Bring Geraniums Indoors for Winter: Essential Guide

Quick Summary

Yes, you can successfully bring geraniums indoors for winter! This guide provides easy steps to protect your beautiful flowering plants from frost, ensuring they thrive until spring. Learn how to prepare them, choose the best indoor location, and care for them through the colder months.

Hello green thumbs! Pearl Roach here from EcoPatchy, ready to help you keep those vibrant geraniums blooming, even when the weather outside decides it’s time for a long nap. Geraniums are such a joy in the garden, with their bright colors and cheerful blooms adding life to patios, balconies, and flowerbeds. But when those first chilly winds start to blow, a common gardener’s worry pops up: what about my precious geraniums? It can be frustrating to watch them wilt and fade, knowing they won’t survive a hard frost. You might think they’re a lost cause until next year. But don’t despair! Bringing your geraniums indoors for winter is a wonderful way to preserve them, giving you beautiful blooms through the dark months and a head start on spring. We’ll walk through it together, step-by-step, making it simple and stress-free. Get ready to enjoy your geraniums all year round!

Table of Contents

Why Bring Geraniums Indoors for Winter?

Geraniums, particularly the popular annual types (Pelargoniums), are not frost-tolerant hardy perennials in most climates. Letting them brave winter outdoors in freezing temperatures is a sure way to lose them. Bringing them inside is a fantastic way to:

Preserve your investment: You’ve nurtured these plants, and bringing them indoors means you don’t have to buy new ones every spring.
Enjoy continuous blooms: Many indoor conditions can encourage your geraniums to keep flowering throughout winter.
Get a head start on spring: Indoor plants are already established and ready to go when warmer weather arrives.
Expand your indoor greenery: Add a splash of color and life to your home during dull winter days.

When to Bring Your Geraniums Indoors

Timing is key! You want to bring your geraniums in before the first frost hits. Frost can damage or kill these plants quite quickly. The best rule of thumb is to monitor your local weather forecast.

Watch the temperature: If nighttime temperatures consistently dip below 50°F (10°C), it’s a good indicator that it’s time to act.
Observe the day length: As days shorten significantly, it signals the end of the growing season for many plants.
Avoid stress: Bringing them in a week or two before the danger of frost is ideal, allowing them to acclimatize slowly.

Preparing Your Geraniums for Their Indoor Stay

Before relocating your geraniums, a little preparation goes a long way to ensure a smooth transition and a healthy winter for them. This isn’t complicated, and it’s all about making them comfortable in their new temporary home.

1. Inspect for Pests

This is a crucial first step! You do not want to bring any hitchhiking pests indoors. Gently inspect every part of the plant.

Look closely: Check the undersides of leaves, stems, and in the leaf axils (where the leaf meets the stem).
Common culprits: Watch out for aphids, spider mites, whiteflies, and mealybugs.
Treat if necessary: If you find any pests, treat the plant before bringing it inside. A gentle spray of insecticidal soap or neem oil is usually effective. For minor infestations, you can often wipe them off with a damp cloth or cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. A good rinse in the shower can also help dislodge many pests.

2. Pruning and Trimming

Pruning helps manage the size of the plant for indoor growing and encourages a bushier, healthier specimen. It also removes any dead or leggy growth.

Remove dead or yellowing leaves: These are energy drains for the plant.
Trim leggy stems: Cut back stems that have grown long and spindly. Aim to cut just above a leaf node (where a leaf grows from the stem), which will encourage new branching.
Shape the plant: You can trim your geranium to a more manageable size and shape that will fit comfortably in your chosen indoor spot. Don’t be afraid to cut back significantly – geraniums are resilient! Aim to remove about one-third to one-half of the plant’s current growth.

3. Clean the Foliage

Wipe down the leaves to remove dust, dirt, and any residual pests you might have missed. This helps the plant breathe better and makes it look tidier indoors.

Use a damp cloth: Gently wipe each leaf with a soft, damp cloth.
A gentle shower: Alternatively, you can carefully rinse the plant in the sink or shower (propped up slightly, of course!). Ensure you let it drain thoroughly afterwards.

4. Repotting (Optional but Recommended)

This is a great time to repot your geraniums into fresh soil. This ensures they have good drainage and nutrients for their winter stay. You can also use this opportunity to divide overgrown plants.

