Cut geranium cuttings like this for fast rooting and vigorous growth

Geraniums are very easy to propagate by cuttings - water propagation, soil propagation, however you do it, they take root easily. But some flower lovers just can't get them to root no matter what. So I'll talk about how to cut and where to cut.

1. How to cut? The cut surface should be as smooth as possible, so don't pinch it off with your fingers, don't cut it with scissors, and definitely don't bite it with your teeth. All of these will squeeze the cut surface to varying degrees and damage more cells. The best way is to slice it off in one clean cut with a sharp knife - I prefer to use a razor blade.

2. What does a good cut look like? Vertical, or a slant cut with an angle greater than 45 degrees is best; don't make it too pointed.

3. What length of cutting is suitable? 4 or 5 cm, 7 or 8 cm, either is fine - it just depends on how much stem you have to spare. Remove some of the lower leaves and keep about 2 or 3 leaves. If the cutting is long, remove more leaves. Too long is not good.

4. Where to cut? This is also quite important - you can't just do it casually or sloppily. Generally, cut at the node (joint?), within 1 mm below the leaf bud, or even cut the leaf bud right in half. To put it plainly, cut at the leaf stalk. The picture below shows soil-planted geraniums after 1 week of water propagation - one was cut above the bud, one below the bud. The one with white dots forming at the bottom is the new root growth point - that one was cut above the bud. The one cut below the bud hasn't shown any movement yet.

The cutting position matters - cutting at the node (base of the leaf stalk) roots faster. I won't say more about the rest, since others have said it many times and I won't ramble on.

Some may ask: Should cuttings that arrive by courier be trimmed? I've seen some people say to let the cutting dry out a bit, and thinking it would be just right once dried, they didn't trim it. If the cut isn't at a node, should I dig it out and cut it again?

If a courier-delivered cutting has dried out, that only ensures it's less likely to rot, but it doesn't ensure fast rooting. And you also can't be sure whether the cutting was pinched or cut. Just tidy it up with a razor blade and let it dry for a few hours - it doesn't take much time. If it's already planted, don't mess with it.