Pelargoniums (common geraniums) cuttings - where am in going wrong?
Good morning,
I have just nipped to the green house to see how my geranium cuttings are doing. Once again more than half have got the fluffy white / brown mould and are rotting.
Where am I going wrong please? I've tried cuttings at the end of summer, and I have no success.
These ones were taken two weeks ago (advice of a gardening pal) and no success.
I cut below a leaf node and put around the edge of a pot of compost. I've tried that rooting powder too - makes no difference. I water sparingly when I put them in.
Anyone got a method that gets some success please? Is it the initial watering? Is it that they are in compost? Should they be in grit? Is it the cold greenhouse? Should they be on a warm windowledge?
Would really like to master cuttings - but I'm rubbish at them!
Thanks
Posts
Sorry about all of the typos in the title! Over-eager fingers!
No rooting powder for them, I don't wait for them to dry, some do.
mine just go into any compost, mustn't water too much though. Take nice big stemmed cuttings, strip off the bottom leaves so they don't make contact with the compost, and make sure you push the compost so it's tight around the stem. I only ever put them on the window sill in the conservatory. It's far too cold for them in a greenhouse, even after mine root I keep them in.
After they root, pick out the growing stem in the middle so you get a bushy plant instead of a tree.
Keep trying, if you only get once to two, it's a start. We all had to start somewherE.
If all else fails, root them in a pot of vermiculite. You can keep it quite wet without any harm coming to the cuttings and there is no need to cover them with anything in order to stop them drying out. Keep them indoors where it is warm.
Still, what works for one person might be a disaster for another.
I do pretty much the same as Lyn - mine go on the kitchen windowsill. I remove all the leaves except those at the tip, and if the remaining ones are large I cut them in half to reduce moisture loss.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
If you're putting them in a cold GH don't water the compost! Straight from the bag is enough. Mould forms when they're too wet and warm. If you have a heated GH you can water the compost but do it the day before you put the cuttings in the compost. You can spray with a fungicide after doing the cuttings. I use grit instead of anything else.