No, I don't start mine in water. I just put them in a pot with potting soil or compost. I read that the roots developed by a plant sitting in water are different than roots grown in soil, and that if you do grow nice roots while in a glass of water the plant will have to regrow roots in soil. I think the theory was that water grown roots were not tough enough to work their way through soil, and soil grown roots were just tougher and stronger. I have grown some in water and they did fine, I just prefer growing them directly into the soil. I sometimes just stick them in the ground by the mother plant (I have some very boggy soil) so they don't even need watering), even in August.