Geraniums growing from cuttings
Geraniums are among the most universally cherished, widely cultivated, and instantly recognizable flowering plants in the world, encompassing two distinct but frequently confused plant groups that share the same beloved common name. True hardy geraniums belonging to the genus Geranium of the family Geraniaceae are tough, adaptable, and long-lived perennials that thrive outdoors in temperate gardens throughout the year with minimal care and attention. The plants most commonly and affectionately referred to as geraniums in everyday gardening conversation, however, are tender pelargoniums of the genus Pelargonium, native to South Africa and requiring frost protection in cooler climates to survive the winter months successfully.
The extraordinary diversity within the geranium and pelargonium groups offers gardeners an almost overwhelming range of colors, forms, habits, and ornamental qualities to choose from. Hardy geraniums range from tiny, rock-garden specimens just a few inches high to large, vigorous clump-forming plants reaching two feet or more, with flowers in every shade of blue, purple, pink, magenta, and white. Pelargoniums encompass an equally diverse range including compact zonal types with their characteristic horseshoe-marked leaves, trailing ivy-leaved varieties ideal for hanging baskets, dramatic regal pelargoniums with their large, luxurious blooms, and the endlessly fascinating scented-leaved group whose aromatic foliage releases fragrances of rose, lemon, mint, and spice when touched.
Hardy geraniums have earned their place as among the most valuable and versatile plants in the temperate perennial garden through their remarkable combination of beauty, toughness, and adaptability. They thrive in a remarkably wide range of garden conditions — from full sun to deep shade, from dry, sandy soils to heavy clay — and their long flowering season, attractive foliage, and generally trouble-free nature make them indispensable workhorses of the mixed border. Many species and cultivars produce outstanding autumn foliage color as a bonus, their leaves turning brilliant shades of red, orange, and crimson as temperatures drop, extending their seasonal contribution to the garden well beyond their main flowering period.
Pelargoniums have been treasured as garden and houseplants since their introduction to Europe from the Cape of Good Hope region of South Africa in the late 17th century, quickly becoming indispensable fixtures of cottage windowsills, balcony containers, and summer bedding displays across the European continent. Their ability to bloom continuously and prolifically throughout the entire warm growing season with relatively little care, their wide range of vivid, cheerful colors, and their tolerance of dry conditions and neglect that would defeat many other flowering plants have made them the go-to choice for summer container displays and window box plantings in gardens and on balconies worldwide for over three centuries.
Both hardy geraniums and pelargoniums have significant applications beyond the purely ornamental garden that demonstrate the broader usefulness and cultural importance of these remarkable plant groups. Scented-leaved pelargoniums — particularly Pelargonium graveolens and its hybrids — are commercially cultivated on a large scale in countries including Egypt, Morocco, China, and Réunion for the steam distillation of geranium essential oil, a highly valued ingredient in the global perfumery, aromatherapy, and cosmetics industries. Hardy geraniums have been used in traditional herbal medicine across numerous cultures for their reported astringent and anti-inflammatory properties, and the edible flowers of both groups are increasingly popular as garnishes in contemporary fine dining and home cooking.
The global popularity of geraniums and pelargoniums has driven an extraordinarily prolific breeding industry that has produced thousands of named cultivars offering an almost endless range of flower colors, forms, foliage patterns, growth habits, and special characteristics suited to every conceivable garden situation and personal taste. From the classic, boldly colored zonal pelargoniums that have graced cottage windowsills for generations to the most contemporary hardy geranium cultivars with their extended flowering seasons and outstanding disease resistance, the geranium family continues to evolve and expand with new introductions every season, ensuring that these beloved plants remain as fresh, relevant, and exciting as they have always been throughout their long and distinguished history in cultivation.
Planting of Geranium Cuttings
How to Grow Geraniums From Cuttings
- Understand Why Cuttings Are the Best Method — Taking cuttings is widely regarded as the most reliable, economical, and practical method of propagating pelargoniums, producing new plants that are genetically identical to the parent and therefore guaranteed to carry exactly the same flower color, foliage markings, growth habit, fragrance, and all other desirable characteristics. Unlike seed propagation, which is slow, uncertain, and produces variable offspring particularly in hybrid varieties, cuttings root quickly and easily in pelargoniums, producing flowering-sized plants in a matter of weeks rather than the months required when growing from seed.
- Choose the Right Time for Taking Cuttings — The best time to take pelargonium cuttings is in late summer — typically from August through September in the Northern Hemisphere — when healthy, non-flowering shoot tips are abundantly available on well-grown outdoor plants, temperatures are still warm enough to support reliable rooting, and there is still sufficient time for the cuttings to root and establish before being brought indoors for winter. Spring is the second best time for taking cuttings, when plants are growing actively and producing abundant new shoots that root readily and develop quickly into strong, flowering-sized plants for summer display.
- Select a Healthy, Vigorous Parent Plant — Always take cuttings from the healthiest, most vigorous, most floriferous, and most disease-free plants available, as the quality of the parent plant has a direct and significant influence on the quality and vigor of the resulting cuttings. Avoid taking cuttings from plants showing any signs of disease, pest damage, yellowing foliage, wilting, or any other indication of stress or poor health, as these problems can potentially be carried forward into the new plants produced from cuttings taken from affected parent material.
- Prepare Tools and Equipment Carefully — Before taking any cuttings, ensure that all tools — whether a sharp knife, scalpel, or fine scissors — are thoroughly cleaned and sterilized by wiping the blades with rubbing alcohol or dipping them in a diluted bleach solution and allowing them to dry completely before use. Clean, sharp tools are essential for pelargonium cuttings, as blunt tools crush and bruise stem tissue rather than cutting cleanly, significantly increasing the risk of fungal infection entering the cutting through the damaged wound at a time when the plant has no roots to support its defenses.
