Some questions about cuttings.

Is there a right or wrong time to do cuttings? I am zone 3a and it tends to get cold here early.

I have two ivy geraniums that I want to do cuttings of, hardy geraniums, a petunia, calibrachoa, and anything else I can fit. lol

If I did cuttings next month would that be too soon? Usually things can't be planted in the ground until around the end of May.

I've only ever done cuttings once and when I did I used some styrofoam things that my friend gave me that came with a tray and a dome and it was in early spring. She told me to mist the cuttings with water at night and put the dome on and in the morning mist it and leave the dome off for the day. Or maybe it was the other way around can't remember it was a few years ago. lol But I'm pretty sure not one of them made it to soil because they all rotted.
This time around I plan on using a soilless soil. Is it necessary to mist and cover the cuttings?
Thanks.

I think you are smart to start new plants for next year, but think I would wait until later in the year and enjoy them now. But, don't wait until winter. Others may have a better feel for it. But, I would not reduce the size of your plants for a while.

Okay thanks. I wish it wasn't too early to do it right now. One of the planters that one of the ivy leaved geraniums is in is looking like crap and I sprained my ankle at work and am off for a week and I am sooo bored it'd be a perfect time for me to take some cuttings. lol

Then try it. No hurt in trying.

I took some cutting of my ivy geraniums last year after I trimmed it back and just laid them down and then covered them with the soil of the flower bed. My flower beds soils are similar to potty mix due to all my composting for years. I covered the majority of the cutting, which was about 12 inches long. I cut off the majority of the leaves leaving about 3 leaves above the soil on each cutting. . They rooted at each nob and was a great success. But we may be a little warmer than you. (LOL)

Yeah that's true.

Worms that's awesome. I don't think I'd be so lucky if I were to do that. lol

Well you could try. Do you get sun up there???? You never know until you try. Maybe put something over the cutting like a clear plastic container to establish a warm, moist environment. Then when it roots you can pot it up. Or you can mail me your cutting, I will root them and mail them back. But it would probably be cheaper to buy new plants.

One thing about gardening, you never know what is going to work so try anything. And keep records. So you will know what you did when you have success. Do as I say, not as I do.....Sharon

LOL, listen to her Bob.

LOL I'll try a couple directly in the soil outside if I can find a good spot. :)

LOL >smirk

Wonder what the smirk was for. Oh well,

If it were me, I would put them in pots on the porch in the shade, or under a tree or something. I say pots so you could take them in if you want to. Make houseplants out of them when it gets cold.

I've just been lurking for so long....I never thought of anything you didn't think of first. I'd think of a suggestion and then keep reading to see that you suggested the same thing. And then "LOL, listen to her Bob" struck me as funny. Didn't mean to be rude. It was a friendly smirk. Meant to be a good-matured smirk. Certainly never meant anything by it. More laughing at myself, and then figuring out who Bob was...

Carrielamont? Easier than righting Robertsonj88 all the time. Besides why is it so important? Instead of lurking all over, why don't you start a thread, or find one you are interested in, and join in?

Carrielamont, I got it but I am married to a Texan, so maybe that is why.

I have several threads I lurk on and maybe comment once a month. When they change threads, they always say, "Sharon, we are moving".....

I took cuttings of the one geranium and put them in equal parts of vermiculite and peat moss. I had some perlite but only half of what I used of the rest so I added that too. My cuttings are all yellowing and dying. My mixture hasn't dried out and I did this two weeks ago. I think Icompacted the mix in the pots too much. Is there any saving them?

I found that you have to let the cutting "dry" a bit where you cut it before putting it in the potting mix. (Maybe a day or so, depending on the weather. Obviously not in full sun.) They will end up wilted, but that prevents them from rotting. Don't over water. Just keep damp. Do not cover.

Good luck.
Elsa

I agree with Elsa on letting it dry for a day or two to callus the cut tissue to avoid germs penetrating the open wound. If you have any green stems left you might be able to salvage those as long as there are some nodes (where leaves were or are joined). Cut the yellow (probably rotting) stems off and allow to dry and "heal" before trying to stick them again. Rooting hormone should aid in healing and rooting.

I have a friend who is amazing. Seems everything she does in the garden works. She just breaks the geranium cutting off and sticks it in a pot of potting mix, puts about 6 of them in a pot. The one I saw was a 6 inch clay pot, and she puts on a shelf in the greenhouse and they all root. Forgot, water. Not soaked.

