Bringing Geraniums Indoors For Winter: Essential Care

Bringing geraniums indoors for winter is a simple process! Protect your beloved plants from frost by digging them up before the first freeze, trimming them back, and potting them in fresh soil. Provide adequate light and water, and they’ll thrive indoors until spring.

Geraniums are such a joy in the garden during the warmer months, bursting with color and lovely fragrance. But as the days grow shorter and the air turns chilly, you might worry about saying goodbye to your favorite varieties. Don’t! With a little preparation, you can easily bring your geraniums indoors to enjoy them all winter long and plant them back out when spring returns. It’s a wonderful way to keep that splash of color and cheer inside your home and a fantastic way to save money on buying new plants next year. Let’s walk through how to do it step-by-step, making it super simple even if you’ve never tried it before.

Why Bring Geraniums Indoors for Winter?

The primary reason to bring geraniums indoors for the winter is to protect them from frost and freezing temperatures. Geraniums, while beautiful flowering plants, are typically perennial in USDA hardiness zones 9-11. For most gardeners outside of these warmer climates, they are grown as annuals. Bringing them inside effectively overwrites their annual status, allowing them to survive and even flourish through the cold months. This practice not only saves your plants but also gives you a head start on the gardening season in the spring, as you’ll already have mature plants ready to go back outside.

Beyond just survival, bringing geraniums indoors can be an economical gardening choice. Instead of purchasing new plants each year, you can propagate cuttings or overwinter existing ones, saving both money and resources. It also allows you to maintain continuity with your favorite geranium varieties, ensuring you have the specific colors and growth habits you love in your garden.

When to Bring Geraniums Indoors

Timing is key when preparing your geraniums for their winter stay indoors. The most crucial factor is the threat of frost. Geraniums can tolerate light, brief frosts, but prolonged cold will kill them. Therefore, watching your local weather forecast is your best guide.

• Monitor Temperatures: Keep an eye on nighttime temperatures. If they consistently dip into the low 30s Fahrenheit (around 1-3°C), it’s time to act. Frost is often indicated by temperatures reaching 32°F (0°C) or below.
• Watch for Frost Warnings: Pay attention to local weather alerts for frost or freeze warnings. These are your clear signals that action is needed.
• Act Before the First Hard Freeze: It’s always better to err on the side of caution. Don’t wait until the morning after a hard freeze to bring your plants in, as damage may have already occurred. Aim to get them inside a week or two before the first expected hard freeze, just to be safe.
• Observe Plant Condition: Even if the temperature hasn’t dropped drastically, if your geraniums are showing signs of stress from cooler weather, it might be a good idea to bring them in a little early.

A common mistake is waiting too long. If you see the leaves starting to curl or wilt significantly due to cold, the plant has already experienced stress that might impact its recovery indoors. A good rule of thumb is to bring them in when daytime temperatures are consistently below 50°F (10°C).

Preparing Your Geraniums: The Crucial Steps

Success in overwintering geraniums indoors hinges on good preparation. This involves a bit of pruning and treating for any potential pests. Let’s break down these essential steps.

Step 1: Inspect for Pests

Before you even think about bringing your geraniums inside, it’s vital to give them a thorough inspection for any unwelcome guests. Pests like aphids, spider mites, whiteflies, and mealybugs can easily hitch a ride indoors and quickly infest your other houseplants. This initial check can save you a lot of headaches later.

Here’s how to give them a good looking-over:

• Examine Leaves: Gently turn over each leaf and inspect the undersides for any small insects, webbing, or sticky residue.
• Check Stems: Look closely at the stems, especially in the leaf axils (where the leaf meets the stem), for any cottony masses (mealybugs) or tiny insects.
• Look for Signs: Besides the insects themselves, look for signs of damage like distorted leaves, yellowing, or tiny ‘stipples’ from feeding.

