I ordered some Sempervivum and Jovibarba this spring. Some have babies others wont even open. I am still tring to propigate plants from leaf cuttings. So far no luck. Do you have any suggestions? I have a bag of perlite and have been using it to put the cuttings in. So far every attempt has either just dried up and died or burned. I live in the desert zone 9 so its challenging, but I am not giving up.

Hi, iheartsucculents, I'm glad you posted this--I'm new to them, too, and I'm wondering what I've done wrong...I have stuck the tips of the leaves into the soil in the same container with the plants, and all they do is rot or dry up. I've tried just laying the leaves on top of the soil, too.

Hi iheart and Renee. Good to see you both here.
Hardy sempervivum will not reproduce from just a leaf. They increase by sending out offsets (new young rosettes) or by planting the properly harvested seeds when they flower. The see will not produce true to the parent plant. You never know what they will look like, but you can be assured they will be wonderful. : )

Between the both of you you have very different growing conditions weather wise.

Iheart, living in a zone 9 desert conditions, yours will need filtered light, not direct sun. Do you get any cold weather at all? If not you may not do well growing hardy sempervivum. They really do need a winter resting time, or they will eventually wear themselves out.
If the plants are stressed they will stay closed up. Once they are happy they will open. Look to see what might be stressing them. They are drought tolerant but do need water, especially in desert conditons. What are you using for soil?
Can you post some photos so we can see what is going on?

Renee, you should do very well with hardy sempervivum in your area. You get a winter rest time but I am not sure what your summers are like. Do you have high humidity, very hot, what kind of soil do you use?
Again, can you post photos?

Also, in general the sempervivum do not root from leaves as the echeveria and sedum often do. You will have to plant the offsets for the sempervivum and Jovibarba hirta, and divide the main plant for the Jovibarba heuffelii to asexually propagate these plants.

I noticed that one of my plants closed back up when it got too dry! Zoinks!

Iheart, Terri is correct, if you don't have killing frosts you might have a better time growing the tender succulents. There are thousands of different ones.

Here is a link to a tender succulent nursery with many to choose from. : )
http://www.jadepoint.com/Indiv...

Thanks, it's nice to have knowledgeable folks here to answer our questions!

You are welcome Renee. Happy planting. : )