Cuttings to Regal Pelargonium

How do growers produce Regal Pelargoniums? Follow the plant's journey from tip cutting to finished plant!  

Vegetative tip cuttings from Africa

The Regal Pelargonium has its origins in the southern regions of Africa and grows best in mild to warm climates. It's not surprising that the mother plants of the Regal Pelargonium are located in Kenya and Tanzania. Here, vegetative tip cuttings are taken from the mother plants and packed into boxes to be transported to the Netherlands. 

Young Plants Grower

After some hours on the airplane, the boxes arrive in the centre of the international greenhouse industry, which is located in a place called “Westland” in the Netherlands. Here, the company Hendriks Young Plants is specialised in growing Regal Pelargoniums.

The cuttings are placed in a cardboard pot filled with high quality rooting soil. After four to five weeks, the cuttings will have produced roots strong enough so that the plant can be transported to the next grower. 

Growers

Once the plants arrives at the grower, the rooted cuttings are placed in a bigger plant pot. Once the plant has produced stronger roots, the temperature in the greenhouse is lowered to 5 tot 8 °C. This temperature is kept for 6 to 8 weeks for bud initiation. After this period, the greenhouse temperature is increased again. It now takes around 8 weeks for the plants to produce beautiful flowers. After this finishing phase, the Regal Pelargonium is ready to be sent to garden centres and florists all over Europe. The lovely flowers then find their new home on balconies, in gardens and patios where Regal Pelargoniums will show their beautiful colours until late into autumn.