I recently read where a gardener said she put the plants in the bag with the roots sticking up. Just make sure to situate the plants away from drafts that might force dormancy. Geraniums Galore. If your geranium is healthy, it will continue to grow and bloom, though not as well as in its outdoor environment. Geranium cuttings are often taken in late summer or early fall, but in warm climates, they are often taken in late fall or early winter. Firstly, pot you geraniums up if they are not already in pots, then over the months of october and November reduce the watering until the compost it almost dry. Be sure to remove all foliage from the cuttings that might fall below the water level; leaves in the water will rot. Actually, stem cuttings can be taken anytime from geraniums and rooted. Propagate cuttings to make new plants. However, if you only grow a few plants each year, buying new ones in the spring might be more cost-effective and less time-consuming. Honestly, it will look like you’re trying to grow something from a dead stick, but just be patient. For this method, hanging the plants or covering them loosely with a paper bag works well and eliminates the need for pots. Next, I take the plants out of the paper bag(s) and cut them down to just a couple of inches. I typically will use a, Water your plants well (slow and until you see water draining into the saucer). Store the dormant, bare roots. I go through the plants and toss out the ones that are totally brown and brittle. If you harvest too late, the plant might have already entered its die-off phase. Overwintering full-size, dormant geranium plants involves tucking them away and then pulling them out again in the spring. Within a few weeks you’ll start to see little bits of green popping out, and, then it will be time to get excited. If you want to use this method then do start at least 6 to 8 weeks before it gets very cold. Yes, geraniums can be rooted in water. Geraniums make decent winter houseplants if you can provide them with plenty of bright light. Either store the plants upside down in loose-fitting paper bags or place in a cardboard box and close the lid. Geraniums root very easily from cuttings. Store your geraniums through winter in a paper bag or cardboard box in a cool, dry location, at about 50 to 60 degrees F. 2. There are different ways to keep geraniums from year to year. We had an almost 100% success rate and the plants put on an impressive growth spurt when potted on in spring and planted outside once the danger of frost has passed in May or June. You can over-winter them easily so that they are available for the next year. Clean off any dead leaves or dying flowers and look for signs of pelargonium rust. Strip off all of the leaves and flowers from the plant, leaving the two sets of leaves at the top. Remove the bottom leaves (say, halfway up the stem). 11/2/96-Host Brenda Simons gives viewers advice on how to store geraniums during the winter months. Doing this periodically throughout the winter (and spring) will result in a sturdier, bushier plant. Store potted geraniums in an above-freezing shed, garage, or basement. Somewhere around the middle of March, I pull my bags out of the basement. Check your plants every few weeks. Strip off any leaves on the bottom half of the cutting. Choose nonblooming branches and cut about 5 inches from the end of each branch, called tip-cutting. Plants that are just a few years old can produce flower heads the size of softballs. The lovely and dependable geranium remains one of the most popular landscaping flowers among gardeners. After they’ve dried, I simply gather up a bunch and put them in a paper grocery bag (roots in the bag) and hang the bag in my basement. Put the cuttings in a jar of water in a bright spot but not in direct sun. You can pot your overwintered geraniums up indoors to give them a jumpstart, or if you live in warmer zones, you can pot them up outside. 1  Full plants and cuttings should be harvested in the fallf while the plant is still blooming and the temperature is mild. If they are shriveling, spray them with water or slightly dampen the root area. Cut back the plants by approximately half, and shake the soil from the roots. Geraniums (Pelargoniums) can be dug up be dug up after they have finished flowering in the autumn. There are three ways to make geraniums last through the winter: Overwinter inside as potted plants. This is what you’ll be planting. Dip the stem in the powder or use a gel rooting hormone. Dig up and pot the healthy plants. The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Sometimes a home cannot accommodate overwintering large plants due to lack of space or light. Firm the soil around the cutting, and place it near a bright window. This lets you increase the number of plants for spring planting because you can easily make many young plants from a single geranium. Keeping geraniums over winter also saves money—money that you can spend on other plants for your garden. Take cuttings about 6 inches long and remove all but the top leaves. Remember to label your geraniums if you have more than one variety. When the weather cooperates, I like to do this step outside, because it makes quite a mess with all the dried up leaves and such. Place the plants inside open paper bags or hang them upside-down from the rafters in a cool, dark location for the winter. Clean up the plants, snipping off dead leaves, and cut stems back to healthy green growth. Julie Thompson-Adolf is a master gardener and author with 13+ years of experience with year-round organic gardening, seed starting and saving, growing heirloom plants, perennials, and annuals, and sustainable and urban farming. Another option is to take cuttings from garden geraniums instead of over-wintering whole plants. Cut a 4- to 6-inch portion of a green stem just above a node, which is the part of a stem from which leaves emerge, during a lull in the plant's blooming cycle. Before the first frost, check your geraniums closely for signs of insects or disease. If the humidity is less than 50 percent, consider adding a bag over the cutting and pot to retain moisture. It's easy to take cuttings from pelargoniums in summer and then overwinter them in a light, frost-free place. Place your plants in a sunny spot or under some grow lights and wait. A sunny west- or south-facing window (or grow lights) assures that they won't grow spindly. If you have particular geraniums you wish to preserve I recommend taking cuttings.This method takes up less space but you need to start well before the first frosts. There are several ways to overwinter your geraniums, but we find the best way is to plant … Yes, there are several options for keeping geraniums over the winter: Keep them as houseplants. First, simply cut a section of stem about 3 or 4 inches long at about a 45 degree angle just below a leaf node. To overwinter geraniums in dormant storage, dig up the entire plant before frost and gently shake the soil from the roots. Strip off all but the leaves on the tip. For those of us in the Northeast, like me, it’s economical to take cuttings from plants that we can only grow as annuals, thanks to our freezing winter temperatures. To allow this, the cuttings should be placed on a newspaper and allowed to rest for about 3-5 days. So, if you want a profusion of blooms, you’re better off purchasing new plants as annuals each year. 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