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It’s Almost February, Do You Know Where Your Geraniums Are?

© Mary Henry

In about three weeks (with bottom heat or a warm room) you should be able to give the little plants a gentle tug and have them resist being pulled out of the tray. Once you see new growth, you can remove the cover and treat them as house plants. I usually pot up the ones I started in cell-packs when they have about doubled their height. Those started in pots should be potted on to bigger ones when many of their roots have begun to twine about the root ball when you slip them out of the pot to look.

Usually, the cuttings I took in the fall make plants large enough to take more cuttings from by January. If I want to have more of this kind of geranium for the coming season, I make more now. Otherwise, I pinch the tips to encourage the plant to bush up and have more flowering tips when spring comes. This can be done whenever it gets an inch or two beyond that first pinch. Otherwise, you will have a lanky, leggy plant to put out that won't do justice to the effort you put into it. If your light is intense enough, the plants may bloom for you. My plants under the fluorescents regularly do.

I will confess to not being comfortable with tossing my stock plants in the fall. I really want to keep my special plants and I know that in past winters there have sometimes been problems for the cuttings. One year, a new cat who had not yet reached his majority had only his winsome personality to save his neck when he climbed onto the shelves and knocked the tray of cuttings off while I was at work. By the time I found them they had all dried out. Another year my mother was in the hospital for knee surgery and I was so preoccupied that I completely forgot about them until it was too late. Now, I pot up my stock plants and take cuttings (we also installed a screen door at the bottom of the basement steps to keep the cats out!).

Hey! I'm always on the lookout for new ways that work. If you have a tried-and-true method, please share!