If you find pests, don’t despair! You can treat them:

• Water Spray: For light infestations, a strong blast of water from a hose or showerhead can dislodge many pests.
• Insecticidal Soap or Neem Oil: These are gentler options for houseplants. Follow the product instructions carefully. Ensure you spray thoroughly, including the undersides of leaves. You might need to repeat the treatment in a week or two. You can find reliable information on organic pest control methods on resources like the EPA’s Safe Pest Control page.
• Manual Removal: For small infestations of mealybugs, you can often dab them off with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.

Only bring plants indoors once you are confident they are pest-free. It’s often recommended to isolate new plants or plants brought in from outdoors for a few weeks to ensure no pests are lurking.

Step 2: Pruning for Winter Health

Pruning your geraniums before bringing them inside is crucial for several reasons. It makes them more manageable to pot and transport, stimulates healthier re-growth indoors, and helps remove any diseased or damaged parts. You’ll want to prune them back significantly.

Here’s a guide to pruning:

1. Sanitize Tools: Use clean, sharp pruners or a sturdy knife. Sterilizing your tools with rubbing alcohol or a bleach solution prevents the spread of diseases.
2. Remove Dead or Diseased Foliage: Start by cutting away any yellow, brown, or visibly diseased leaves and stems.
3. Reduce Size: For most geraniums, you’ll want to cut them back by about one-third to one-half their current size. Aim to cut just above a leaf node (where a leaf attaches to the stem) – this is where new growth will emerge.
4. Shape the Plant: As you prune, you can also start shaping the plant to encourage a bushier growth habit. Aim for a rounded shape.
5. Remove Flowers and Buds: Cut off all spent flowers and any developing buds. The plant will need to conserve energy for establishing its root system indoors, not for flowering right away.

Don’t be afraid to prune quite hard. Geraniums are resilient plants and will respond well to this encouragement for new growth. This pruning also helps reduce the amount of foliage that might transpire (lose water) and die off indoors, and it can lessen shock from the transition.

Step 3: Digging and Potting

Once pruned and pest-free, it’s time to get your geraniums into their temporary indoor homes. You can either dig them up from the garden and pot them, or if they are already in containers, you can simply bring the containers inside.

For Garden-Planted Geraniums:

1. Choose Pots: Select pots that are about 6-8 inches in diameter. Ensure they have drainage holes – this is non-negotiable for preventing root rot. Terracotta pots are excellent for geraniums as they allow the soil to dry out more easily between waterings.
2. Use Fresh Potting Mix: Fill the pots with a good quality, well-draining potting mix. Avoid using garden soil, which can be too heavy and may contain pests or diseases. A mix formulated for containers or a blend of potting soil with perlite or vermiculite for added drainage works perfectly. You can find great tips on choosing the right soil from university extension offices, such as those from University of New Hampshire Extension.
3. Carefully Dig: Dig around the base of the geranium, keeping a generous root ball intact. Try not to disturb the roots too much. Gently lift the plant from the ground.
4. Trim Roots (Optional but Recommended): If the root ball seems overly dense or has circling roots, you can gently tease them apart or trim away any very long, thick roots that are excessively long. This pruning can encourage new root growth.
5. Pot the Plant: Place the geranium in the new pot, ensuring the top of the root ball is about an inch below the rim of the pot. Fill in around the root ball with your fresh potting mix, firming gently.
6. Initial Watering: Water thoroughly until water drains from the bottom of the pot.

For Container Geraniums:

1. Assess the Pot: If your geraniums are already in pots, check the size. If the pot is too small, you may want to transplant them into slightly larger containers using fresh potting mix before bringing them indoors.
2. Check Drainage: Ensure the pots have adequate drainage holes.
3. Clean the Pot: If the pot is old or shows signs of disease or salt buildup, clean it thoroughly before bringing it inside.
4. Bring Indoors: Simply move the potted geraniums to their designated indoor location.

Give the plants a day or two to settle in their pots before introducing them to their permanent indoor spot, especially if the roots were disturbed.

Winter Care for Indoor Geraniums

Once your geraniums are safely inside and potted, they need consistent care to survive and even show some growth. The key is to mimic their preferred conditions as much as possible, though indoor environments can be challenging. Focus on light, water, and temperature.

