Growing Geraniums

How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Geraniums

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Geraniums are a longtime favorite of Almanac gardeners. They are easy to grow, colorful, and emit a lovely scent. Here’s how to grow geraniums in your home and garden!

Although they are also an outdoor plant, geraniums are typically kept indoors to overwinter. Alternatively, they can bloom indoors all year long with enough light.

Planting

When buying geraniums, pay close attention to color and size. Healthy leaves will have no discoloration on or below them and stems will be sturdy, not straggly. Be sure to avoid any plants with obvious signs of pests as well.
Place plants in pots with drainage holes to avoid root rot. Do not use a saucer beneath your pot unless filled with pebbles.
Use soil-less potting mixture (not dirt) when planting in containers.
For maximum bloom, place the plants in an area where they will get 4-6 hours of sunlight daily.

Care

Allow to dry between waterings, then water thoroughly.
During the winter, water much less, but do not let the roots dry out.
To encourage blooming, deadhead spent flowers.
To promote bushiness and avoid legginess, pinch the stems.
During active growing months, fertilize every 2 weeks. Use a water-soluble fertilizer at half strength. Don’t fertilize in winter.
Geraniums can be re-potted as needed during the spring to be refreshed.

Geranium

Overwintering Geraniums

Geraniums that have spent the summer outdoors can be kept as houseplants, provided they get lots of sun. In northern climes, the sun may not be strong enough in late winter to stimulate buds on some varieties.
Before the first fall frost (find your local frost dates), lift the plants and, using a sharp, clean knife, cut the stems back in a shapely fashion to about 6 to 8 inches. They should not have to support great masses of leaves in the low sunlight environment they are about to enter. Save a few stems as cuttings to root, an easy way to multiply your plants. Also cut back the roots.
Transplant the “mother plant” to the smallest pot possible—enough to just fit the roots—using regular potting soil to fill.
Keep the plants in shade for a week, then place them in a sunny spot (they need all the sun they can get) and keep them cool.
Geraniums grow best with night temperatures of 50° to 60°F but will survive if they drop to 32° and/or rise above 80°F, as long as they are kept relatively dry.
When new growth appears, cut off all the old leaves.

The only thing more difficult than getting the new growth to appear is keeping it. And here’s some help with that:

Water only when the leaves show signs of drooping and allow only small amounts. Do not fertilize or feed the plants. It is critical that these plants get rest.
If you want your overwintered geraniums to bloom for Memorial Day, pinch them back in February. Once warm weather returns and all danger of frost has passed, take the plants outdoors and transplant them to beds or pots, as you wish.

Pests/Diseases

Common problems can be low light or too much or too little water. The leaves will turn yellow as an indication you are watering too little or too much. In this case, try to even the watering out and move the geraniums to a brighter place.

Harvest/Storage

How to Root Stem Cuttings

Most geraniums root easily from stem cuttings in soil, coarse sand, water, perlite, or other rooting material—but nothing with fertilizer.

Using a sharp, clean knife, make a slanted cut 4 inches below a stem tip, above a node where leaves emerge. Trim cutting to just below a node. Remove any buds, all but two or three leaves, and the leaflike stipules at the base of leaf stalks.
Roll the stem cutting in newspaper or put it in the shade for 24 hours, so that the end will seal and not rot.
Push the stem into a pot of moistened rooting medium and store it in a warm, shady place for 2 days. After that, give the cutting indirect sun. Moisten the medium only as needed.

Recommended Varieties

The Common or Zonal Geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum) thrives in containers (as well as outdoors).
Ivy-Leaf Geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum) are very popular for hanging baskets, window-boxes, and containers.

Wit & Wisdom

For minor cuts, apply crushed geranium leaves to stop the bleeding.
In the language of flowers, scarlet geranium means silliness. Find out more flower meanings here.
Geraniums are known to be toxic to Japanese beetles, so you won’t have to worry about those pesky pests.
The plants that we commonly call geraniums were introduced in Europe by Dutch traders who brought them from South Africa in the early 18th century. Because these new plants resembled the hardy wild geraniums already growing in Europe, botanists mistakenly grouped them together. In 1753, Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus classified them under the genus Geranium. When it was later discovered that these new “geraniums” differed from European geraniums in the shape of their petals, the number of stamens, and other factors, they were renamed Pelargonium, meaning “stork’s bill”—a reference to the long, sharply pointed shape of their seedpod. But to this day, we still say “geranium” when we actually mean “pelargonium.”

Reader Comments

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Winter geraniums

I'm so sad. I've been practically taking my geraniums to bed with me at yo help them thru the winter here in Montana. They were doing great. About 3 weeks ago I noticed the leaves looked droopy; checked the soil and it was dry so watered them but didn't soak them at all. They perked up for a couple days but now the leaves have turned yellow and are dropping off. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

geraniums failing

We understand your disappointment. They do need a period of dormancy. Did you prune them at all? If not, you may be trying to keep full-size plants going and they just want to be left (almost) alone for a while. If you didn’t prune, do so now, leaving a few leaves but removing any new growth. Water when dry but not to soak. Give them indirect light. Then, when the days get warmer, return to fulltime regular care. Hope this helps!

