Warning: I tried rooting cuttings in just water and lost 14 out of 20

I thought I could skip buying perlite and rooting hormone for my jade plant cuttings last month. After 3 weeks, 14 of them rotted at the bottom and never grew a single root. Now I'm stuck buying new cuttings from the nursery on Grand Avenue. Has anyone else had this fail so badly with succulents?

3 comments

3 Comments

wren_mitchell10d ago

emmaking's wallpaper story hit home... I did the exact same thing with my bathroom wallpaper two years ago and ended up with plaster dust everywhere and a week of sanding. But wow, 14 out of 20 cuttings rotting is brutal. I tried rooting a monstera leaf in water once and it sat there for four months doing absolutely nothing, just a sad little stem floating around. Finally gave up and bought a proper starter plant from a local greenhouse, felt like I wasted so much time staring at that jar.

gracethomas10d ago

Yet another case of skipping steps causing a bigger headache later.

emmaking10d ago

Oh man, I was just reading some thread about home improvement shortcuts and it reminded me of this exact thing. People trying to save time end up making more work for themselves down the road. I saw a video where someone painted directly over old wallpaper instead of stripping it first, and a few months later the whole thing was peeling off in sheets. Total nightmare to fix compared to just doing it right the first time. @gracethomas you're spot on, skipping steps is just trading a small inconvenience now for a massive headache later.