When to Start Impatiens Cuttings in Spring?

Process

• Impatiens can be started from stem-tip cuttings taken from the growing ends of shoots the year before the anticipated spring planting. Cuttings are taken when no flowers or flower buds are visible before the weather turns cold. Each cutting should be about 4 inches long. Dip one cut end of each 4-inch cutting in a rooting hormone, and insert that end in moist sand, vermiculite, perlite or other sterile rooting medium to spend winter indoors. Water the cuttings' rooting medium to secure the cuttings in place. Maintain their temperature at 75 degrees Fahrenheit by using bottom heat under their containers. They should form roots within two to three weeks. Impatiens cuttings placed in clean, well-aerated tap water also put out roots.

Hardiness Zones

• Impatiens grow well as annuals in all U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones, according to a University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service fact sheet. Because the plants perform best in cool temperatures, gardeners in warm regions can start impatiens cuttings as early as February. Gardeners in cooler climates may have to wait until April, May or even early to midsummer for the arrival of climate conditions for starting impatiens.

Environmental Conditions

• Impatiens are sensitive to frost, excessive heat and light as well as drought. So to start impatiens cuttings successfully in spring, wait until after the last expected frost in your area, and plant during the cool part of spring to allow the seedlings to establish mature roots before summer temperatures soar. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension website recommends using plastic covers to maintain humidity around young plants because they cannot absorb enough water from soil to maintain adequate moisture levels until their root systems develop. At the same time, maintain adequate airflow under the plastic covers to prevent diseases. Start the cuttings in a shady or partly sunny location or under fluorescent lights indoors so the seedlings stay warm enough yet don't cook in heat.

Transplanting Procedure

• When the seedlings start to put out new leaves, transplant them with care into potting soil. "Sixteen hours a day under a combination of cool white and warm white or daylight bulbs plus occasional pinching of stem tips will encourage plants to branch rather than straggle and promote continuous flowering in begonias and impatiens,” states a University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lancaster County Extension article. Transplant the seedlings outdoors as soon as the ground temperatures reaches 70 degrees Fahrenheit but before summer heat arrives.