This article will be useful to the flower growers, who want to start reproducing room geraniums with cuttings. In the case of this plant, everything is quite simple, it is enough to know the most favorable period for the cuttings and some subtleties of this process. This knowledge will be very useful in the future, because the breeding of geraniums by cuttings (in contrast to growing from seeds ) is the only way to preserve the attributes of a high-quality plant.
General information
To make your venture successful, it is very important to choose the time for the propagation of the plant. On this account, the opinions of experienced florists are similar - it is best to do this in late February - early March. The most unsuccessful, and therefore often failure, time for planting geraniums with cuttings is the period from December to January. If you intend to cut a plant in the spring, then it is better not to cut it too much in the fall. But in the spring it is already possible to cut the plant shorter, and the cuttings obtained during pruning will be rooted with a virtually 100% chance of success. The thing is that at the beginning of spring the biological clock of the plant awakens it from the winter "hibernation". The flower has the most active phase of vegetative growth, so this time is the best fit to root geranium cuttings. The methods for rooting the cuttings of this flower are only two. The first is rooting in water, and the second is in a special substrate. We will briefly introduce you to the nuances of these processes.
Pruning cuttings and ways of their rooting
It is very important to cut cuttings correctly, so as not to damage the mother plant, and not to cut the "empty" stick without the kidneys. Cut should be cut slightly below the leaf node, after it is necessary to remove all leaves except two that grow on the tip of the cuttings. Before each cut, you should always disinfect your garden knife, preferably wipe it with medical alcohol.
First, let's look at the way how you can plant geraniums with cuttings in the substrate. If you plan to multiply your geranium with this method, then cut the cuttings slightly before drying. Best for these purposes is a mix of mashed peat mixed with sand and vermiculite in equal parts. Such a soil composition will often allow watering of the stalk, but it does not lead to stagnation of water at its base. When rooting with this method in the shelter of the plant, there is no need for film, it is sufficient to place it under the phytolamp or to expose it to diffuse sunlight.
When propagating geraniums with cuttings in water, we also cut the cuttings using the method described above, but this time there is no need for drying. Prepared stalk put in a glass (the best is a heavy glass). Now the most important part is prepared water. The thing is that this plant will never take to growth if there is even the slightest admixture of chlorine in the water. And in the boiled or "dead" water the plant is unusual. It is best to multiply geranium with cuttings by this method
And finally, we give some useful recommendations for care . Geranium far better tolerates drought than excess moisture. For this reason, watering should always be moderate. Geranium prefers fertilizers with a high content of phosphorus and potassium, but with a low content of nitrogen.