geranium cuttings

I am about to empty my window boxes of geraniums and plan to take cuttings to root indoors over winter. (I'm in zone 5). It's a long time since I've done this and have forgotten what I did. There is lots of conflicting advice out there but this is what I plan to do. First of all, I have been told it's too late and it should have been done in August. However, they are still in full bloom and I didn't want empty window boxes during Summer. Any comments? I do know that geraniums need to be kept on the dry side so I plan to root the cuttings in damp perlite, with no rooting hormone, under grow lights. Anyone had success with this method?

 

Yes it's best to do it in the summer, but like you, who has the time or inclination when they are flowering gorgeously in the garden? Now it is crisis management time, I hope mine have survived the radiation frosts enough to still make healthy cuttings.

And yes, under growlights is great for these. I've done them in peat/sand 50/50 works great, but the straight perlite might do well also...I'd personally still mix in a bit of peat if for no other reason than to hold the stems a bit more firmly, but that's me...

Pelargonium is one plant that doesn't really need a humidity dome, tho for the first few day's while they're "settling in" I'd be tempted to keep them covered if you have a clear dome/plastic then remove it so they don't get moldy. They will grow a lot over the winter...I try to keep them in the coolest room to avoid being overwhelmed before there is decent temps in the greenhouse in spring. But they sure like the artificial lights, and often bloom quite a bit under them which is a cheery thing in February!