Choose a pot: Select a pot that is only slightly larger (1-2 inches in diameter) than the original pot. Ensure it has drainage holes!
Use fresh potting mix: A good quality, well-draining potting mix is essential. You can add a bit of perlite or coarse sand to improve drainage further. For reference, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) recommends well-drained compost for geraniums.
Repotting process: Gently remove the geranium from its old pot. Loosen any circling roots, then replant in the new pot with fresh soil, ensuring the soil level is the same as before. Water thoroughly.

Choosing the Right Indoor Location

Where you place your geraniums indoors significantly impacts their survival and ability to potentially rebloom. Think of it as giving them the best possible conditions to rest and recover.

Light Requirements: Geraniums love light! The brightest window you have is ideal. A south-facing window is usually best, providing direct sunlight for at least 4-6 hours a day. If you don’t have a super sunny spot, don’t worry – they may just not bloom as much, but they can still survive.
Temperature: Aim for a cool but not freezing environment. Temperatures between 50-65°F (10-18°C) are generally ideal for overwintering geraniums. Avoid placing them near heat vents, radiators, or drafty windows, as sudden temperature fluctuations can stress the plant.
Humidity: Geraniums prefer moderate humidity. Dry indoor air, especially around heating systems, can be an issue. You can increase humidity by:
- Placing the pot on a pebble tray filled with water (ensure the bottom of the pot isn’t sitting directly in the water).
- Grouping plants together, which can create a microclimate with slightly higher humidity.
- Using a room humidifier.

Caring for Your Geraniums Indoors During Winter

Winter care for indoor geraniums is different from their summer routine. The goal is to keep them alive and healthy with minimal stress until spring. This means adjusting your watering and feeding habits.

Watering

This is where many people go wrong. Overwatering is the number one killer of indoor plants during winter. Geraniums need much less water when they are not actively growing and receiving less light.

Water only when needed: Let the soil dry out significantly between waterings. Stick your finger about an inch or two into the soil. If it feels dry, it’s time to water. If it feels moist, wait.
Water thoroughly: When you do water, water until it drains from the bottom of the pot. Discard any excess water that collects in the saucer to prevent root rot.
Reduce frequency: You might only need to water every 2-3 weeks, depending on your home’s humidity and temperature.

Fertilizing

Hold off on feeding your geraniums during the winter months. They are in a semi-dormant state and don’t require extra nutrients. Fertilizing when the plant isn’t actively growing can actually harm it.

No feeding required: Do not fertilize from late autumn until early spring.
Resume in spring: You can start a light feeding schedule again once you see new growth appearing in spring and you’ve moved them back outdoors or into brighter indoor conditions.

Light Adjustments

Even in a bright window, winter light levels are significantly lower than in summer. Geraniums will naturally slow down their growth.

Rotate the pot: Turn the pot every week or so to ensure all sides of the plant receive some light, promoting even growth.
Supplementing light: If your brightest window isn’t sufficient, consider using a grow light. A simple fluorescent or LED grow light can make a big difference, especially if you want to encourage blooming. Position the light a few inches above the plant and keep it on for 12-16 hours a day.

Pest Monitoring

Remember to continue checking for pests periodically throughout the winter. Indoor environments can sometimes encourage pests to thrive on stressed plants.

Regular checks: Inspect your plants at least once a month.
Quick action: If you spot any pests, treat them immediately as described in the preparation section. Swift action prevents infestations from getting out of control.

Alternative Overwintering Methods

If space is tight or you have many plants, there are a couple of other popular methods for overwintering geraniums:

1. Dormant Storage Method

This method involves storing the plants in a cool, dark place. It’s ideal if you have limited bright indoor space.

How to do it:

Prune heavily: Cut the plants back aggressively, leaving only about 4-6 inches of stem. Remove most of the leaves.
Remove soil: Gently shake off as much soil as possible from the roots.
Store: Bundle a few plants together with their roots exposed and hang them upside down in a cool (around 40-50°F or 4-10°C), dark place like a basement or unheated garage. Alternatively, you can store them in paper bags or boxes, and check them periodically.
Maintain slight moisture: The roots should not dry out completely. You can lightly mist the roots every few weeks or dip them in a bucket of water for a few hours.
Reactivate in spring: In late winter or early spring, when you see signs of life (like small bumps on the stems), pot them up in fresh soil and water them into growth.

2. Cuttings Method

This is a great way to start fresh and take up less space. You can take cuttings from your existing geraniums before bringing them indoors.

