Martha Washington Geraniums...how to?

I have 2 very pretty Martha Washington Geraniums and I can't seem to get roots on them, they just end up rotting or doing nothing. The leaves look good, but there are no roots after 3 weeks. I cut them about 6" long, dipped them in rooting hormone, put them in a soiless mixture and have about 1/2 on a heat mat to keep the soil around 75-80*F. Some of my regular geraniums are rooting, but no Martha Washington. Also, the geranuims that did take root have yellowing leaves. Is this from too much sun, heat or what (I know that the water is good because I let them dry out between watering)???
Any help would be appreciated.

I have the Martha Steward geranium, that I've over wintered, and have taken cuttings of . Some are sitting in water and 2 cuttings I started in regular potting soil. The cuttings in water have taken a long time to root, (1 mth 1/2) but are still green and sometime a few yellow leaves appears. I checked them last week and they have small roots and need to be put in soil. The 2, I have started in soil are showing sign of growth, and I was able to pinch the tip of one, to promote more branching.
When I received the cutting, it was a soft wood cutting you would find at the tip of a young shoot. I wasn't very optimistic it would do anything, But decided to put it in soil and see what happens. The picture is the result of it.
There is more info on this site about them.
http://www.petalweb.com/annuals/regal_geranium.html

Nice. Thanks for that info. I have some in water, some in soil on a heat mat in the green house and some in soil in the hall closet (covered w/ plastic wrap). I figured I would try a bunch of different ways since the mother plant was so large and needed a good hair cut. All the cutting were done w/ soft shoots.

My results so far. I started several cutting on Feb 20th.
About 1/2 on the heat mat (in the greenhouse) have started to get small roots.
None in the water have roots, but all the leaves are very green and perky.
All,except for one,in the closet have nice strong roots. The one that did not root ended up rotting.

They were all dipped in rooting hormone before I started and I cut all but 2-3 small leaves.

Next I am going to try some larger cuttings,w/ more leaves,in the closet to see how they do.

Thanks Burn

Well, I started some larger cuttings and found they would not root on their own. I did put pea seeds in a couple (something I read on the internet) and they rooted really quickly. They are all in the greenhouse and doing really well. I think I will do that from on, since the success rate was 100% and I was able to take larger cuttings.

Do you have a link to the pea seeds info ? I would like to read about it. It sound really interesting.
Did you try new larger cuttings with the pea seeds from the start? And did you use Rooting hormones on them? How long did it take with the pea seeds, compared with just rooting hormone?

I don't have the site. I actually got it from the "Readers Digest Gardening Secrets" Book. The steps are simple...

Take a 6-8" cutting from a healthy plant.

See pic.

Next make a 1/2 -3/4" cut in the bottom of the stem. Add a pea seed (wheat and corn will work too). Plant into any seed starting medium and keep moist for at least 1 week. When you see the other plant coming to the surface you know that the seed has done it's job.
I pulled the plant out of the soil and checked for roots, if there are none then it did not work and you will need to toss the plant. If there are roots then carefully remove the seed and replant the geranium in quality potting soil.

I had 100% success and it only took about a week or less. The ones in rooting hormone were hit and miss. I will do all my cuttings this way from now on.

The book says that the reason this works is because the seed put out a large amount of rooting hormone and since it comes in contact w/ more of the inside of the plant it has a higher success rate. The cost is also much better.

Give it a try...Good luck

Here are 2 of them that a did a few weeks ago. The roots are very strong and they are putting off new growth. In fact I had to pinch some blooms that were trying to develop.
Sorry, I forgot the pic.

This message was edited Mar 19, 2011 3:28 PM

Okay, here we go.

The larger is about 9" tall and the smaller is about 8".

Thanks for the info, I will certainly give it a try.