Things to Remember While Cultivating Pelargonium

Zundert RuudVan NLDL

Be prepared!
Make sure your propagation area is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. Check if your plugs are fully saturated. Instruct your team and prepare them for starting to stick immediately at arrival.
Be present!
Be there when the boxes arrive. Bring them as soon as possible to your cooler set. Make sure you had adapted the climate to a temperature between 4°C and 7°C. For the cuttings, this is a critical moment, so you need to be paying attention here. Open the boxes, space out the bags with cuttings to remove any excess ethylene and measure the temperature inside a few bags. Between 4 -10°C it’s ideal, and 11- 15°C is moderate. When the temperature exceeds 15°C you risk damaging your cuttings.

When sticking: Keeps enough space between the plants, it pays you back with high quality and compact young plants.” Start in the substrate at moisture level 5, allowing it to dry towards level 4.

When rooting: Rooting by fogging/misting has a preference over coverage by plastic tunnels. Why? Fogging will keep your cuttings active, hence it accelerates the buildup of new cells by the constant flow of water with nutrients through evaporation. Mist schedules vary depending on your local light and temperature conditions. Apply just enough moisture to rehydrate the cuttings and keep them from wilting. Start misting straightaway after sticking with 4-6 cycles over 24hrs. Just moist the foliage while avoiding drip off and quickly reduce during days to follow while remaining your cuttings hydrated and turgid. Cuttings should be hydrated and in a non-wilted stage within 24 hours after sticking. Cuttings that continue to wilt heavily after 24 hours will callus unevenly and will be delayed in rooting. Misting should be significantly reduced after 3–4 days. Applying mist either too often or too much can lead to foliar disease and tissue breakdown.