How to do it:

Take cuttings: In late summer or early autumn, take 4-6 inch cuttings from healthy geranium stems. Make sure each cutting has at least two sets of leaves. Remove the lower leaves.
Root the cuttings: Dip the cut end in rooting hormone (optional but recommended) and then insert them into a pot filled with a moist, well-draining potting mix or perlite.
Create a humid environment: Cover the pot with a plastic bag or place it in a propagator. Keep in a bright spot but out of direct sun.
Water sparingly: Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged.
Transplant: Once the cuttings have rooted (you can gently tug on them, and they’ll resist if rooted), they can be treated as small plants and cared for as outlined in the main indoor overwintering guide.

Troubleshooting Common Overwintering Problems

Even with the best intentions, you might encounter a few hiccups. Here’s how to handle them.

Yellowing Leaves

Cause: Often due to overwatering, underwatering, or poor drainage. Can also be a natural process of older leaves dying off.
Solution: Check soil moisture. Adjust watering accordingly. Ensure good drainage. Remove yellow leaves as they appear.

Leggy Growth

Cause: Insufficient light.
Solution: Move the plant to a brighter location or supplement with a grow light. Pinch back leggy stems to encourage bushier growth once you see improved light conditions.

No Flowers Indoors

Cause: Lack of sufficient light is the primary reason. Plants may also need specific dormancy periods or nutrients to trigger blooming.
Solution: Ensure it’s getting at least 4-6 hours of direct sunlight or use a grow light for 12-16 hours daily. Wait until spring to resume a feeding schedule.

Wilting

Cause: Can be overwatering (leading to root rot) or underwatering. Also, sudden temperature changes or transplant shock.
Solution: Check the soil moisture. If dry, water thoroughly. If wet, allow to dry out and check for root rot. Ensure consistent temperatures.

Bringing Geraniums Back Outdoors in Spring

As winter wanes and the days lengthen, your indoor geraniums will start to show signs of renewed growth. It’s time to prepare them to go back outside!

Hardening Off: This is the most critical step. Geraniums that have been indoors need to gradually adjust to outdoor conditions. Exposing them suddenly to direct sun, wind, and temperature fluctuations can cause shock and damage.

Start indoors: About a week to ten days before the last expected frost, begin moving your plants to a sheltered outdoor location (like a porch or under a tree) for a few hours each day.
Increase exposure: Gradually increase the amount of time they spend outdoors and expose them to more direct sunlight each day.
Bring in at night: Bring them back indoors at night if temperatures are still cool or if frost is a possibility.
Full outdoor placement: Once the danger of frost has passed and they have been outdoors for a week or two, they can be planted in the ground or left in their pots outdoors in their preferred sunny location.

When you replant or repot them outdoors, you can feed them with a balanced, slow-release fertilizer to give them a boost for the growing season. Remember to use a well-draining soil mix, an essential for healthy geranium growth.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can I just leave my geraniums in their pots outside for the winter?

Generally, no. Most common garden geraniums (Pelargoniums) are not hardy enough to survive freezing temperatures outdoors. They are typically treated as annuals or overwintered indoors.

What if my geraniums look sad and leggy inside?

Leggy growth is usually a sign of insufficient light. Move your plant to the brightest spot you have, ideally a south-facing window. If that’s not possible, consider using a grow light.

Do I need to repot my geraniums before bringing them inside?

It’s not strictly necessary, but it’s highly recommended. Repotting into fresh, well-draining soil helps remove any old, depleted soil, prevents soil-borne diseases, and gives the plant a good start. It also allows you to check root health.

How much light do geraniums need indoors in winter?

Geraniums need as much light as possible during winter. A minimum of 4-6 hours of direct sunlight per day is ideal. If your home doesn’t provide this, a grow light can be very beneficial.

When should I start watering and fertilizing my geraniums again in spring?

You can start watering more regularly once you see definite signs of new growth. Resume a regular fertilizing schedule once you’ve hardened them off and planted them outdoors or moved them to their permanent sunny indoor spot for the spring season.

My geraniums have spider mites. What should I do?

Spider mites thrive in dry conditions. Before bringing the plant inside, wash it thoroughly and treat with insecticidal soap or neem oil. Once indoors, keep the plant away from heat sources that dry out the air, consider increasing humidity, and continue to monitor closely and treat promptly if you see them reappear.

Can I overwinter geraniums without any soil?

Pearl Roach