I am always looking for ways to save time and money in my gardening. Last summer I had purchased six red geranium plants for use in two planters that I have on my patio. I put three in each planter and they successfully lived all summer. Sometime in late summer a YouTube video was suggested on my account that stated you could over winter geraniums with little care or bother.
I will admit that I was skeptical. As it was explained in this video, I would simply put the Geranium plants away for the winter bare root and basically ignore them. I had never heard this before but I had never added Geraniums to my world before either. So, the frugal side of my brain told me that this could be a way to have six Geranium plants the next summer without having to buy them. If it is going to save me money and definitely when there is little effort involved, I’m usually going to give it a try, and I did.
The content creator in the video showed that she lifted the Geraniums plants from her planters, shook off the soil and placed them bare root inside large paper bags. There were basically three instructions. First, they need to be placed in a location that doesn’t have freezing temperatures. Second, check them a few times during the winter to see if they are desecating (all moisture removed and become dry). Third, if you think a plant is becoming desiccated, lightly mist the roots with water.
My Geranium Over Winter Process
1. Dig plants out of planters (or the ground), remove soil from roots
I did this exactly. I dug the six Geranium plants out of the planters and removed the soil from the roots. I did this just before my first frost date which this year was in early November.
2. Place the leafy portion of the plant in a paper bag.
I left the root portion of the plant outside the bag. I wrapped a rubber band around the plant just above the roots, to hold the paper bag in place. I left the roots outside so I could mist them without getting any moisture on the rest of the plant. I didn’t want to encourage any mold to grow on the leafy portion of the plants.
As you can see, I placed the paper bagged Geranium plants in a cardboard box. I closed the lid and stored the box in my garage where the temperature stays above freezing all winter.
Using the above spray bottle containing only water, I misted the roots of the plants twice during the winter. There was no reason or schedule for spraying them. I keep other plants over wintering in the garage and water them once a month and saw the Geranium box and decided I would mist the roots of the plants.
At this point, in my mind, I was still skeptical that the Geraniums would stay alive bare rooted in my garage with little or no attention of any kind.
3. Remove the plants from box and bags in the Spring
In late April, after the chance of frost had passed, I decided it was time to bring the Geranium plants back out. I removed them from the box. Below is what they looked like.
The leaves of course were dried and dead. However, most of the stems of the plants were still green and using the scraping method, you could see they were green beneath the surface as well. But would they once again root in soil, grow new leaves, and bloom?
4. Soak In Water Before Planting
I ran water into the kitchen sink and put the Geraniums in it roots first. I hadn’t planned to, but wound up letting them soak in the water over night. I got busy and didn’t get back to them so it was the next day before I was ready to plant them.
5. Plant the Geraniums in a planter or in the ground
I found two containers that I wanted to use and filled them with a soil mix I had purchased at Lowe’s. I planted three in each container. I watered them well. As you can see above, they look like a lost cause. But all I had to do was set them in a sunny location and check on them now and then.
6. Water And Check Them Now And Then
I watered them when I was watering the other pots with blooming and foliage plants in them. But didn’t give them any extra attention. Below is the results.
Summary
As you can see the over wintering of Geraniums was successful. More precisely, there was a 67% success rate. Of the six plants, four of them rooted and are currently in pots beside my garden. The two smallest plants did not come back. I am not sure if they died during the winter or if they did not root in the soil. I have purchased three orange geranium plants this Spring and will over winter them with the surviving red ones this coming winter. (Note: The pic at the far right above is the same planter as in the other two pics. I took pic from the opposite direction and forgot to flip it before saving for this blog.)
I have added the original YouTube video below so you can discover this money saving idea for yourself.
If you have over wintered Geraniums or other plants, please tell us about it in the comment section below. We love money and time saving ideas for the garden.