How to Easily Start New Geranium Plants from Stem Cuttings

1. Gather Your Supplies

Get together the materials you’ll need to take cuttings from geranium plants. You will need the following:

• clean small pots or containers with drainage holes (I usually use a 3″ plastic container)
• quality potting soil
• sharp and clean knife, pruning clippers, or scalpel
• drainage tray without holes
• Heat mat (optional)
• rooting hormone (optional)
• gardening gloves (optional)

2. Choose Healthy Stems to Cut

Select geranium stems that are healthy, green, and free from disease. The stems should have at least 2 healthy leaves and be about 4-6 inches long.

3. Start Geranium Cuttings

Be sure to use a sharp knife or pair of garden pruners that are clean.

Cut the stem off of the parent plant, just below a node, or leaf joint which will encourage new growth in the mother plant. Cut at an angle to allow more surface area for moisture absorption.

Remove any lower leaves, flowering stems, and scales at the base of the leaf stalks. leaving at least 2 leaves at the top.

4. Prepare the Cutting for Planting

Use a Clean Container

If you are planting your geranium starts individually, use a small pot with drainage holes. You can also use a larger 5″ container to plant several geraniums together in the same container.

It’s important to clean your pots before planting your new plants. I use hot and soapy water, with a touch of bleach. Rinse and air dry before using.

Fill Pot With Moist Soil

After selecting a pot with drainage holes, fill it with moist quality potting soil. I personally use a seed starting compost as well because it provides the correct mixture of moisture, nutrients, and oxygen that the new cuttings need to establish roots.

Determine Whether to Use Hormone Rooting Powder

Remove the lower leaves from the new cutting. The next step is completely up to you.

The wonderful thing about geraniums is how easy they are to root.

Dipping the end of the geranium cutting into the rooting hormone is optional,

From the research I have done, many professional gardeners suggest NOT using hormone-rooting powders, because they can cause root rot. Other gardeners have dipped their stems in honey, or vitamin C and water solutions.

I did an experiment last year, where I dipped half my geranium cuttings in honey and half with nothing. Both plant starts rooted exactly at the same rate.

I chose not to use anything when planting my cutting.

5. Plant the Geranium Cuttings

After making a hole using your finger or a dibbler, insert the geranium cuttings into the pot of moist soil about an inch deep. Gently press down around the stem to secure it into place. Loosely fill the hole around the stem.

If you are planting several geranium cuttings together in one container, make sure you remove any dead leaves and plants that start to turn brown and unhealthy. This will keep the diseased start from spreading to other plants.

6. Water and Choose a Location

Water the soil until it’s moist but not saturated.

Provide good light and a warm setting while the new geranium plant starts establish roots. Place the new plant in a warm spot that gets filtered light but not direct sunlight.

Be sure to keep the geraniums in a space that doesn’t freeze. I keep my cuttings in the greenhouse at a temperature of no less than 45°F.

7. Place on Heating Mat

Although this is optional, your geranium cuttings will benefit from the warmth underneath a heating mat if you can. This will help the new roots grow more quickly and there is a higher success rate when using heat.

I personally do not put a humidity dome lid over the new geraniums as the roots are prone to rotting in high humidity.