Variegated Geraniums rooting in water 2009-10-31

Fascinating :o)
Nominated for GoYpedia Cuttings category.

Now we all know you can root Geraniums in water as well as in compost! Perhaps they would root a lot quicker at the beginning of summer instead of at the end!

Thanks for the nomination! :-)

:o)
I wonder if various plants root in water more quickly at different times of year....

A very interesting question, TT! Just like many cutting root quicker in late spring/early summer I imagine the same would apply for those rooting in water. I had expected these Geraniums to rot away after about a week so I was very surprised to see that they didn't & ended up making roots!

hello, hope you don't mind me butting in, but in answer to your question they will root quicker in the spring, although as you can see they also do their stuff in autumn too :-) also another handy tip for you when you are rooting geraniums this way, do not change the water even if it goes green, just top it up when it gets low because the geranium cutting will secrete rooting hormone into the water which will help them root quicker, hope this helps

Thank you very much, Majeekahead, for that information. As I've mentioned before this is my first attempt at rooting Geraniums in water. I had no idea that they secreted hormones in the water. I changed the water on several occasions so that may have made them take longer in rooting! I did it hoping that it would prolong the life of the cutting while they produced roots.

This was an experiment as I really had enough plants anyway. I had taken some more cutting & had put them in compost a week or so before these in water. I'm not sure I will be doing again unless I want to propagate more Geraniums & don't have any compost at the time - which sometimes happens in the spring. I garden on a balcony & I have to buy all my compost for my plants as I don't have soil to use.

i see, they are easy to do like this another little tip is if you want to prevent the cutting from rotting just use less water, i put them in a milk bottle or bulb vase so that i can prop them without the stem needing to touch the base to stand up, and i keep the water level just above the base of the stems where the bottom knode is.. this is where the roots will grow from so as long as this area is just in the water the rest of the stem need not be.

Thanks, I'd never thought of doing it like that! That's a good idea! You ought to put that tip in TT's blog on "Cutting in Rainwater". Many people would appreciate that! :-)

I think Tt already did, i gave her the same advice on this a while ago, unless i am mistaken i think she did cut an paste it to her blog, with my permisson ofcourse :D

I'll have to have a reread of that blog then. I though I saw a commentary by someone on rooting Geraniums in water & that was what gave me the idea of experimenting this way. Thanks again for the tip! :-)

your welcome x looks like you are doing a fine job anyway ;-)