How to root geraniums in water quickly and without losses, and also why does the system of actions of the grower fail and how best to solve the problems?

Geranium has a beautiful flowering and can decorate any windowsill or garden. Of course, you can buy a blooming adult home, but sometimes it’s more interesting to grow a flower yourself. Therefore, many are interested in the reproduction of this plant at home.

For this, cuttings are most often carried out, because with seed propagation of flowering geraniums, it takes to wait a much longer time.

What is this plant?

Geranium is a herbaceous plant often called a crane. Perennial species number up to 400, and annual (pelargonium) - about 200. All of them are distinguished by decorativeness due to colorful flowers and beautiful leaves.

reference. Geraniums are unpretentious, it is also found in the wild, and is popular with gardeners. Also, it can often be seen on window sills and balconies.

How does rooting work?

Geranium is propagated in different ways, but often by cuttings, when using existing plants.

You can root the plant in water and soil. Experienced flower growers believe that the formation of the geranium root system occurs faster in the soil, but a more viable root forms in the water.

If rooting cuttings in the soil, it is necessary to take into account the requirements:

to cuttings;
to the ground.

How to cut the cuttings correctly:

Use only strong and healthy cut shoots.
Lower leaves are removed.
Cuttings cut 7-10 cm long.
Slices of the cut are made between two leaves.
At the bottom, a slice should be made below the kidney, without leaving a stem that can rot in the water.
At the top, a section is made above the kidney, without leaving a stem above it, so that the new shoot does not go to the side, not up.
Sections must be dried within two hours to form a protective film.

Which soil to use:

The soil should not be very dense. An ideal composition would be: peat (three parts), perlite (one part).
In addition, rotted compost and garden soil, previously calcined, must be added to the soil mixture.

Reference. Vermiculite, brick chips, fine expanded clay, polystyrene foam crumbs and sand can replace perlite as disintegrants. But you need to know that the composition with expanded clay cools faster in the cold and heats up in the heat.

Once the slices have dried, you can begin to land:

It is better to put drainage at the bottom of the tank.
Pour the soil mixture on top.
Make a hole in it and place a seedling.
Compact the earth a little.
Then pour it so that it becomes a little wet.

After three to four weeks, roots should appear.

More details about how to perform propagation of geranium by cuttings at home can be found here.

When is the best time to do this?

You can experiment at any time of the year. But experienced flower growers believe that geraniums take root faster in spring.

Summer heat affects seedlings negatively, and with increased humidity there is a chance of developing a “black leg”.

It is practically impossible to save the affected plant from the "black leg". The disease develops quickly, the trunk rots from the root itself and pruning does not help. When watering, it is better to pour water into the pan to avoid waterlogging of the soil.

If you propagate geraniums in the fall, it will have to create greenhouse conditions.:

place seedlings under lamps for at least 17 hours a day;
air must be warmed up to 23 degrees;
in autumn, rooting takes longer, amounting to 35-40 days.

So, so that the geranium cuttings take root well, the period from the end of February to May is considered the best, but your own experience can refute this statement. Many factors influence rooting and each gardener has his own conditions. And yet in the spring, geranium is always taken.

How to make pelargonium roots in water?

One way to root geraniums is to put the cuttings in water and keep them in a warm room for 2-3 weeks.

Instruction manual:

place the prepared cuttings in an opaque (as the roots need darkness) container with water;
water is used in the usual layer of 5 cm and with the addition of crushed activated carbon;
water should be changed every two to three days;
place the container in a place where there is diffused sunlight, and not direct rays;
when the shoots take root, they must be transplanted into the ground.

Important! If the mother plant itself was grown by means of cuttings, then the roots of the processes will grow quickly, but if it was obtained from seeds, there is a possibility of unrooted cuttings.

More information about how to grow geranium from seeds at home and care after that can be found here.

Possible problems and solutions

Sometimes cuttings can be in water for a long time without forming roots.

Why geranium does not give roots in water:

air temperature above 25 degrees, and this has a bad effect on the development of the roots;
ivy geranium, and this species can be fed by internal juices for a long time and not take root.

What to make roots appear:

take the stalk out of the water;
update slice;
dry overnight;
in the morning to plant in a slightly damp soil.

How to carry out the whole process quickly and without loss?

Sometimes a positive result can not be achieved by following all the rules. The reason is that in the rooting process, there are secrets and subtleties:

In soil, not only its composition is important, but also its acidity, because geranium does not like elevated. Peat is characterized by oxidation, and in store soil contains 80% peat.
If in the process of rooting all leaves fell in the pelargonium, there is a possibility that there will be no sense, but if only a part is yellowed and subsided, it is possible that it will take root.
Pots with cuttings can be put in a greenhouse, for example, under tomatoes - and the light will be scattered, and the greenhouse will be ventilated; the lower leaves sometimes turn yellow, and the top will be green and strong.
Top dressing is excluded until the roots grow.
If the stem has a flower, it must be removed so that rooting does not slow down.
With the establishment of heat, geraniums must be put on a balcony or loggia, because insufficient lighting will result in a loss of decorativeness.

How to plant?

Attention! The roots that gave the roots better take root in the soil at 23-25 degrees Celsius and when the earth warms up to plus 15-18.

What is required for landing:

set the stage (eliminate stagnation of water, add rotted compost and peat);
make landing pits (deep - based on a branched root system, with drainage at the bottom);
plant seedlingsby compacting the earth around the plant;
water abundantly (such watering is allowed only when planting);
mulch the soil from drying out (pour organic mulch: bark, wood chips, dry peat, compost).

Follow-up care

After the geranium was planted in the ground, it, being an unpretentious plant, requires minimal care.

It consists of:

in watering (when planting, you need plentiful, and then moderate, when the soil has already dried out);
in top dressing (making compost and peat during planting is usually enough);
and pruning(for decorative purposes and as a preventive measure, in order to protect healthy parts of plants from rot).

Experience will help root geraniums without losing planting material. Do not despair if the first result is not what we would like. After all, it depends on the type of geranium, and on the soil, and on the time of planting, and on other conditions. Only experiments will give the necessary experience.