Geranium cuttings

A friend of mine gave me several geranium cuttings stuck in potting soil in small plastic pots (there are 3 in each pot). Some of them are flowering. How do I know when they are rooted and can replant them individually in pots? Will I mess up their roots (if they have any) when I replant them? And do geraniums do well in the garden rather than pots? Thanks, Michelle

Michelle.... The best thing you can do for geraniums right now is to pinch those buds off. It is hard when you want to see a pretty flower, but the buds rob the plant of nutrients it needs to make a nice strong root system so you can have lots of beautiful blooms later.

If they are cuttings and unrooted it a good idea to take one of them spray mist bootles and everytime ya go past your plant spritz it. You wil be able to tell when it is rooted or not when you gently tug on the cutting and you feel some resistance.

When you go to replant, gently seperate the roots. They may go into shock for a week or two while they readjust, but don't panic. JUst don't give them any fertilizer until they have a good root sytem and then weak doses. Don't wanna burn their little roots.

They wil do well either in the garden or a pot. Pots reguire more water and more feeding than the ground. You can always put outside for the summer and at the end of the fall dig it up and use for stock plants and cuttings.

Thanks Starlight, I appreciate the good input. I wondered if those blooms were sapping the cutting of it's nourishment. I will snip them off today. I didn't know about the misting, so I'll keep a misty next to them and mist them when I go by. Thanks again...this really helps me a lot. Michelle

Starlight, is it possible to root them in water or should it always be in soil? I have a few that my son broke off playing basketball and would love more plants. Thanks in advance for any help!

Hi there! I thought this propagation info on geranimums would be very interesting for you. Check out Critter's post from 20 May, 11:59 PM
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/512482/ It is very informative. ~ Suzi :)

BR, thank you so much for the info!

My pleasure! Always glad to help by passing along info. I had just read it this morning and thought it sounded interesting too. ~ Suzi :)

Well......I'm so excited! I just went to look at the piece that my son broke off. This happened last weekend and I just stripped the lower leaves off and stuck it in a glass of water, not knowing if it would work or not. Today I see that it is forming small roots at the bottom. Woooohooooo......I am thrilled! LOL Like I need more plants to pot up, but it's fun anyway!!!

Sorry about hijacking your thread Newatplants!

Hey know problem...you can highjack my threads any time! I didn't realize Critter already did a thing on geraniums. Thanks for sharing the thread. Critter is very good with tomatoes too. The cutties that a friend stuck in dirt about 6 weeks ago have rooted and I repotted them and they are blooming and have new growth. So it worked out well. Very exciting to have a bunch of new geranium varieties for free! Good to know that you can stick it in water to root it as well. Thanks, Michelle

It's tricky to find - hiding in the Herbs Forum, which is not a place I would think to look for geranimums! Found it via a link in another forum this morning. Can't tell you which one though, must not have saved that one. Just looked and didn't see it among the 328 threads that I appear to be following. No wonder there is always some threads to look at when I get on! Who saved all those???!!! LOL ~ Suzi :)

My sister says that scented geraniums are actually an herb. I had no clue. I saw one that smelled like citronella at Red Barn here in Austin but my sis wants the peppermint/chocolate one and haven't been able to find it here in Austin.

Here is one of my cuttings that rooted and is already blooming.

Think Critter mentioned a place or two or there were links or something.

Hey, I lived near there at Ft Hood for yrs (80-82 and 83-89). If you ever go up there, see if the base is locked down, but prob not. I some cuttings off my yellow rose, if it is stilll there! ~ Suzi :)

Thanks for the kind words! I can't take any credit for the geranium info -- it all came out of Tom DeBaggio's great little book on propagating herbs. I also have the _Big Book of Herbs_ he co-wrote, but it's his first little one that I'm always grabbing off the shelf!

Starlight's info was right on target, although I think it's easier to use a plastic bag or dome over the pot than to keep up with the misting.

Please note that the thread where I posted that propagation info is the thread for a scented geranium SWAP! Come one, come all! Michelle, I just stuck some fresh cuttings from my Chocolate Peppermint geranium, and I have some others in water that will hopefully strike roots soon. Rooting in water seems to give me only about a 20% success rate, and it can take 3-4 weeks, but I still do it because it's just so easy. The only trick is to change the water daily, which is easy enough when they're right by the sink.

Sandy Mush Nurseries http://www.sandymushherbs.com/ has a good selection of pelargoniums (geraniums), and they do ship plants, unlike DeBaggio's (where I'm hopefully headed soon!).

