Propagating Sedum Plants

Hey, Dirt Farmer Jay here from DirtFarmerJay.com. Today I'd like to talk to you about sedum, how to use it, how to propagate it. Sedum is also commonly known as stonecrop and it's one of the most versatile plants you can put in your yard scape because it comes in different colors, different growth habits. Some are low, some are a little bit taller, different bloom colors and it's extremely durable and low maintenance. So what's not to love about it? So what I'm going to show you is a common variety. What you're looking at right now is called Autumn Joy. This particular potted plant has been in that home for over five years. When the snow flies around here, we cut it back at the end of the season, move it into the shed, and then when the weather warms up again in the early spring, we move it back into its sunny spot that you see there and it takes right off again. Now this plant's been in there for a while, as you can see, it needs to be divided and repotted and we're going to do that in the spring by doing cuttings off of this plant. Now it's really simple. The only thing you need to do, because it is a succulent, just like a cactus, meaning that it has a thick, waxy covering on the leaves, it doesn't lose moisture readily, the leaves are thick and kind of a little spongy or resilient, just like the cactus family but without thorns. Because it has all those characteristics, it's drought resistant and it also easily breaks apart. So when you break off one of the sections off of the potted plant, you're going to get a piece like this. It just breaks off really easily. Now what I've done here is simply taken a section off of the plant and I've put it in a little glass of water. You can do, I did this for demonstration purposes, but you can take a whole batch of them and put it in a big can or a vase of some kind and get the roots going on it. The roots are fine, you can hardly see them here just because they're little hair fibers down there and they start to expand off there. Some propagators of sedum even skip this part and they just do cuttings and insert it directly in the soil. I like to see a little bit to make sure that the plant has gotten purchased so to speak and it's gotten going and then I do the transplant. Now what you simply do is put it in tap water and let it set for two or three weeks and then you get these little fibers on it. Then you transplant it into a pot and let me show you the results and why we think it's such a great and easy way and what you can do with it. This is one of those, but about two and a half to three months later. So once the roots got going on this one we simply put it in a pot, put it in our little plant nursery where it gets a moderate amount of sun and ongoing moisture and in a very short period of time the plant flourishes. And as you can see there's a little tiny growth, here's another area for more bloom coming. The plant is actively growing with very little care from us. Now at this point there's a great root structure that's formed here and later today Dirt Farmer Maggie and I are going to go out and plant this along with it's cousins. We have probably six or eight more of these that were done at the same time very easily and we'll plant them throughout our yard scape. Now why you should consider Sedum for your yard scape is because it's a nice infill plant, moderate tolerant varieties like this Autumn Joy, which is kind of like a less brilliant color. If you like something that's a little bit redder you can get the Autumn Fire. And by the way, just simply do a Google search and just type in stone crop photos or Sedum, S-E-D-U-M, photos and you'll see the vast array of beautiful cultivars that are out there for you to make use of. Generally speaking, the lower line it is, the more it tends to like heat and thrives more in desert conditions. If it's a medium height like this, which will grow approximately 10 to 18 inches tall, then they generally tend to work well in more the middle range of the United States further north and will endure the weather as well. Overwintering is very easy. The top's going to die back, leaving the root structure in place. The root structure is perennial, the top dies back and pretty much disappears. And simply all we do is then put some mulch over it, maybe some chopped up straw, decomposing grass and leaf litter, that sort of thing, and let it overwinter. And then when the spring hits again, the fun begins all over again. Buy some of these from your favorite nursery and then propagate them to your heart's desire for your own use around your property. This is Dirt Farmer Jay from DirtFarmerJay.com. Have fun with your seedhubs. If you like the video, please like it, pass it on to your friends, and visit our channel to see what else we have to offer you. Until the next time, I'm Dirt Farmer Jay.