A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 geraniums

How do you over winter geraniums? Last year, I put them down in a brown paper bag but only one came back. Can I leave them in their pots and bring them inside? I have some beautiful vining pinks that I would relly love to save.

thanks

Doing a search here at Garden Helper brought up this information for Winter Care for Geraniums.

I'm glad you posted the question. The Ivy Geraniums were one of my favorite container plants when I first started gardening. I had forgotten about how pretty they are. They should be treated like the regular Geraniums. Just keep in mind they are a "tender perennial" and in a lot of the US zones, are considered annuals.

I just throw mine in my basement...
It's only heated with our home's furnace
and 2 hot water tanks...

I have a florescent light bulb fixture down there, with no timer.. *couldn't afford one*

and they do fine.. a bit spindley, but they come out okay come spring...

My Granny used to pull them from the dirt,
and hang them upside down...
**I did one as an experiment this last winter..
it also lived, a bit spindler than the others, but still alive.. I even mistreated it for a bit.. and finnnallllllllly got around to just sticking it in some dirt in a pot in the basement, cause I got tired of walking by it and it was tryin' to grow..
and it went gang busters and produce beautiful pink flowers for me this summer...
*and it was a throw~away originally from the cemetary I rescued* **Imagine that**

Darn, Weezie, I've heard of a lot of people doing this! When I tried it I must have done something wrong because it didn't work for me. Now, I bring them into the basement and put them under some shop lights which have both cool and warm bulbs. When I was only using cool bulbs my plants got spindly, but it's been a lot better since I added the warm bulbs.

Patti,
Where did you keep them when you did it???

Thanks ladies. My mom always pulled them from the dirt, stuck them in a brown paper sack and tossed them in the basement. I did it and only one lived. My ivy's are so pretty this year I hate to let them die. They tolerated the heat quite well.So... I will hang the pots in the basement under the florescent light and pray the cat doesn't swing from them

Weezie, I dug them up and shook all the soil off the roots, then hung them upside down in a cool part if the basement, but I didn't put them in anything, so maybe that was my problem!

aunt nene

I put mine in the basement in flower pots.
Water sparely, and come january put them upstairs in the light......They are all out there blooming now.

I never do the jerk part....

dodge .....;o)

roflol .... thanks dodge.

You know, I really never had done that either..
*I just knew Granny did it and can be done*
but I recue plants from the cemetary bin.. and there was 7 of them that one day.. Heck, I didn't even have pots for some of the bigger one's.. and that one was a small one, so I thought I'd experiment... having so many and not being able to accomindate them all..

To be honest, 3 of them are still in a plastic bag I put them in last fall.... *they were pretty big and I didn't have any pots/containers.. and those one's in the plastic garbage bags are doing/looking better than the one's in the pots... so go figure...

I had a girlfriend who used to work in the greenhouse industry come over and show me how to pinch and all that good stuff... *I got 9 new plants out of it* but they are awefully little...
I will over winter those and see how they do...

Pretty soon, I won't be able to get into my basement with so many geraniums overwinter/vacationing in the basement...

Nice story Loz,

Did you put the whole plant into the plastic bag or not..
I know folks to garden in large plastic bags outdoors....Real heavy indrustial ones.. Slit the top and pour in soil and they raise cukes or something there.

dodge

whoops

weezie was the name

It was actually a 30 gallon see thru plastic
garbage bag...
I did put the plant into the bag...
but left it open to the green on top..
and just wanted the plastic bag to "act" like
a pot/container... something to hold a bit of moisture so the entire rootball didn't dry out completely...
And watered sparenly thru out the winter...
I put them in probably around late Sept/Oct.. and didn't water them again probably until Jan.. to be honest... then once a month, if I get down there.. and then come around March I start watering a bit more... and then gradually open the basement doors in April, to start letting a bit of sunshine in, *I don't move them to it, just enough to let more new light in.. then gradually move them towards the light.. and then into the steps and a little bit more sun..

They are spindley/pale green and they green up as I move them slowly towards the light...

I have seen where they've done the garbage bag thing.... even inside the floors of green house's. but I haven't ventured that route yet..

weezie

correct.......
you got it

dodge

Wow..sounds like geraniums are really 'tenacious' plants...very tough constitution...but not in Malaysia may b...i lost the-ones-i bought-rather-expensively ...well ages ago...have never bought others since i lost those!! May b i should try again... from the posts above.. think geraniums r really tough plants...but problem is they r not easily available where i live!!

Maybe in another month I can help you..

dodge

Wow..thanks dodge..will look forward to it..

I've noticed most of you posting live in the northern states, and obviously get snow and colder temps. I live in south LA where winters are milder and we get more rain and things get yucky.

I have a question regarding the geraniums and overwintering in my area (z8-9)...should I also be pulling my geranium out and putting inside?

One of my students gave my a plant as a gift, and it was rather small and scraggly, but I put it in my front flower bed. I didn't know anything about the plant so I just left it and figured if it was a perennial it would come back, and if it were an annual it might reseed. Well the following spring it came back 3 times as big as it was when I planted it! I couldn't believe it. And this past spring it grew even more, so I was wondering if I were to pull it and store it indoors through winter, would it make a difference and help boost it that much more? Or should I just leave it? This poor plant has almost been neglected because it seems to do its own thing, but it has survived nicely.

Oh, one more question...
Am I right in understanding that geraniums will grow from a plant cutting? And if I want my plant to spread I can simply cut some stems and place them where I want them to grow?

Thanx for the help!

CAJUNMOM


Oh, one more question...
Am I right in understanding that geraniums will grow from a plant cutting? And if I want my plant to spread I can simply cut some stems and place them where I want them to grow?

Thanx for the help!
That part is correct..Put the cuttings into the soil now and they should root...
Take a young shoot, with the node on it an make sure it goes in the soil

Yep your right again.. They come back larger and larger......However you notice they do get crocked stems....SO when taking cuttings try to get straight ones...
In Louisana you should have to take in for winter.
We are winter folks here in zone 6 and have to.
I just let them in a pot in the basement , or upstairs in a cool window.. Multiply like flys.

Hope this helps.

dodge

The Garden Helper Geranium article has some info about cuttings... Garden Helper.

Since the common type Geranium is actually a tender perennial, grown as annuals in colder climates, you shouldn't have any problem leaving yours in the ground in Louisiana.

Oh my gosh, CajunMama, it must be gogeous!

Thanx to all of you for your help. I honestly didn't know what to do with it, and sort of neglected it .

We haven't had a real "winter" in the past couple of years, but I guess if it were to get down below freezing I might bring it in. Last winter I only had to cover my bed one time (not a usual winter for us). I was just wondering if it would be beneficial to the plant if I were to bring it in.

patches1414,
I guess I'll consider it unbroken and I'll leave it. It puts out these lovely pink flowers. I'll have to go snap some pics to share.

Again, thanx for the advice and help!

I have alot of scented geraniums. I overwinter cuttings as houseplants. They don't grow much, but they're green and smell nice.

flowerpower

What color do you have?????/
I never smelled mine to know if they are scented.

dodge........

DO you have a seed list ? I love to swap for ones I dont have......YOur close to my area..

I use to grow the scented types also, and I would bring the pot in at the end of the season, it would survive the winter indoors and be very scraggly and then I would end up throwing it out and get a new plant, If I had only known, maybe I'll get a few again this next spring.