PERENNIALS > GERANIUMS > OVERWINTERING
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Geraniums can be first-class value flowering plants to originate in your garden , but it is important to understand that there are batch of dissimilar multifariousness that command a unlike level of precaution in the wintertime months .
How you care for geranium in wintertime will reckon on whether you are growing tender geraniums or true , hardy geraniums ( also known as crane’s bill ) in your garden .
Read on to understand how to worry for both types of geraniums in the winter .
Overwintering Tender Geraniums
Tender geraniums , technically predict pelargonium , are repeated plants , but because they are not hardy for the winter months at all , they are often treat as yearbook in the UK .
There are three main ways to ensure that you’re able to keep hold of the pelargonium you love for next years , which we have shared below :
1) Taking & Overwintering Cuttings
Taking cuttingsis a great choice , especially if you have a number of plants or if you are produce voiced - cauline mintage .
However , if you want to take this route , preparation begin long before winter really arrives .
The first footfall is to take deal press cutting from your plants , which you should do in belated summertime .
Once your cuttings have rooted successfully , these should be overwintered indoors , in a bright and frost - devoid location .
They should be water fairly and the growing spiritualist should be allowed to dry out between each watering .
In late winter , it is a good idea to feed your young plants every 7 - 10 solar day with an organic liquid state fertiliser with balanced NPK ( nitrogen , P and K content ) .
Around this time , as saltation approaches , it is also a well idea topinch out the grow tipsof your Modern industrial plant , as this encourage a bushy growth wont .
You then need to pot up individual cuttings into 9 centimeter pots in the heart of spring , harden them off , and then plant them outside – only once all risk of frost has passed where you live .
2) Overwintering Pelargonium Bare Root
Another pick to study if you have prominent numbers of pelargoniums to overwinter is overwintering them as naked - ancestor plants .
unluckily , this is not the most dependable of method acting and success pace may be patchy .
Another thing to consider is that this option is only suitable for form of genus Pelargonium which have tough and woody stems , and not for more tender - cauline types .
The estimate of this method is to winter the plants out of the soil , in a state of quiescence .
You should go up the plants you require to keep from their positions in your garden before the first seasonal frosts .
Next , you should dust off any supernumerary territory from the roots and lie them out in a coolheaded but frost - liberal location so that the stem and leafage wry out .
Then , either wrap them in a newspaper publisher or pay heed them upside down in a suitable frost - free positioning .
In early springiness , you should then take a look at the plants and keep those which show foretoken of growth .
Taking these plant life , you should first rehydrate them by soaking the root in urine for a few hr .
you could then pot up the rehydrated plant which have survived the wintertime and cut back their stems to a height of around 10 centimeter .
These should be placed in a warm and bright position , hardened off , and plant out in your garden a little after the expected last rime date in your region .
3) Overwintering In Containers
The third and final option for overwintering pelargoniums is to pot them up andgrow them as container plantsindoors or under covering .
Of course , container plants will take up some space , so this is usually only an option where there are only a few cutter geraniums to winter .
With this method acting , you have the pick to either keep the plants in pots in active growth or burn them back to 10 cm so they are more dormant .
outer space may often dictate which one is the good option for you .
Container geraniums can be keep in pots over wintertime as long as they are in a light and frost - free location , with good air flow and airing .
Those which are kept in active ontogeny will usually need to be water around once a calendar week , while those in dormancy need only be watered very meagerly until ontogenesis resumes in spring .
Container plant should then be repotted in mid - bound , inure off , then planted out after all hazard of frost has pass .
Hardy Geraniums
Hardy geraniums are far lower maintenance plants .
The most commonly grown hardy geraniums are H5 - H7 hardy , so should make it through the wintertime months unscathed without any special precaution or tribute , after flowering mightily up until the first frosts .
“ As with most garden industrial plant , a mulch of compost in the autumn provides extra protection and also prey the ground , encouraging stronger growth in the saltation , ” shares Master Horticulturist Roy Nicol .
