OVERWINTERING YOUR PELARGONIUMS (GERANIUMS)

by Marilyn A. Holt of Holt Geraniums

Before frost arrives, your mother plants can be moved indoors, out of frost and freezing, to preserve them for next year. This is especially good for Regals (also known as Martha Washingtons), Angels, some Scented Leaf and Uniques as they bloom better in their second and third year and you can have quite a large specimen plant in subsequent years.

You can bring the plants indoors and enjoy them as houseplants and keep them actively growing - or hold them over until next spring. Pelargoniums do not have a dormant season so what you are trying to do is force them to become dormant. To do that you must withhold the three things they need for active growth - sunlight, water and warmth. So, put them somewhere out of the light, water them sparingly and place them somewhere cool where they are protected from freezing temperatures and frost.

If your plants are directly in the ground, dig them up carefully with a little ball of roots and put them aside. If they are in pots that are too large to move, do the same. If they are in smaller pots you don't have to do either.

Trim back the stems by about 2/3's on Zonal Pelargoniums (also known as bedding geraniums) and back to 1-1/2" on Regals, Angels, Uniques and Scented Leaf pelargoniums. I know this seems drastic but trust me, you will have a full bushy plant next year! Use the pieces you cut off to root for more plants next year (see the article on taking cuttings to find out how to do that).

Place the plants (with their corresponding nametags) in a pot or put more than one into a larger pot and cover with soil. Water slightly to settle soil around the roots.

On Zonals, remove some of the leaves to ensure that air can circulate around the stems. The leaves will fall off by themselves later anyways and will have to be picked out of the container so doing it now is the better way. Move the plants to their storage location and check them every three weeks or so to make sure they have enough ventilation and are not rotting or molding. Also make sure that they are not completely dry, you don't want the soil to come away from the edges of the pot - this is too dry.

In early spring (end of March here) slowly bring them back into active growth. Move them into light, increase water and increase the temperature. The ones that have been grouped into one container can be potted up individually into pots for transplanting later into the garden or into display tubs or window boxes. Once danger of frost has past you can move them outdoors.

You can start fertilizing them lightly in March but usually the new soil you use has enough nutrients in it to sustain the plant until they are planted outdoors in May. At that time I would recommend you use the time released fertilizers in your tubs and window boxes. If the plants are put directly into the ground you can fertilize them as you would normally do.