For More Gorgeous Geranium Blooms Next Spring, Do This Simple Task Before Winter

If you've been enjoying the colorful beauty of geraniums during the summer, you might be getting nervous about seasons changing and cold weather coming. Geraniums (genus Geranium) are tender perennials, and one of the perennials to bring indoors before winter to ensure a vibrant spring garden. They don't generally survive the cold winter months when left outside or exposed in the garden bed, but there's something you can do now to preserve your geraniums. It's called overwintering, which is a process of protecting plants over the winter that would otherwise succumb to the harsh weather conditions. Your prized geranium is the perfect candidate with stunning flowers that are easy to propagate for a garden full of lasting color.

It's important to note that the overwintering process needs to start before the first frost, so be sure to get to those geraniums before the temperature drops too low. Prior to bringing them inside, check them for any pests or disease. Choosing the healthiest geraniums to overwinter will give you the best success rate for helping them last through until next spring. While there are a few ways to overwinter a geranium, they are easy to root from cuttings, making that method one that works particularly well. This method also allows them to acclimate to indoor light and temperature, and is particularly convenient if you are short on indoor space.

To begin, carefully cut a 3 to 4 inch section of the plant's stem tip with a sharp knife. Pinch off the leaves from the lower half of the stem and dip the cut end of the stem in a rooting hormone. Rooting hormones can be found at nurseries or garden centers and are compounds that aid in speeding up the root initiation and help increase the quantity of roots produced. Select a container that has adequate drainage and fill it with a rooting medium. Either use a premade commercial rooting mix or use vermiculite, which can be mixed with equal parts sand, or use perlite, which is great for aeration and best when mixed with equal parts moss or vermiculite. Place the cutting in the rooting medium and water it well.

Cuttings root best in a moist, humid environment, requiring the medium to be evenly moist so the cutting doesn't dry out. Help maintain that environment by covering the cutting and container with a clear plastic bag, effectively making a mini-greenhouse. Place it in a well lit area, avoiding direct sunlight, though, as that can burn the cutting. In six to eight weeks, the roots will be about an inch long and can be planted in a 3 to 4 inch well-drained container of potting soil. Place it in a sunny window, watering it any time the soil begins to feel dry and pinching the shoot tips back to encourage branch growth. Keep your new geraniums growing indoors until you're sure they'll be safe from frost. Come spring, you'll be able to grow happy and healthy geraniums in containers with these must-know tips.