Subject: geranium rooting?

From: [email-masked] (Jeanne Colin)
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 19:49:32 GMT

i overwintered potted geraniums last year, and this year i'd like to take 
cuttings of these and put them into the ground.
how should i take cuttings and do i root them in water before 
planting them, or just stick them in the garden and water them until they 
root? i've got clay in zone 7, but i've also got potting soil.
thanks all

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 28 Mar 95 20:16:06 -0600

> root? i've got clay in zone 7, but i've also got potting soil.

Make your cuttings, taking a couple of leaves and 4-5 nodes.  Leave the
cuttings sitting on the kitchen counter overnight.  (this promotes
"callusing", and you need to do it with succulent plants like geraniums).

Get a tray of plain old sand-box sand.  Stick the cuttings into the sand,
burying 3-4 nodes.  You can use a rooting hormone if you like.
Keep the sand damp, but not saturated with water.  Mist the cuttings often,
using plain water and a hand-held sprayer.  Or you can slip the tray of
cuttings into a plastic bag, and blow up the bag and fasten it.. instant
greenhouse.  Remove the bag if you see any signs of rot, or when roots
start to form.

When the cuttings have rooted in sand, transfer them to a good, well-drained
potting soil.  Clay is too soppy for geraniums.

My mother uses Jiffy-7 pellets (those compressed peat thingies that
expand into peat in a mesh bag when you soak them in water) for her
geranium cuttings.  She just puts out a tray with the Jiffy-7's touching,
adds water to expand them, then puts a cutting in each Jiffy-7.  After
they've rooted, she plants them out like that.

I don't have much luck with Mom's method; they rot for me.  She doesn't
have much luck with my method, because she forgets to mist and doesn't
like to repot cuttings later.  Try it a couple of ways and find out
what works for you.

Kay Klier  [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 28 Mar 95 20:16:06 -0600