True Geraniums will bloom indoors in the winter if given enough sunlight. Unlike most plants, geraniums have no dormant season when they are not supposed to bloom.
A dozen different geraniums will provide a window sill of fun throughout winter days when snow and ice and salting down the walks is the rule of the season.
If you have not had success growing geraniums on your first try, buy more plants and start again. Going by a few essentials, you can have geraniums blooming freely throughout the winter and outdoors in the summer.
Healthy Geranium Plants – Foliage and No Flowers
If you have healthy plants with good foliage but no flowers, you probably have not given your geraniums enough direct sunlight. Unshaded east or south windows usually grow flowering plants.
Geraniums like cooler climates – 60°-65° degrees Fahrenheit at night, with a rise of 10° – 15° degrees in the daytime. A low percentage of humidity in the air around geraniums is no problem if the temperature is cool.
If it is warm, however, and there is no humidity, the leaves will turn yellow, and if buds have developed, they will wither and drop before maturity.
To provide humidity, set the pots on a tray of moist sand or pebbles. Be sure that the bottoms of the pots do not rest in the water in the tray.
How To Water Potted Geraniums
Water geraniums from the top of the pot. Water thoroughly as often as the top of the soil shows signs of dryness. Pinch a little of the soil between your thumb and forefinger to tell if the soil is dry.
Root and Stem Rot
A soggy wet soil helps breed a kind of fungus that causes geranium “black leg,” or black rot. This devastating rot starts in the roots and progresses up the stems until all life-giving elements are cut off from the plant top.
Take cuttings from plant stems not infected by the rot. Propagation helps maintain the plant variety in your collection.
Moist Soil For Your Potted Geranium
Use a loose, humusy soil for your Geraniums to provide aeration and fast drainage. The mixture must be firm enough to allow for firm potting. The soil should be slightly acidic and moist.
Here are two standard geranium potting mixtures:
- 2 parts soil
- 1 part of sand
OR
- 3 parts soil
- 1 part sand
- 1 part peat moss
Add 1 teaspoon of steamed bone meal to each pot of either of these mixtures.
NOTE: Some growers praise the benefits of blood meal for geraniums.
The Need For Balanced Fertilizer
When geraniums do not have enough food, the leaves and flowers will be small and the color poor. Your garden center has well-balanced plant foods for pot plants. Make the liquid dilution according to the manufacturer’s directions. Remember, too little is better than too much.
Geraniums like standard clay pots and most young plants will thrive and bloom in three to five-inch containers. However, geraniums flower best when slightly pot-bound.
What do we mean by pot-bound?
It is when some of the most adventuresome young roots wrap around the outside of the rootball, next to the inside of the pot.
Fresh air and “elbow” room make healthier geraniums.
Propagating Geranium From Cuttings
Cuttings from favorite Geranium plants will root if they are firm enough to break like a snap bean.
- After taking the cutting, lay it in a cool, shaded place for several hours for the cutting to form “heal” over the cut part.
- Insert cuttings an inch or two deep in sand or a mixture of sand and peat moss.
- Keep this mixture moist at all times.
- When roots form, pot the cutting in regular geranium potting soil.
Propagating Geranium From Seeds
Geranium seeds are about the size of shriveled wheat grain with a silky “tail” attached.
When started indoors, geranium seeds are handled much in the same manner as sweet peppers or tomatoes.
- Barely cover the seeds.
- Never allow the soil to dry out during the germination period.
- Seeds usually sprout within two weeks.
- When seedlings begin to crowd, transplant them to 3″ inch pots or into a community flat.
- Blooms come in from four to seven months.
How To Care For And Rejuvenate Straggly Old Geraniums
If you have some straggly old geraniums, it is not hard to prune them into respectable-looking inhabitants for your window sill.
- Remove the plants from their pots
- Wash off the old soil.
- Prune off old, dead-looking roots.
- Prune the top parts back to 8″-10″ ten inches into neat and symmetrical plants.
- Repot in smaller pots (usually four or five-inch sizes)
- Keep the soil moist.
Such a plant, pruned back in early October, placed in a sunny window, and given proper care, will produce nice foliage growth and be in full bloom by January.
New Geraniums
To acquire new and different geraniums, it is often best to order them.
Several geranium specialists have hundreds of different and unusual geraniums. These young plants come through the mail in good shape.
Place your order before sub-zero weather begins. The plants often arrive in small pots.
Repot into three or four-inch pots, give a sunny window and regular care. They will acclimate to your home and produce flowers within a few weeks.
FGN-1057 – by M Elvin