bottom watering & belief all it does is prevent the grower from learning how to water properly.

Using more appropriate mix w/ small pots is all that's needed to do this. And when it comes to succulents, when in doubt about watering, don't, wait another several days.

I know you want to care properly for your plants, but pls. realize that in nature, they fall & root where they fall; there's no one to tuck in their roots, see that they're well positioned & all that TLC.

60/40 perlite to C&S mix will be just fine. That plant is too young to transplant, there's no hurry to do that. I'd go out & buy tiny clay & plastic pots first, tiny like 2", no bigger.

Succulents do best when largely ignored; it seems the more one fusses w/ them, the more likely they are to fail. Just so you know.

Agreeing w/ Rina, pls. pick out the leaf debris - it just invites decay & encourages rot!

Audrey - My entire collection is kept indoors for the winter because my roof is full of snow. Using a small watering can to water everything carefully takes hours.

By soaking, I can water ~250 pots in ~1.5 hours. The bottom watering results in better wetting/absorbtion and extends my watering cycle for another two days.

Many of mine are rot-prone and if I get the leaves too wet from above their dense, fuzzy, or layered nature it can lead to mould even with continuous airflow.

just wanted to chime in and say that also bottom water most of my plants. perhaps I'm flattering myself, but since most of them are still alive, i reckon i know how to water pretty well . . . or at least enough to get by!

as for propagation, i feel like i see a lot of posts where people have one leaf and are pinning all their hopes and dreams onto it flourishing, so they lavish it with thought and attention and care. in my experience, and as others have said upthread, you're probably better off forgetting it exists for a few weeks. i personally learned the hard way to stop fiddling and let the plants do what they do-- if a leaf is going to sprout a new plant, it'll likely do it with or without your input.

Okay, so the overall impression I get from this discussion is to leave it alone for now. And don't worry, guys, I'll clean up the debris :) I promise! The mixture is exactly 50/50, but I think it is just sitting on a particularly soil-y patch. I'll try to keep everyone up to date if it works out and I find a tiny pot for it. Thanks for all of your help! Each one of you provided some valuable insight!

Watering from below, particularly if you have hard water, is a wonderful thing to be able to do, especially if you're able to large treys that have accommodate the maximum number of uniform pots. It would be my dream method of watering for sure - imagine the time you'd save!!!!

Time to install the click counter on my phone again. Now you guys have me wondering why it doesn't take me hours to water the plants I happen to feel like watering....oh. that's why.

Also a bottom waterer, I made a custom table that I can fill and drain to soak my pots. My reason for doing so was to avoid getting water on the crown and avoid having to touch them which removes the farina from the leaves. I also feel with my gritty mix they needed more contact time with the water, pouring it through from the top did not allow enough time for absorbing.

Patrick, I haven't tried bottom watering with my gritty mix plants yet, as I didn't think it would trickle up. I'm going to give it a try next

Manuel - You have to place them in a bath so the water is the same depth as the mix.

I never dunk mine that deeply. Especially for those plants in trays. I fill up the tray and let them drink until they don't Anymore.

Or, I just put them in a bowl to about halfway. Totally works for me.

That's an important distinction, Breton! Though I've never bottom watered a plant in gritty mix. I really love drenching them with the sprayed in the sink when they are in gritty or 511 mix.

Hence my dislike for 'really' gritty mix, instead of mix that has a component (not much, mind you) of sifted potting soil/top soil. I believe plants grow better with some sort of dirt/loam anyway, and you add the fact that (1) you don't have to water as often, why a purely gritty mix would be used is beyond my ken, unless you were rehabbing a plant.

I have to admit, I have started adding a wee bit of potting mix to some of my gritty mixes lately. Just to keep them moist longer.

but I maintain that some of my succulents that just don't need much water really, really love the gritty mix.

But I like watering the gritty mix, so it's no problem to me for smaller plants that can be carried back and forth to the sink easily. I think they like the frequent waterings.

also, they don't need much watering once established.

The most valuable thing I've learned from this forum is that different plants like different mixes. I mean, they can survive in one standard mix, but they can take off with customized mixes.

I don't think I could use gritty mix for all of my plants like some do, but I do think some really thrive in it.

if I grew outdoors, I wonder if I would feel differently....

just chatting.

ETA: there are plants here in the desert that grow with no soil. The local cactus and succulent shops also tell you which plants do not need organic matter. The ecosystem here is truly unique and is largely soil -free.