- Select and Prepare the Cutting — Choose a healthy, non-flowering shoot tip from the parent plant that is approximately three to four inches long, with at least two to three sets of leaves and a clearly visible growing tip at the top. Cut the stem cleanly just below a leaf node using your sharp, sterilized tool, making a clean, precise cut at a slight angle to maximize the surface area available for rooting and to prevent water from sitting on the cut surface. Remove all leaves from the lower half of the cutting, retaining only two to three leaves at the very top to support the cutting during rooting.
- Remove All Flowers and Buds — Carefully remove any flowers, flower buds, or developing seed heads present on the cutting before inserting it into the rooting medium. While it is tempting to retain the flowers — particularly on attractive varieties — doing so is counterproductive, as flowers and developing seeds divert the cutting’s limited energy resources away from the critical process of root formation and toward reproductive rather than vegetative processes. A cutting that is free of flowers and focused entirely on producing roots will root considerably faster, more reliably, and more vigorously than one burdened with maintaining active blooms.
- Allow Cuttings to Callus Before Inserting — One of the most important and distinctive steps in pelargonium propagation that differentiates it from many other plants is the benefit of allowing cut ends to dry and form a protective callus before inserting them into the rooting medium. Place prepared cuttings on a clean surface in a warm, dry location out of direct sunlight for one to two hours, or until the cut surface has dried slightly and begun to form a dry, papery callus. This brief drying period significantly reduces the risk of the fungal rots that are one of the most common causes of pelargonium cutting failure.
- Choose Whether to Use Rooting Hormone — Unlike many other plants, pelargoniums root so readily and willingly that rooting hormone is generally not considered essential for successful propagation. However, dipping the calloused cut end in rooting hormone powder or gel before inserting the cutting can modestly accelerate the rooting process and improve overall success rates, particularly with cuttings taken in less than ideal conditions or at suboptimal times of year. If using rooting hormone powder, tap off any excess carefully to avoid applying too thick a coating, which can actually inhibit rather than promote rooting in pelargoniums.
- Prepare the Rooting Medium — Fill small individual pots — three to four inches in diameter — with a free-draining rooting medium that does not retain excessive moisture. A mixture of equal parts perlite and multipurpose compost, or a specialized cutting compost, works very well for pelargonium cuttings, providing the excellent drainage, aeration, and modest fertility that these cuttings need to root successfully. Avoid using overly rich or moisture-retentive composts, as excessive moisture around the base of pelargonium cuttings encourages the fungal stem rots that are the primary cause of failure in this type of propagation.
- Insert Cuttings Into the Rooting Medium — Make a small hole in the rooting medium with a pencil or dibber before inserting each cutting to avoid dislodging the rooting hormone and to prevent the fragile, just-calloused cut surface from being damaged by pushing it against the resistance of the growing medium. Insert each cutting to approximately one-third of its length, firming the surrounding medium gently but thoroughly around the base of the stem to ensure good contact between the cutting and the rooting medium without compacting it so tightly that drainage and aeration are compromised.
- Do Not Cover Pelargonium Cuttings — Unlike many other types of cuttings that benefit from being covered with a plastic bag or propagator dome to maintain high humidity during rooting, pelargonium cuttings actually perform better when left uncovered and exposed to free-flowing air. The high humidity created by covering cuttings promotes the fungal stem rots to which pelargoniums are particularly susceptible, while the drier conditions of an uncovered cutting encourage the development of a healthy root system without the risk of disease. This is one of the most important distinctions between propagating pelargoniums and most other cutting-propagated plants.
- Provide the Right Growing Conditions — Place potted pelargonium cuttings in a warm, bright location with good indirect light, maintaining temperatures of around 65–70°F (18–21°C) for the fastest and most reliable rooting. A bright, south or west-facing windowsill or a position in a warm greenhouse provides ideal conditions. Avoid placing cuttings in direct, intense sunlight, which can cause excessive moisture loss through the leaves and overheat the small pots, but ensure they receive good levels of bright, indirect light throughout the rooting period to maintain the health and vigor of the cutting’s foliage.
- Water Sparingly and Carefully — Water pelargonium cuttings very sparingly throughout the rooting period — far more sparingly than most other plants — as the combination of excessive moisture and the warm temperatures needed for rooting creates precisely the conditions in which the fungal stem rots that devastate pelargonium cuttings thrive most aggressively. Allow the rooting medium to become almost completely dry between waterings, then water very lightly from below by briefly dipping the base of the pot in a shallow tray of water rather than pouring water onto the surface of the medium from above.
- Check for Rooting and Pot Up — After approximately three to five weeks, check whether cuttings have rooted successfully by very gently tugging each one upward — resistance to the pull indicates that roots have formed and are anchoring the cutting into the growing medium. Alternatively, look for the emergence of fresh, new leaf growth at the growing tip of the cutting, which is a reliable indicator of successful rooting below the surface. Once rooted, carefully pot up each cutting into a slightly larger pot filled with good quality multipurpose potting compost and begin watering and feeding more generously to support active growth.
- Overwinter Rooted Cuttings Successfully — Rooted pelargonium cuttings taken in late summer should be overwintered indoors in a bright, frost-free location where temperatures remain consistently above 45°F (7°C) throughout the winter months. Water sparingly during winter — just enough to prevent the compost from drying out completely — and withhold fertilizer entirely until growth resumes actively in spring. As days lengthen and temperatures rise in late winter and early spring, gradually increase watering frequency, begin feeding every two weeks with a balanced liquid fertilizer, and pot up into larger containers as needed to support the vigorous spring growth that will ultimately produce the spectacular summer flowering display you have been working toward.