There is no particular time of the year for taking cuttings of many of the members of the pelargonium family, because they have no dormancy and grow for twelve months of the year. However, success will depend on being able to supply good light and warm compost. A propagator is a worthwhile investment for any enthusiastic gardener. It is a good idea to get going on the regal varieties first if you need more of these, as they take longer to root and longer to come into bloom than the zonal types.
Whilst I’d always encourage you to expand your collection by trying out new varieties (and of course, ordering them all from Vernon’s!), taking your own cuttings of geraniums is also an exciting part of this wonderful hobby of growing and collecting geraniums! If you’ve never tried it before then do give it a go – I still get a thrill when fresh, white roots are coming out of the base of a cutting I’ve taken. There is no such thing as 100% success but if you have a method that works for then I’d always say stick with it.
How to take geranium cuttings
There is no particular time of the year for taking cuttings of the geranium family, because they have no dormancy and grow for twelve months of the year. However, success will depend on being able to supply good light and warm compost.
Your requirements will be a mother plant, a sharp knife, some seed compost and some means of keeping the compost warm once the cuttings are inserted.
- Cut the mother plant just above a leaf joint on the main stem and then trim the cutting you’ve taken to just below the joint.
- Strip off most of the leaves.
- Don’t take a great long cutting. The healthiest past of a plant is nearest the growing tip, so short cuttings are best, and once rooted they will soon catch up with long ones.
- The cuttings need to be inserted into warm, damp sterilised compost. Do not let them dry out and keep them in a light, dry atmosphere. Never put the lid down on a propagator if you are rooting any of the pelargonium family – they are very prone to rotting in high humidity.
- Wait and few weeks and your cuttings should have rooted!
Some years ago someone once wrote in a pelargonium magazine that it was beneficial to use a solution of vitamin C for cuttings, so we tried it and had to agree it helped, so we have been using it ever since. We put about half a teaspoonful of powder in a couple of eggcupfuls of cold water and stir it with anything that is non-metallic (usually a plant label) and it is stored in a dark bottle. Tablets would do just as well as powder – and what you don’t use for your geranium cuttings can be made into a drink – so it will do you both good! We never use hormone-rooting powders or liquid, as this makes the ends go soft and they are more likely to rot than root.
Do not get distraught if a few do not make it – one hundred per cent success is a very high standard to try to achieve! The important thing is to enjoy what you are doing, and we think you will always feel a sense of achievement when you manage to increase your stock of a plant. We always do!
I’d like to have plants I can put in my garden in mid-May. I live in zone 5. I have my plants growing under lights in my basement. When (what month) would you recommend tsking cuttings so i have strong plants for the summer?
Pelargoniums are perennial so you should be able to keep them from year to year if you are happy to over winter them in the basement. You can take your cuttings at any time of year, but for decent sized plants in May I would thing that you would want to take them by the previous autumn.
Hope that helps
Sue
I would like to take cuttings from my geranium maderense. Is this possible?
Yes its simple to take basal cuttings from G. madarense. Select shoots of around 10cm long that are growing from the base of the plant. Sever them close to the crown of the plant at soil level. Insert the cuttings around the edge of a pot of free draining compost and take care not to over-water. Bottom heat will help to speed up the rooting process. Once you start seeing roots appear through the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot then they can be potted up individually.
My geranium cuttings are starting to flower should I remove them? Thank you
Hi Valerie
Yes – if they are still making root then it would be a good idea to remove the blooms.
Best wishes
Sue
Hello, I might be being dim but the paragraph about where to cut and trim seems ambiguous
“Cut the mother plant just above a leaf joint on the main stem and then trim the cutting you’ve taken to just below the joint.”
If I’ve cut just above a joint, how can I trim to just below it? Could you clarify? Kind regards Andy
Hi Andy
Have you watched the video in the blog? I think you will find this makes things clearer. The cutting is taken from the mother plant, by cutting just above a leaf joint low down on the plant. You will now have a separate cutting. The cutting that you have taken can now be prepared by trimming just below a leaf joint further up its stem.
I hope that helps
Best wishes
Sue
Do the cuttings have to be kept indoors or can they survive in a small greenhouse
Hi Jan
A heated, frost free greenhouse is actually preferable, as they would receive more light.
All the best
Sue
hi, I grew up in NY and in the winter I remembered my father would dig up our geraniums and hang them upside down in the basement and would replant them in the spring. Is this common and will this work?
I’ve been doing this for years and it works. The present geraniums are in their tenth year. Obviously cuttings, not the original plants.
Help all my stems are still really flowering,so how do I take a cutting, from the top of plant including flowering buds still abundant,or from lower down?
I want to take cuttings soon but I don’t have a heated greenhouse. Could I keep them indoors in a spare bedroom? Also should I water them during the winter months ??
A spare bedroom would be fine. Only water when necessary to keep the compost just moist. Once the weather warms up in spring then you can increase watering again.
Hope that helps
Sue
I took a stem from a geranium, stuck in a dirt, potting soil mix, and still thriving, I’m amazed, been a week. Not real big yet …
what was the weather like? I just did that same thing but I am thinking it’s too cold outside atm.
I am amazed to see my name on the comments list,as I don’t remember visiting the set,or is there another Michael Drake!
For the first time I trimmed back a few geranium plants last autumn to about 6″ high and bushy. They are now growing slowly indoors in pots. How should I proceed to get the best blooming flowers this summer out of doors? Should I put these plants into large pots outside when the weather warms up or take cuttings from these plants and bring on indoors before planting out?
Hi Alex,
If you’ve trimmed them back now and they are slowly growing indoors, I would give them a general purpose feed for now and maybe switch to a higher potash feed in late spring to encourage flowering. take cuttings after flowering in late summer and get theses going then.
I hope this helps
All the best
Graham
Is it too late to take geranium cuttings after a frost
Hi Kathleen,
as long as the plants are still healthy and not showing any signs of damage from the frost then it should be absolutely fine.
All the best
Graham
Sorry I meant Holly, not Veronica. Sunday brain!
Hi Veronica
I took some cuttings of my one favourite geranium a couple of months ago and put them in the greenhouse (in mix of vermiculite and compost after studying the method closely). Took a while for them to do anything but all of a sudden the cuttings are in flower, even though they are only 3-4″ tall. I did try to take stems that hadn’t flowered but because I had already given the plant a trim back, there weren’t many to choose from so maybe these had flowered. What do I do? Is this ok? I will shortly be potting them out into their own pots as there are 3 of them in a 6″ pot at the moment. Thanks.
Hi Sophie,
All is well and the fact that the cuttings have flowered shows that they are strong and healthy too. I would, however cut the flowers off so that the plant can put its energy into growing well and will flower much better next year. Pot them up as per your original plans and keep up the good work!
Cheers
Graham
Excellent, thanks for the advice Graham!
I would like tofollow your blog.
Hi Veronica,
our blogs can be followed eithe rby using an RSS feed (click the icon on the main page screen) or just check in regularly and see who’s posted recently! 🙂
Cheers
Graham
Thank you for your help.
I thought you had to select a stem that hadn’t flowered – in some difficulties because mine seems to be flowering everywhere but I want more of this gloriously deep red geranium with dark foliage.