Geraniaceae 2014

[Matt T]

Lovely to see, Fermi. In two years I've not seen a flower on mine, having cosseted it on a windowsill. I recently despatched it to the bulb frame where it will get more light and a wider temperature regime. I'm hoping a cooler winter might do something for it.

[Matt T]

Success at last!

Having grown and flowered the gorgeous Pelargonium 'Ardens' for several years, I had singularly failed to propagate it. This has been a problem, because I have found that aged plants can end up in a state of 'dormancy'. The stems rarely branch, just grow, getting longer and longer... 



...each year throwing out leggy flower spikes with a new growth point but eventually a final apical flower spike comes, the flowers go over, eventually the leaves drop and the growing point fails to resume growth, ever. My previous attempts at propagation have probably been a bit too cautious as well as hit-and-miss, so this autumn I took the bull by the horns and tried everything I could think off (and helped by advice on this Forum). I tried/am trying 4 methods.

1. I layered a growing stem in a pot of moist, gritty potting mix. After several months there was a very strongly growing and flowering growth but no roots and all the signs that it will become another apically dormant stem.

2. Fed up with an untidy sprawl of stems pinned down in pots I recently chopped off the layered shoot, removed excess leaves and the developing apical flower stem and have potted it up as a tip cutting as you would for any other Pelargonium. We'll have to wait and see if it does anything.



3. I'd read somewhere that root cuttings may succeed, so I carefully removed one of the fat, tuberous roots and potted it up. So far (a few months on) nothing has happened, no growth but no signs of rotting either.

In the meantime, I'd experimented by (somewhat nervously) pruning one of the aged, dormant growths to see what would happen. I suspected that there may be some kind of residual apical dominance despite the apical growth being dormant. This pruning proved to be successful and new buds broke out lower down, thereby rejuvenating my aged mother plant.



4. Encouraged by this I took stem cuttings from all of the remaining dormant stems - that is pieces of woody stem 4-5cm long with the dormant, apical end removed. These were inserted vertically into my usual gritty, free draining, loam-based mix so that just the top 1cm was visible. Left on a cool, east facing window these have now rooted and are putting on good growth!



So, my recommendations so far are:

- stem cuttings appear to root well, even from 'dormant' stems
- aged and/or dormant plants can be rejuvenated by pruning
- it's worth persevering with this lovely plant

[Matt T]

A short update: both the root cutting and tip cutting of Pel. 'Ardens' are also growing away well. So, all propagation methods I tried have succeeded except for layering. I think timing is probably key, with this summer dormant plant rooting better from cuttings in the autumn months, possibly when growth hormones are peaking? Now, what to do with all these plants I have...?

[Paul T]

Great to know, Matt.  Thanks.  Might prompt me to try it on my rather sad looking one.  So it was just breaking dormancy when you took the cuttings?

[Matt T]

Hi Paul,
Yes, it was just starting into vigorous growth after it's summer rest. I usually find it throws up more flowers at this time too. It would have been around September time, so now could be a good time for you to give it go. Even if cuttings don't root, the parent plant responds well to pruning.
Matt

[Paul T]

Mine already has significant leaf growth, everything is a bit early this year, all very confused by the weather.  So with full leaves I am assuming no point now?

[Matt T]

Not at all, there should be lots of growth hormones surging around at the moment. I stripped all but two leaves off the tip cutting anyway and if you try cuttings of middle sections of the stem like I did there'll not be any leaves on those, or root cuttings. It sounds as though now could be the perfect time to try. Best of luck, Paul.

[Paul T]

Thanks Matt.  Out of interest, did you dry the cuttings for a period before potting?  Some suggest it for Pelargoniums, others do not.

[John85]

No need for drying the cuttings even if it  is often advised
Worked in a nursery for a while.We never did and had no problems.Nor did we use rooting hormones for pelargonium cuttings.
The important thing is to have a good rooting medium and to have the watering right.
Some people tend to overwater the cuttings because they see the leaves dropping a bit for a few days after they were made.

[Matt T]

Hi Paul, I did as John suggests. No drying, no hormones, just a very free-draining gritty/sandy mix and very careful watering. No cover over the cuttings either, for fear that humidity would lead to rot. Mine took quite a while to show any signs of rooting/growth as temperatures are cool here, but I guess a bit of bottom heat might have helped them along quicker.

[Paul T]

Thanks folks.  Still haven't worked up the courage yet.