Thanks! I'll cut them again and let them dry. One thing I just thought of, does it matter if I cut above or below the node? I don't remember what I did the first time. Lol
Jnette I'm jealous of your friend. lol

Me too. Cut below the node. That is where the roots come out.

I just pulled my cuttings out of the pots, I guess some I cut above the node and others I cut below. The ones that I cut below the node have roots, to my amazement. When I was checking them the other day I pulled 3 out of the soil and just so happens that I pulled the only 3 without roots. Lol
So I cut those ones below the next node but there are no leaves left on them or just one little yellowing leaf. And two that do have roots just have one long root and no leaves. The stems are still green though. Do they really need the leaves to survive?

Thanks for all of the answers to my million questions. Last week I bought the book "Plant Propagation A to Z" maybe I should start to read it. Lol :)

LOL,might help to read it. Doesn't do much good just to buy it. You sound like me. I buy a tool, don't use it, but wonder why it isn't working.

No leaves, well I don't know if they will do anything or not. The plant needs leaves for photosynthesis. Spelling? Might just rot.

You don't need leaves but it does help to root faster supposedly. The main thing is the stems for the most part have rooted. Leaves will soon be coming out.

I haven't had time to read it, that's my excuse. lol

I just wish that I had experimented with a different geranium first, not one that I really liked and it was the only plant I had. lol Oh well.

Oh at the same time (two weeks ago) I took cuttings of mecardonia and that one was ridiculously easy. This picture is of what started as just one stem stripped to the top leaves.
What I had in a planter outside spread to around the whole planter because it kept layering itself and rooting.

LOL, maybe you need to stick to those. Just kidding. Jen

hahah Maybe I should since they are so fool proof. ;)

No!! You need to keep trying other stuff.

I will, I was just kidding. :)
I'll be posting again next week saying "what did I do!!!??" Lol

I am starting seeds Monday of Pink Mexican Bird of Paradise. I ordered the seeds from Amazon. Should be interesting. If I could get them to germinate and grow I could give some to my garden helper to help him make some money. The summer is a wicked time in Las Vegas because the utilities are sky high and jobs slow down.

I have also been gleaning seed pods for the Red Mexican bird of Paradise. I need to wear better shoes when I walk the dogs. I was going up a berm on the side of the greenbelt to get a few MBOP pods, while walking the dogs and my right shoe slipped off and I just about took a dive. I did not but stepped on rocks many times before I got my whole body stopped upward. BUT I DID GET THE PODS.....

Amanda, I am going to start you a couple of MBOP because they freeze here, we cut them to about 6" above the ground and they come back. They are slow and do not show up first thing in the spring.

I wish you luck. Sharon

I managed to kill the rest of my cuttings. So sad.
Now I'm just going to try to overwinter some geraniums in the basement in pots of soil and I put some "babies" from a Spider plant in potting mix and some in water. From what I read they're pretty foolproof. We'll see about that. Lol

Oh, spider plants are so easy, even I couldn't kill them. I had to give them away, I had so many...

If they somehow all work for me I have almost 30 of them on the go so I would definitely have to give some away.

^_^

For the spider plants that I'm rooting in water how established should the roots be before I put them into soil? The tips on some of the plants are turning brown and this is what the roots look like right now and I am excited. lol
Thanks! :)

Brown tips on spider plant leaves are normal.

I suppose a little longer on the roots wouldn't hurt, but I would say anytime.

House plants are kind of stressed this time of year ,
Spider plants , wondering jews, Diffenbachia with any luck at all have always been reasonbly easy , Outdoors last I looked my lavender cuttings were still alive , so I will have a few when spring comes
With a little plant food , you can actually grow Spider plants in water ,. Any length of root with root hairs , plant keep moist ,, they will grow

I actually grew a real big spider plant from seeds. I didn't even know they produced seeds. But I got some in the Piggy Swap and by golly they grew big plants.

I nrrf to know how to propagate petunias - I read it was easy - is it ?
Thank you

That is a good question. Only way I have tried is seeds. And they are easy.

edited to add: my daughter just bought a variegated petunia and would like to keep it going for next year. I told her to try taking cuttings until the flowers produced seeds and then she would have both ways to try. These are something that we won't find on the west coast very often.

This message was edited Jun 3, 2014 8:25 PM