Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: Jamie Butterworth on December 20, 2010, 20:13
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I lifted all my geraniums a month ago to store them in my potting shed until next year as they are perenials i think, do they need cutting back or should i just leave them to it?
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I'd leave them well alone, just the odd spoonful of water to keep them alive.
In the spring see where they start to grow from, so you can tell which bits are dead and which bits are still alive, so you can see where to cut back. Fingers crossed the cold hasn't killed them. Mine look far from alive in the greenhouse, but we'll see :unsure:
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First of all Jamie, are they geraniums or are they pelagoniums which are mistakenly called geraniums. If they are the former, they are a hardy perennial and can be left to their own devices in the garden. If they are pelagoniums, they are also a perennial but are not hardy and will be killed by the frosts.
If they are pelagoniums there are two things you can do, either pot the whole plant up and bring it in the house, somewhere warm and light where it will carry on growing over winter although it will tend to grow 'leggy'. Or the method I was told by someone with a lot more knowledge than me and which works for me.
The way I do my pelagoniums Jamie, I cut all tops off to about 3 or 4 inches and trim all the roots so there is only a ball of roots left. I then re pot them in a mixture of compost, sharp sand and a little bone-meal and just keep them damp enough not to be bone dry. The storage is a bit of a problem, they need to be kept cool but frost free so in this weather the greenhouse is a no-no. I keep some in the unheated conservatory and some in my bedroom which is also unheated (purposely for the sake of my seedlings). The plants will put out loads of new shoots and continue to grow throughout the winter. When the new shoots get too big (they tend to be a bit 'leggy' through the lack of light), I trim them back and also remove any dead bits. Come planting out time the plants are well established with loads of shoots on them and if you like, some of the shoots can be taken off and potted on to be grown on as new plants.
As I said, I am no expert, I just know what has worked for me, so if anybody sees anything that is not right in my post please don't hesitate in putting me right.
Robbo.
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Good advice robbodave, but a bit late for jamie, and me, we left ours in the g/house.
(the early cold caught me unawares as they usually go in the spare room :nowink: )
All we can do now is to see if they make it ...my fingers are firmly crossed :)
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Thanks for the advice mate :D
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some in my bedroom which is also unheated (purposely for the sake of my seedlings).
Now that's what I call dedication Robbo :lol:
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The end results justify the means Yorkie, my onion seedlings need a temperature between 10 and 15C and for the pelargoniums next years growth will be bigger and better. Jamie and Mum bring them indoors, give them a chance if there is any spark of life in them.
Robbo.
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I grow mine fresh from seed each year rather than saving them in the greenhouse which I've never been able to do very successfully. I buy the seeds at the end of the season from Wilko, usually about 26 p a packet and look for a dark red variety or a white. They grow readily from seed :)
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My dad used to trim the tops off them and roll them up in newspaper and put them in the shed. He had a very good survival rate.
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Is it just me or are geranium seeds very expensive :ohmy: :unsure: ???
6 seeds for £2.49 at Mr Fothergills ???
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No, Mr Fothergills is expensive.
Robbo.
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F1 geranium seeds are pretty expensive, but F2s or general mixed geranium seeds are usually pretty cheap.
Your other option Jamie is to buy seedlings from the garden centre. It's usually around £2.99 ish for a pot of seedlings and they'll be in the centres in a few weeks. If providing light and heat is a problem, leave it until later, get a bigger plant and take cuttings. You can overwinter cuttings on the windowsill as well. I've got some scented leaved geranium cuttings on the kitchen windowsill that I took in the autumn ;)
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As I mentioned in a previous post, is it Geranium seeds or Pelagonium seeds you are after Jamie. If it's Geranium seeds I have quite a few spare seeds from a few varieties of hardy Geraniums. If you are interested, I will check which variety of geranium seeds I have.
Robbo.
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Assuming it's Pelagoniums you're after, Moles seeds have F2's at £4.90 for 250 seed. (I can see a profit there!).
They call them Geraniums though and treat them as annuals. Here's an example:
Geraniums? (http://www.molesseeds.co.uk/flower_and_vegetable_seed_store_uk/Products_F2_Capri_1089.html)
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Thanks for all the advice everyone :D
As I mentioned in a previous post, is it Geranium seeds or Pelagonium seeds you are after Jamie. If it's Geranium seeds I have quite a few spare seeds from a few varieties of hardy Geraniums. If you are interested, I will check which variety of geranium seeds I have.
Robbo.
Thatd be brill mate, thanyou :D :D :D :D :D
Assuming it's Pelagoniums you're after, Moles seeds have F2's at £4.90 for 250 seed. (I can see a profit there!).
They call them Geraniums though and treat them as annuals. Here's an example:
Geraniums? (http://www.molesseeds.co.uk/flower_and_vegetable_seed_store_uk/Products_F2_Capri_1089.html)
Thanks for the link DD :D :D :D
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we to have lost a few geranium and pelargonium this year stored in the greenhouse but the ones in the house are OK :happy:
i like my pelargoniums and geraniums i tend to buy a different colour geranium each year the ones I've gone for this year are Sassa [coral pink] geranium green leaf series they are raised cuttings so they tend to be a bit more expensive than the seed raised so i can't afford to loose them your advise on how to keep them is well noted :)
when we went to a garden event this year we where told you never get the results from seed raised geranium the best results are cutting raised so that put me off from having a go at growing geranium from seed but i gather from your comments that some of you do grow from seed my catalogue says sow December-February and cover with vermiculite it also suggests a fungicide drench? :unsure:
i would be interested on your comments and advise from those of you who grow geraniums from seed if i should give it a go much appreciated :) :) :)
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Thanks for the post DD, you may have noticed that all my spellings of Pelagonium have now been corrected :D
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Actually, I think 'tis I that have it wrong. Rowlandwells has it correct.
I'll stick to veg in future.
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hello DD its nice to know i get things rite some times but not necessarily all of the time i just want to know how to grow those bl.....dy geranium's from seed from you professional growers her indoors said my head's got bigger from reading your mail ;) ;) ;)
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I grow them in seed tray inserts, one seed to a cell.
Start them off indoors then move to the slightly heated greenhouse when germinated. Pot on when large enough to handle.
Mrs Digger has got used to it over the years and has learned not to whinge.
She'll soon be loosing the kitchen window sill.
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Oh sugar :mad:, that's how I spelt it originaly, well I'm not changing it again. :lol:
Robbo.
P.S. Still got to dig those Geranium seeds out yet Jamie.