Storing geraniums

[reddyreddy]

Hello, I have lots of geraniums in my summer window boxes and planters and as they are coming to the end of their season I am going to replace them with a winter flower (pansy or similar) but I don't want to compsost the old geraniums, what's the best way of storing them until next Spring? (I do have a greenhouse) Should I take them out and put them in pots, keep moist or dry out, keep in sun or shade...? Thanks! ???

[reddyreddy]

[rosebud]

 I usually put mine in pots in the greenhouse, water just the once & leave untill spring.  If very cold weather is forecast i just put fleece over them & newspaper on top of that just a couple of sheets, Telegraph is excellent size ;D ;D.  Do take off all the flowers though.. My greenhouse gets winter sunshine but otherwise they have to do with all conditions i do not heat the greenhouse.

[reddyreddy]

Fab, thanks Rosebud!

[rosebud]

  My pleasure. ;D I hope they all survive  for you, mine usually do.

[Twoflower]

i have some scented geraniums can i do the same or aren't they as tough?

[rosebud]

 I would treat them much the same, water once keep frost free if you can & hope that they survive i don`t see why not  ;D ;D ;D good luck.

[Hyacinth]

I can vouch for the fact that Buds has some really smashing geraniums, so you won't go wrong following her advice 8)

I'd like to know tho, can you also take them out of the soil and dust the roots with yellow/green sulpher & wrap them in newspaper, or am I thinking of something else :-\

[meg_gordon]

Rosebud, do your pots dry out then and do you cut all the folliage back?  I tried this last year and they all died.

Meg

[rosebud]

 Noooooo ;D i never cut the foliage back, i do keep it tidy though :ie if any start to go yellow.
I only start to water them late March Meg. It is always hit & miss if they survive i think. Good luck with them.

Thanks Alishka ;D ;D. I did try your method once & a few did survive.

[reddyreddy]

having to ressurect this thread as all the geraniums I stored have gone mouldy! Should I sling them out? Was going to clean the greenhouse this weekend, not much point if it's full of mouldy geraniums.  ??? ??? ???

[reddyreddy]

anyone?  :-\

[manicscousers]

we have some mould in the poly, including some of the geraniums, I've moved them up, I'm keeping them very dry and hoping for the best, I'm not even going to fleece them, it's damp in there, especially because of the mild weather  :-\

[reddyreddy]

they're about 80% covered in mould, do they have any chance of survival?!

[pigeonseed]

I think geraniums are pretty tough. Have they got mould on the surface or are they really soft and rotten? If they're soft and rotten, and there are no cuttings to save, I would hazard a guess that you'll have to throw them away.

I would probably see if healthy bits can be rescued as cuttings, as I'm a cheapskate.  ;D

But I'm not a geranium expert!

[manicscousers]

I've taken the manky leaves off, if there are any tiny new leaves that are ok, I've kept them, there was only one that had rotted  :)

[rosebud]

Reddy, first gently feel the stems if they are soft throw them away.
If not take off all the leaves just keep the healthy stems, i think the damp weather has messed a lot of plants up mould wise.
Keep the pots free of any dead leaves, keep them frost free i realy hope they survive for you . Mine are ok so far.
Can i just say try not to go in & out to much fluctuating temps will be a hazard to them i just more or less put my greenhouse to sleep really, just check about every 4wks. Tomorrow i shall fleece mine & put newspaper on top it is going to be very cold indeed then shut the door & leave them .
Good luck with them. ;D ;D

[laurieuk]

We need tall geraniums to go behind a box hedge so for about 15 years we lift them in October cut them back to about 8inches ( 20 cm) this removes all foliage as we suffer with some rust during the summer months. We pot them into as small pot as we can get them give them one watering and then keep them verymuch on the dry side they will stand cold if dry but rot if wet. They are now showing small new shoots just keep them frost free heater set at about 2c or fleece. We sometimes lose just the odd one but not many. Give as much air as you can on decent days.