Light Requirements

Geraniums are sun-loving plants. Indoors, they will need as much bright light as you can provide, especially during the shorter days of winter.

• South-Facing Window: The best location for your indoor geraniums is a bright, sunny, south-facing window. This will offer the most direct light throughout the day.
• East or West-Facing Windows: If a south-facing window isn’t available, an east or west-facing window can also work, providing several hours of direct or bright indirect light.
• Supplemental Lighting: If natural light is very limited, consider using grow lights. Full-spectrum LED grow lights are energy-efficient and provide the necessary light spectrum plants need. Hanging them about 6-12 inches above the plants for 12-16 hours a day can make a significant difference.
• Rotate Pots: Turn the pots regularly (e.g., a quarter turn every few days) to ensure all sides of the plant receive light and to prevent them from growing lopsided.

Insufficient light is one of the most common reasons for geraniums (and many other houseplants) to decline over winter. They may become leggy, weak, and stop producing new growth. Look for signs like elongated stems with widely spaced leaves.

Watering: Less is More

Overwatering is a common killer of houseplants, especially during winter when plant growth naturally slows down. Geraniums require less water when they are not actively growing or have reduced light exposure.

• Check Soil Moisture: The most reliable way to know when to water is to check the soil moisture. Stick your finger about an inch or two into the soil. If it feels dry, it’s time to water. If it still feels moist, wait.
• Water Thoroughly: When you do water, water deeply until you see water coming out of the drainage holes. This ensures the entire root ball is moistened.
• Discard Excess Water: Never let the pot sit in a saucer full of water. Discard any excess water after about 15-30 minutes. This prevents the roots from sitting in waterlogged soil, which can lead to root rot.
• Reduce Frequency: You will likely water much less frequently than during the summer growing season. This might be every 1-2 weeks, depending on humidity, light, and temperature in your home.

Signs of overwatering include yellowing leaves, wilting despite moist soil, and potentially a musty smell from the soil. Signs of underwatering are typically wilting and dry, dropping leaves.

Temperature and Humidity

Geraniums prefer moderate temperatures and can tolerate cooler conditions, which is beneficial for overwintering.

• Ideal Temperature: They do well in average room temperatures, ideally between 60-70°F (15-21°C) during the day. Cooler nights are fine, even down to 50-55°F (10-13°C), which can actually encourage them to rest.
• Avoid Drafts: Keep them away from cold drafts from windows and doors, and also from heat sources like radiators or heating vents, which can dry them out too quickly.
• Humidity: Geraniums don’t require high humidity, but dry indoor air, especially from heating systems, can be a problem. If your air is very dry, you can increase humidity by:
  • Placing the pot on a pebble tray filled with water (ensure the bottom of the pot is not submerged).
  • Grouping plants together, as they release moisture through transpiration, creating a microclimate.
  • Using a small room humidifier.

Miserable, dry air can encourage spider mite infestations, so maintaining a slightly better humidity level will help keep them healthy.

Fertilizing: Hold Off

Geraniums go into a period of reduced growth or dormancy during winter. Holding off on fertilizer is essential during this time.

• No Feeding Needed: Do not fertilize your geraniums from the time you bring them indoors until you see clear signs of new, vigorous growth in late winter or early spring.
• Why it’s Important: Fertilizing a plant that is not actively growing can lead to a buildup of salts in the soil, which can burn the roots and damage the plant. It can also encourage weak, leggy growth in low light conditions.

You’ll resume fertilizing in spring when you see new leaves and stems actively developing, and your plants are preparing to go back outdoors.

Common Indoor Geranium Problems and Solutions

Even with the best care, you might encounter a few issues when overwintering geraniums. Here are some common problems and how to address them:

Remember, your goal during winter is to keep the plants alive and healthy, not necessarily to have them blooming profusely. Patience is key!

Bringing Geraniums Back Outdoors in Spring

As the days lengthen and the threat of frost passes in your area, it’s time to prepare your geraniums for their return to the garden. This transition also requires careful acclimatization to prevent shock.

Here’s how to do it:

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