Jill,

Hi there! Hope you don't mind that I sent them to you at: "the thread where I posted that propagation info is the thread for a scented geranium SWAP!"

I figure the more someone reads about things they are interested in, the more they will learn and want to share too.

If you find you absolutely need and get the cascading strawberry geranimum, start a leaf for me. (smile) ~ Later, Suzi :)

Oh, the more people that see the scented geranium swap thread, the better! I'm quite excited about it!

I'm sure Barb will start enough strawberry geraniums that both of us can have one.... :-)

Have you signed up for the swap yet? (nudge)

Jill,
No, I haven't... Don't have any SG's although those are my initials, LOL As much as I might like them, I hesitate to add everything and fill up both my yard and house so quickly.

My heart says, "I want that, and that, and that..." Wallet says "NO WAY!" Brain says, "pick out what you really want before you get it all and don't have room for it!" Kids say, "We'd rather eat this week, thanks anyways!" I am SOOO confused, LOL!! ~ Suzi :)

LOL, Suzi, I know just what you mean! And we do have to keep in mind that SGs will want to be overwintered indoors! Although if you cut them back, they'll do OK in a 6 inch pot. The guy at the farmer's market who just sold me the Cocoa Mint Rose geranium says he digs them each fall and cuts them back to almost nothing (or roots new ones), then just puts one by the window in each room of the house for the best winter air-freshener ever! So now I'm envisioning a whole row of little geraniums in pots across the windowsill in the diningroom next fall..... Of course, those new african violets will need more space too!

LOL Suzi....earlier today I overheard my 10 yr old son on the phone with his Nana. He called to tell her that we had found the heliotrope that she had been looking for at Homeland (a grocery store) of all places. Acutally, we didn't shop at Homeland, we just pulled into the parking lot where a little old man has rented space for all his plants he has for sale. In the conversation I'm sure his Nana asked him what we bought at Homeland because I heard him say...."We don't spend money on food anymore, only plants"!!!! LOL I couldn't believe he said that! For a few seconds I felt bad....then I thought....hahahahehehehe....Naaaa.....I don't feel bad at all!

I'm picturing those metal shelf holding thingies that have little glass or plexiglass shelves to put lots of plants onto windows... any clue what they might be called or who would have them? DMIL and a friend here have them, wish I did. ~ Suzi :)

Oooops...Suzi, we posted at the same time! Scroll up! LOL

I know what you're talking about, I just don't know what they are called. Good Luck.

All right miss don't feel bad about not buying food ha ha ha -- My 7 y/o DD is in there whining about supper now too... ha ha ha Hey, when the fruit trees ripen you'll have some... IF we can keep the deer away from them!! ~~ Suzi :)

Critter, I've never heard of the cocoa mint rose geranium. sounds lovely. my sis is the one all about the scented geraniums, but now she has me wanting some. I have none to swap though.

My DH thinks I'm insane since I started this gardening thing just a few months ago. It started with some tomato seeds and marigold seeds...and now it is out of control!! I'm having a blast! He says I'm very OCD about the maters. Oh well, gotta be OCD about something, right? Michelle

Hi Critterologist,

When the guy cut back the SG's and put them by a window to overwinter, did he water them? If so, how often? I overwintered mine but didn't know enough to cut it back. It looks pretty sad right now. Would it be wise to cut it back now?

Oh no Michelle....you might have OCD about gardening, but I can assure you that you are NOT out of control yet! LOL Give it a few years and then you can tell me that! LOLOL I'm too embarrassed to show you some pics of my backyard right now. But when I get everything cleaned up (3 or 4 weeks from now....LOL) I'll post a few pics!

Sunny, go ahead and cut back any geranium that looks pitiful, give it a nice drink with a little miracle grow, and stand back! I'm pretty sure the guy at the farmer's market said treat them like any houseplant and water once a week.... he doesn't let them go dormant, although that might work too, but they do make nice indoor plants... I love the scent that fills the house after I've been watering & brushing against them!

Michelle, how about getting your sister to give you a bunch of cuttings to start? You could keep one of everything for yourself and send the rest to the swap! That explanation I posted from Tom's book is long, but that's just because it tries to cover all the details. Read it over, and I'll bet it will look less complicated. "Cut stems and stick them in moist dirt" just doesn't quite cover it for me, so I was happy to find his detailed explanation, figured I had a better chance of success with more information, but that's just my approach.

Thanks Critter, I may do that...I see my sister tomorrow and am babysitting her 4-yr old all day (so that she can go to a spa day)...so the least she can do is give me some cuttings!