Any geranium experts in here?

[progressoid]

So we have a couple geraniums in pots we brought inside before the freeze. Kind of want to keep them over the winter. One of them is huge (from a funeral).

I've heard different ideas of how to do this. Any suggestions?

[mnhtnbb]

1. I have never tried to winter over geraniums. They're kind of stinky (don't like their smell).

[progressoid]

2. I agree about the smell.

Apparently my grandmother avoided this by taking them out of the pot, shaking the soil off the roots and hanging them in a cool place for the winter. Then in the spring she just planted the dried up stem and roots and voila - new geranium.

These are starting to turn yellow so maybe I should try it. :shrug:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Trim off the dead stuff and put it in a cool basement with a paper bag over it.

Check once in awhile to be sure the soil doesn't dry out completely. When spring comes and there's no danger of frost, give it a little plant food, water it, and put it back outside.

[Suich]

3. Here:

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/flower/how-to-save-geraniums-over-the-winter.htm

I'm going to try to winter-over a Queen Anne I paid 5 bucks for!

Good luck!

[progressoid]

5. Excellent - thanks!

[Kali]

4. oh I LOVE their smell

I just brought mine in to the unheated but mostly enclosed front porch the other day - it has blossoms on it and everything - this will be its second winter out there, so I'm no expert but it worked fin last year - just watered it when I did the other houseplants and it was fine.

[progressoid]

6. Well...

One of ours may already be in the "dormant" stage.



(that means somebody forgot to water it) :blush:

[Xipe Totec]

9. #8 nt

[Xipe Totec]

8. Well, they do try to escape...

Just thinking about them, I can smell them.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=280x75633

Generally, give them a light source and plenty of water.

[Kali]

10. ha!

that's funny

[femmocrat]

11. I'm no expert, but I have good luck with keeping them in the garage.

Sometimes I put them out on warm days, but pretty much forget about them. They are pretty hardy. They always seem to recover and bloom again in the spring.

(I'm in PA.)

[applegrove]

12. Do you want them to flower over the winter? Cause my mom just cuts them back, sits them in

a south facing window, waters them 1/4 cup a day and they bloom and bloom (but then they keep growing so at some point you have more of a knarly tree and you have to throw them away).