Geraniums are perennial balcony flowers that can be overwintered without too much effort and then come back even more beautifully next spring. There are several options for overwintering, but you should not leave the very frost-sensitive plants outdoors.
How do you overwinter geraniums in a flower box?
To overwinter geraniums in flower boxes, place the boxes in a cool (5-10°C), bright place and cut the plants back in mid/late October. Remove weak shoots, flowers and buds and keep the substrate slightly moist without fertilizing until spring.
Overwinter geraniums in the flower box
Although geraniums can be easily grown bare-rooted and even in a dark cellar over the winter, you also have other wintering options. One of these is the option of overwintering the geraniums in the flower box. In this case, however, you should place the flowers in a cool - temperatures between five and ten degrees Celsius are optimal - and bright place. The rule of thumb is that the warmer geraniums are in winter, the more light they need.
Preparing geraniums for winter
Overwintering also requires some preparation so that your plants get through the cold season well.
- The plants are cut back in mid / end of October
- However, a radical cut is not necessary
- Remove especially the weak and long shoots
- as well as flowers and buds
- and shorten the rest.
- Pot out the geraniums from the old substrate
- and cover the roots loosely with a mixture of potting soil and sand
- The substrate should always be kept slightly moist.
- Fertilization is not carried out in winter.
Tip
Before you take the plants out of hibernation in spring, another pruning is carried out. In this case, the horny shoots that have grown over the winter are primarily removed.
