Saving your Geraniums
Geraniums, Pelargoniums, Flaming Betties, no matter what they are called, many people ask "Why bother with them at all?". I have a few reasons for being a Geranium enthusiast. I find them very easy to grow. I like the smells of the scented ones. The flowers are long-lasting and pretty. Finally, I feel they have been shunned and passed by by 'gardeners of taste' for more than a decade.
I keep some of mine from year to year. It's a wintertime hobby; a way to fill up a kitchen windowsill. It is not a necessity; ornamental plants never are. I have tried the following three ways of overwintering my geraniums. Some are easier than others. The best thing is to chose a method based on your capabilities and resources. I've explained the three ways of saving geraniums below.
Grow your Geranium as a Houseplant
Requirements
- Well-drained potting soil or coarse sand
- Pots
- Sunny windowsill or artificial lights
Cut your plant back to one-third of it's size. Dig up the plant. Plant it in a pot, using indoor potting soil. Water thoroughly.
Place in a sunny window. Water as required. Often, older plants flower indoors in the wintertime!
What size pot should I use? Use whatever size pot your plant will fit into.
Stem Cuttings Requirements
- Well-drained potting soil or coarse sand
- Pots
- Rooting hormone powder (#1, for softwood cuttings)
- North or East window, or artificial lights
- 3 to 4 weeks to watch your cuttings
Take cuttings any time, but if your geraniums are outdoors, do this before a killing frost. Good cuttings have green bark. The older, brown sections of stem will not roots very easily. New, green stems root easily. Cuttings of small, trailing or cascading, or garden varieties should be about 4 to 6 inches long. Scented geraniums, and others that grow very large, should be at least 6 inches long.
For more information on this method, see Geranium Cuttings - Beginner Style!
See the illustrations near the bottom of this page for an examples of cutting material.
Remove 2 bottom leaves. These leaf nodes will sit under the soil.
Dip stem end in rooting hormone powder.
Poke these cuttings into the potting soil or sand.
Water
Place in a north or east window, or under artificial growing lights.
The cuttings will not need much water until they are rooted. Just keep the medium evenly moist.
Once the cuttings have rooted, water and fertilize, and move to a sunny windowsill. Grow these as houseplants all winter. In the spring you will have many new geraniums to plant.
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