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The Propagation of Haworthias

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Propagation for Beginners

Increasing your number of plants is almost always an attractive proposition - provided you have enough room for them! You can watch them grow, have spares (in case of fatalities), exchange them with other growers, give them away to friends or even sell them!

Basically, there are three main methods of multiplying your Haworthias.

1. From Seed.
2. Offsets.
3. Leaf Cuttings.

Bear in mind that raising plants from seed may well give rise to interesting variations in the seedlings. The other two techniques are more suited to producing further plants matching the parent one.

1) Seed Raising.

Seed is available from the Haworthia Society and also commercial sources. The viability or age of the seed is obviously important but Haworthia seed does seem to remain viable for some time, although of course, this will diminish as the months go by. Even old seed however deserves a chance – if you don't plant it, it certainly won't grow! You can also use seed from your own plants but remember that this may be creating undocumented hybrids.

So, how do you plant seed? Well, you need some suitable containers, which may be separate small pots or seed trays, suitable compost and a method of sealing air and moisture in and pathogens out. This may be by tying a small single pot in a polythene bag or by using a propagator. Your compost may be fine cactus compost or your own “seed mix of the month”.

It may be an advantage to sterilize it. Plenty of drainage is needed in your compost (i.e. an open mix). Damp the compost and sprinkle the seed on top. Some put a thin layer of compost or sand or fine grit on top - others don't. Cover with polythene or the propagator lid and leave it somewhere warm but not too warm. Don't forget to label it!

Be patient. Not all seed germinates at the same time. Some will come up in days, others may take months. It is very satisfying when your seedling peer out of the soil. Don't disturb them too early but prick them out when they get overcrowded. Happy growing!

2) Offsets.

Some Haworthias offset readily, others do not – the latter of course are usually the rarer ones! There are ways of forcing a plant to offset but these are best left to the expert. An offset can be separated from the parent plant using a suitable sharp blade. It is perhaps easier if this is done after the offset has produced a root or two of its own. Either way the offset should be left to dry for a few days so that the wound can heal before planting it. It is also better to keep it in the shade for a while until it has sorted its root system out. Don't forget to treat the wound on the parent plant with care as well.

3) Leaf cuttings.

This is perhaps a more difficult propagation technique, particularly so with thin leafed varieties. Discard some of the outer leaves of the plant and select some from under this. Pull the leaves off from as close to the stem as possible. The bases of these may be treated with fungicide and possibly hormone rooting material. They are then put in the warm and dry or in dryish compost until roots have formed, when they can be potted up. If you are successful, plantlets will form at the severed end.

More Advanced Techniques

Root Cuttings

This technique involves taking root cuttings whereby an exposed root is severed and left undisturbed in situ. Hopefully a plantlet will form on the root. There is a risk of rot however on both the parent and the separate root, so watch your watering and keep the wounds dry.

Tissue Culture

There is a further technique suited to Haworthias called Tissue Culture, This can be used to produce very substantial numbers of identical plants. However, considerable expertise and equipment is required and it is not really a technique for the amateur grower!

For further information on Tissue Culture see Robert Wellens' site.

Further Reading:

1) Vegetative Propagation of Haworthias,
Haworthiad, Vol. 16, No.3, Oct 2002. P.98 – 102
This is a most useful compilation article giving the views of various experts.

2) Cultivation Problems. Bill Keen,
Haworthiad, Vol. 16, No.2, June 2002 P.58 – 59.
Covers compost and the life and death of roots.

Pollination

The Pollination of Haworthias by Paul Forster

Footnote: the illustration on this page (Haworthia parksiana hybrid (Ham 987)) is from the article "Small Haworthias and Haworthia Parksiana hybrids" by Harry Mak published in Haworthiad, Vol.16 No.3 (October 2002) p.112, correction to article Haworthiad Vol.16 No.2 (June 2002) p.55.

© The Haworthia Society 2008

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