This time of year many gardeners are cleaning up their landscapes and getting ready for winter. By now many of the annuals that were blooming throughout the summer have finished blooming or have been hit by a frost. Most annuals are tossed in the compost but there are gardeners who like to save their geraniums. There are different methods of keeping your geraniums from one year to the next, and if they have not been killed by the recent frosts we had this past week the plants can be brought indoors and saved for the following spring/summer season.
Before bringing any plant indoors, always check them first for any disease, or insects. The last thing you want to do, is bring unwanted pests and disease to your healthy indoor tropical plants. I suggest spraying the plants with insecticidal soap, or Malathion before bringing them in, even if you don't see any insects, just to be on the safe side. If the geranium is growing in a container the entire container can be brought indoors, but if it is growing in the flowerbed or in a large container the geranium plant needs to be dug up. Plant the geranium in a 15 cm (6inch) pot using a good quality potting soil and water it in well. Trim it back to one-third of its original size. Store the plant in its pot, in a cool, dark area such as a garage or basement where the temperature is 8-10 Celsius, and water it only enough to keep it from drying out.
In February you want the geranium to start growing. First trim the geranium back to one-third of its original size. Then place it in a warm sunny location such as a south facing window or under a grow light. Begin to increase on the watering, allowing the soil to go slightly dry to the touch between between each watering. To help with the growth, begin to fertilize with an all purpose water soluble fertilizer such as 20-20-20. When you begin to see signs of new growth the geranium plant is taken out of the pot it has been in and placed into another pot just large enough to hold the root ball. This is because you want the plants energy to go towards producing new shoots, rather then forming new roots. When the new shoots reach a size of 8-10 cm long, they are removed from the plant to make cuttings. Cuttings are made by snipping the new shoot on an angle, just under a leaf node. Remove the bottom leaf and dip the cut end in a rooting hormone and then place it in a moistened starting mix and place the planted cuttings in a window or under a grow light. After a few weeks, when the cuttings have formed a root system they are removed from the starting mix and transplanted into individual containers. Place them in a well lit area and fertilize regularly with an all purpose 20-20-20 fertilizer. As the plants grow the growing tips can be pinched to make the plant branch out.
An old way of storing geraniums is hanging them. For this method to work you need the right conditions. Dig up the geraniums before the first killing frost and gently shake the soil off the plants roots. Hang the plant upside down in a cool, dry, dark location where the temperatures remain a few degrees above freezing. This can be messy as the leaves will fall off, so some people prefer to place the geranium in a paper bag. Every few weeks the plant should be checked to make sure it remains healthy. If it becomes too dry the roots should be soaked in water for a couple of hours before it is hung up again. The idea is to keep the plant dormant, without letting it dry out and die. In March/April the geranium is taken out of storage and trimmed back by one third, removing any dead pieces and then planted into a pot filled with a good quality potting soil and then watered well. Place it in a warm, sunny location and in a few weeks it should begin to grow again in, if it was done successfully.
