I got a lot of cuttings this year

14 years ago

Hi

I just started 42 zonal geranium cuttings. I got them from 3 plants I brought in last fall and grew over the winter. I was amazed at the number of cuttings I got this year. They are all Maverick Geraniums in 4 different shades of pink--Violet(which is more of a hot pink) star(almost white with a hot pink eye), appleblossom (A very pale pink) and pink.

I have some red ones started from seed. If all survive I will have to be creative in finding places for them all.

I took my cuttings at the beginning of the week and they have been callusing over. I knew I had quite a few but I never thought there were that many. I was so excited I had to tell someone and who better to tell than other gardeners

Comments (5)

GawdinFever
14 years ago
I'm so envious! I absolutely love them, as you really get money's worth and they are so gorgeous!

I only kept one, and now I'm sorry! On the flip side, I did get some seed to germinate that I've been trying for 3 years!
ontnative
14 years ago
Taking geranium cuttings is not something I've ever done, so just curious. How many successful plants do you think that you will get from your 42 cuttings? 70-90 percent? How long do you let them callous over before you plant them in potting soil?
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oilpainter
Original Author
14 years ago
ontnative:
I take my cuttings just below a leaf. The roots come out of a leaf joint. Cleanlyness is most important for everything used when doing cuttings as is sterilized soil. I let them callus over for anywhere from 3 days to a week. I find 5 days is just about right. You will still lose some to blackleg buy not as many as without letting them callus over.They look pretty droopy when you plant them and during the rooting process they will lose most of their original leaves, but not before starting to put out new growth.

This year I have lost 6. The other 34 have put out new growth so I know they are rooted. Now that they are rooted I don't expect to lose any more. That's how it is some years you lose a couple other years you lose more.
pippi21
13 years ago
What do you mean by letting them callus over? Do you root your geraniums in water or in Roottone or perlite?
oilpainter
Original Author
13 years ago
Pippi
Callusing over is letting the cuttings air dry. I do it on newspaper on my spare room floor. When Geraniums sit in the air the cut end shrivels and dries. The leaves look wilted and you may think they are dead but they are not. The result is that the water flow up the stem is reduced, therefore cutting down the danger of blackleg. The plant can still get enough moisture to set down roots and grow but it does not get too much.

I root my cuttings in promix and I use a rooting hormone--stim root No.1. Out of the 42 I started I lost 10 but I credit this tremendous heat and my overwatering for some of the ones I lost--I'm glad I had so many. I just put a bunch of them in pots for my patio today. The rest will go in my flower bed.