It all began when a big wind storm in the middle of the night broke off a large stem from an outdoor potted geranium. I couldn't bear to throw away the damaged stem, so I did a quick search online and learned how to propagate geraniums from cuttings. What began as an urgent experiment to save part of a plant swiftly became a successful way for me to get a plethora of geraniums at almost no expense.
I grow them all year long. This photo of my pink geranium in our kitchen garden window was taken in February. It began as a small cutting.
These red geraniums are currently in the same garden window. They're all from cuttings.
Recently a reader named Betty commented on the Spring Fling Bazaar post where I showed some of the geraniums I took to sell at the bazaar:
Could I ask a favor of you? I've been trying for years
to have success with growing geraniums from
cuttings with no success. If you have the time
in the future could you post how you do it
from start to finish.....lighting the cuttings need etc.
Thank you.
I told Betty I would be happy to do so, and while starting some new cuttings this week I snapped step-by-steps photos to share with you. So, Betty, I hope you're tuning in today so you can see the entire process.
Before I continue, let me say that I am not a geranium expert. I'm not a Master Gardener nor anything close. There are differing opinions on how to start geraniums. This is only how I do it. You may do it differently. The how isn't important to me, it's the final outcome I care about. This way works for me.
1. Find a stem that has new growth on it.
2. Cut the stem just below the node.
This is what the cut piece looks like.
And here it is after I removed the lower leaves.
3. Dip the end of the stem in water.
4. Then dip the wet end in rooting powder and just swish it around until the end is fully covered. (Some people say this step -- dipping in rooting powder -- isn't necessary for geraniums, but this is how I do it and I've never lost a plant.)
There are different brands of rooting powder. These are two I have in my potting shed at the moment, and they both work fine. I'm sure any other brand would work as well.
5. Tap the end of the stem on the side of the bowl to get off the excess powder.
6. Push the cutting into a soil-filled pot with about a 1/4" of stem -- below the leaves -- exposed. I use Miracle-gro potting soil since that's what I always have on hand.
Update: Apparently, I didn't explain this step very well because there's confusion over how deep the cutting is planted. There's close to 2" of stem buried. The 1/4" I refer to is above the soil, between the soil and the crown of the geranium.
Update: Apparently, I didn't explain this step very well because there's confusion over how deep the cutting is planted. There's close to 2" of stem buried. The 1/4" I refer to is above the soil, between the soil and the crown of the geranium.
7. Water.
8. Set near a sunny window. My potting shed doubles as a greenhouse with windows that face east, south and west. Any of those locations work. In the house I use east and south facing windows. The sunnier the better.
Water only when the soil starts to feel dry.
That's it. Pretty simple.
Before I sign off I want to thank AnnMarie of the blog Musings of a Vintage Junkie for her A Sweet Gift to Myself post she did last week about my new online shop and her experience with purchasing one of my collages. It really was so very sweet of you, AnnMarie. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
