I'm very new to gardening in most respects. I have some potted Geraniums that I bought in the spring and kept outside near the front door. Can I bring them inside for the winter and then put them outside again next spring?
They may get leggy (the opposite of bushy) indoors unless you can give them a really bright window. No big deal, although they'll look kind of lame. Sometime soon, get to a real garden center and buy some rooting powder, like Rootone or their competitor. A couple of months before it's time to put geraniums out again, start rooting cuttings. Maybe start earlier, in case of errors.
Marilyn,
I do over-winter some geraniums. What I do is to cut them back to 1 " stubs ( did this Monday, matter of fact), bring them to a sunny south window and water them sparingly. They grow slowly over winter inside, but by the time Spring comes, I have plenty of material for taking cuttings. The new growth seems to root faster than the woody fall growth.
Sue Western Maine
Stubs without leaves?
Some of the plants have a leaf or 2, but I've found it doesn't make a difference. Stubs without leaves will sprout new growth, sometimes from below soil level.
My AppleBlossom Geraniums are now 3 years old, the fancy-leaved "Glitter" are 2 years old. This Glitter that I have now goes back thru several generations of cuttings swapped back and forth with my sister. I obtained the first plant back in 2001, and its been somewhere "in the family" ever since.
Sue Western Maine
I'm gonna try it. This had better work, Sue, or you're in trouble. Or something. :-)
LOL Doug, take the chance--- and I'll take my lickin if I've steered you wrong!
If it matters, the south window I have is in a part of the house that stays pretty darn COOL ( especially at night) here in the winter.
Sue Western Maine
I do something similar. but I dont cut them back until they get leggy. Come spring time I give them another good clipping and stick all the cuttings into dirt. Even if I get 50% take theres still an awfull lot of them. I seem to get a 95% rooting if they are outside but just 10% rooting inside. So I wait till I take them out in the spring.
On occasion, I have just let the geraniums sit there until they stop flowering (I cut back watering them but protect them from freezing). Then I take them out of the pot, shake off the dirt, and hang them up to dry in the basement. In the spring I just plant them in new growing medium and water them and they come back. Or I cut them up and make a few more. I don't do this every year, but it has worked whenever I've done it.
some years ago I kept one geranium in a pot over winter. kept it alive... no flowers but lots of leaves. In spring I planted it in ground. Over the winter it grew to about 18 inches high Well, it sooon lost most of its leaves, but lots of new shoots came up. By mid summer it wa 3 feet high and at one time had about 50 flowers on it. I got old photograhs, but they are very faded so not on WEB. So yes, it can be done.
I have just started an evening class and we have talked about Geraniums over winter. They should be cut to 1 to 2" obove soil and pot them together as this is better than small single pots against frosts. (Don't forget we are told we are going to have one of the worst winters in last 10 years.) Water once then leave them - do not keep watering them.
In spring cuttings can be taken of these and start watering them. If you are keeping them indoors it may be too warm for them to stop growing, need the light so near a window and not too warm a spot.
Will Renkel wrote:
It's highly unlikely it would not survive outside, but given the lack of information about WHERE in Pennsylvania, that's all anyone can say.
That would be iffy. If you'd be heartbroken to lose the plant, get it inside.
By the way, here's a map of planting zones:
It's two zones. So tell me which zone of the two will allow geraniums to overwinter outside?
Zone 5 - lows from -10 through -20 degrees
Zone 6- lows from 0 through - 10 degrees.
Actually, there are areas along the northern border near Western NY which behave like zone 4, but you're not there so never mind. :-)
Neither one, unless you have absolute confidence in a certain area around your house that's already a "mini-climate" of its own. For instance, you might find that on the East side, near your foundation, certain things survive which are not supposed to be hardy in your zone. I wouldn't risk it with a prized plant, though.
So you were wr> It's highly unlikely it would not survive outside, but given the lack of
Not really. But, I'm interested in why you think so.
I didn't expect you to admit it. (that's why you snipped your re-posted bad advice)
"It's highly unlikely it would not survive outside in PA? We are talking about a geranium, correct?
"Doug Kanter" wrote:
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