rooting geraniums

[el...@rochester.uucp]

From: Elizabeth Hinkelman <eliz>

I remember rooting geranium cuttings in water whan I was
little, but I tried it recently with the Dr. Livingston lemon-
scented kind but the stems turned black all the way through.
So I cut them off and put them in perlite, and the same thing
happens. I sed a sharp knife; what else could I be diong wrong?

Elizabeht

[goo...@uicsl.uucp]

Geraniums tend to have succulent stems; perhaps they need to be treated like
cacti: let the cuttings dry out for a while before sticking them into perlite.
The cut surface has to "heal" or the cutting will rot (black rot sounds
more like bacteria than fungus to me, but either can be a problem); this can
take weeks with some cacti, but probably only a day or so with geraniums.
Using a rooting hormone that contains fungicide might help.

Mark Gooley, (ihnp4;seismo;pur-ee;convex)!uiucdcs!uicsl!gooley