eliz@rochester.UUCP (08/26/86)
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
gooley@uicsl.UUCP (08/31/86)
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