Cuttings (geraniam)

Thanks for all advice so far, can anybody help me with advice on taking or cultivating cuttings particually geraniams and when is best time?

 

Do you mean the pelargonium type? If so,we keep these inside at work and I have managed to get 6 cuttings going by sniping off a shoot, dipping it in rooting compound and bunging it in compost. They haven't all taken, and individual leaves don't work, but I have enough for what we need.
I cannot get the variegated ones to take though :confused: I'm currently trying them in test tubes in a growing medium.

 

Hi Dixon. Did you know there is a very good specialist Pelargonium nursery right by you at Swanland, run by Mary Spink.

In her guide she says you can take Pelargonium cuttings at any time of the year. But the warmer it is the quicker they will root. The mother plant must be healthy, and watered the day before. You must cut cleanly with a scalpel or very sharp secateurs. The biggest problem is stem rot, which comes from bruising, lack of hygiene and too much water. Don't cover the cuttings in a closed propagator or with a polythene bag as you would do with most other cuttings - this encourages stem rot.

Select non flowering stems (flowering stems are harder), and preferably from the top of the plant, where it has received most light. But in my opinion these will be difficult to find at this time of the year - so you have to use what you can get. As Daisybelle says, use a rooting compound (or even athletes foot powder) more for the antifungal effect than for the hormone effect. Mary Spink says you need a minimum of 22C to 26C at the roots, with an air temperature of 10C. Too low a temperature also encourages stem rot. At the height of summer cuttings can root in 8 to 10 days but Regals will take 5 to 8 days longer.

Mary Spink does it commercially, and productivity is important. In my opinion you take what cutting material you can and push them into compost that is damp. You mustn't cover them or water the compost much. You can lightly mist the leaves if its very hot.

The methods are exactly the same for other plants, but you would normally cover them to prevent them drying out. Virtually all material will grow roots - its just a matter of keeping them alive for that 10 day period of gestation.