I've not tried doing cuttings with the NGs. I have the other imps. These NG's were grown from seed. I've documented my progress this year on this thread:
I grew 3 NG's from cuttings last year (over the winter) and they did great! It's actually quite easy: I took a 4"-6" fresh side shoot, no buds, and nipped off the last couple of sets of leaves; put them in water by the window, and they grew roots in a couple of weeks. Gave them only afternoon sun from some south facing windows, and they almost outgrew their pots by the summer. The mother plant wasn't in great shape or anything, and had few blooms. I'd do it again, but have only so much sill space for my sprouting this year.
BTW, tom8olovr, how big are the NG seeds? I've collected some from mine (the ones from the cuttings), and they are ridiculously small. The regular impatiens seeds are gigantic in comparison. Am I getting them off the plant too soon? I lost some while waiting for the pods to get bigger, and didn't chance it this time. Thanks!
Is starting cuttings a better way than keeping the mother plant alive all winter? I kept one all last winter only to almost lose it in April from spider mites. I managed to save it with insecticidal soap but it took all summer to recover. It just started blooming now in October!
I think cuttings are the way to go because they take up less space, and you can propagate and have more plants next season. The indoor heat may dry them out, as I've had to mist the young plants during the winter when they start to look a little droopy. Maybe the mother plants needed more humidity? Just my 2 cents.