Leggy

I have had a geranium planet indoors for at least four years. Last June it looked so sad I decided to throw it out. When I went to cut off the stems I saw two shoots reaching up from the soil. I cut off the old and have been watching one of the shoots become “leggy.” It is now five feet tall and has been blooming constantly, once the first bloom appeared. Two questions. Is this height the old, original height of a wild plant, and we have convinced it to be smaller and more appealing? How tall will it grow?

Mary Alice Middletown, DE

new plant..

Don’t question the wisdom and glory of nature, Mary Alice; nurture it. We have no idea how tall it will grow or for how long. It is growing for you now…enjoy it!

I live in Austin, TX. My

I live in Austin, TX. My geraniums are potted outside and lately the temperature is over 100 degrees. I water them almost daily. Is that too much? Leaves are turning yellow but not sure if it's from heat or over watering. One of the plants has tiny round brown spots on the leaves. Could that be a fungus?

Geranium leaf spots

It sounds like it could be either a bacterial or fungal issue, which are both made worse by warm, wet conditions. There is no cure for bacterial diseases, but you can mitigate the issue by removing infected leaves and stems and by placing infected plants away from healthy ones. Wash your hands after you touch the infected plant(s). Keep the plants’ leaves dry by watering from the bottom of the pot or from soil level; this can help stop the spread of fungal diseases. Go here for more information: https://extension.psu.edu/geranium-diseases

Geraniums

Was looking for japanese beetle resistant plants. Saw geraniums. So why have they eaten mine to the stem?

Geraniums and Japanese Beetles

Geraniums are often mistakenly listed as “beetle resistant.” In fact, Japanese beetles will happily eat geraniums. However, geranium leaves contain a substance that can paralyze the beetles for up to a day, making them more vulnerable to predators (or angry gardeners). For this reason, geraniums are used as a bait plant to trap and dispose of hungry beetles.

Geraniums

I just planted my first Geranium, a Rocky Mountain Salmon (Zonal Geranium). It's planted in the ground, not a pot. My parents always planted Geraniums in pots, but they were always leggy and tall and never spread out. What is the technique for pinching them back? Do I need to do it with shears, or can I use my fingernails (or should I say what's left of my fingernails since I began spring gardening). Also: When fall comes, can I uproot it, put it into a large pot, and bring it into the house over the winter?

Bud to bloom time?

I am growing a standard geranium for a County Fair submission in mid-july. Up to now I have been pinching off all the flower buds so the plant would get fuller. At what point should I let the flower buds grow in order to get them to bloom in mid-july. The plant is fertilized once every two weeks with a water soluble fertilizer and gets at least 6 hours of Sun a day.

when geariums bloom

Oh, the pressure! We have no direct experience with this kind of timing and can not find it elsewhere, but we learned the following and pass it on in hope that it helps:

• When any given stem is as tall as you`d like or you wish to encourage branching or new basal shoots, pinch out its growing tip but not the flower bud forming alongside. In this way, you allow the terminal bloom cluster to mature and give pleasure while the removal of the growing tip has set into motion the desired activity below. By the time top blooms fade, new growth will be budding.

• If you want a miniature or dwarf geranium to go all to bloom, try potting in a 5- or 6-inch bulb pan or azalea pot (both types are more shallow than the standard, which is as wide across the top as it is tall). This practice allows the little geranium to develop many branches, and when the roots are sufficiently cramped, there will be a profusion of flowers.

• Give the roots a soaking when the surface soil is approaching dryness. If you wait until there is a slight wilting of the leaves, flower buds on the way will wither and die. But never leave a geranium sitting in water.

• Commercial growers have a variety (it seems) of techniques that seem complicated for home growers but you might glean some secrets by reading about this report from Michigan State: http://flor.hrt.msu.edu/assets/PdfAttachments/7Geranium-and-Zinnia.pdf

Good luck in at the Fair!

Dead heading

Where do you pinch them off at? Every time I start to pinch at the bottom where, it seems stem is coming out, doesn't seem to flower as much. Do you just pinch off below the bloom? I love these flowers but can't seem to keep a lot of blooms on them. Thanks!

how to pinch geraniums

Hi, Michelle. You only need to pinch ¼ to ½ inch off the end of the stem.

Geraniums

I buy full geraniums then they start to get leggy. Do I pinch the plant stems from leaf top 1/4 to 1/2 inch. I break the dying blooms down to where the come off of the stem. My question - where and how do I pinch plant to prevent leggy plant

Is there a picture where I can see how to cut the ends off on kn

Is there a picture where I can see how to cut the ends off On these flowers because mine look like they’re dead and I don’t know how to cut them

geraniums

I am planting geranium seeds now and will keep in a green house until May and then want to use them in a wedding in late August. What is the best way to keep small and full of blooms? Zone 5b
Thanks

how to grow small geraniums

Did you seed a dwarf variety? These can be maintained under 8 inches, flower freely, and can be maintained in 4-inch pots. They seem to be more popular in the United Kingdom; you can see mention of them here: http://thepelargoniumregister.com/horticulture-symbols-and-terms/ They might be able to provide some info.

If you are growing standard size, you might need to keep it pruned.

geraniums -- out doors

This info has been very helpful. They bloom several times a year but get quite leggy. I may have watered too often, but what do I do when it rains on them? Something also eats some of the buds. I live in Southern Calif.

leggy geraniums

They usually get leggy while being overwintered. Outdoors, it could be a sign that they are not getting enough light (they like full sun), and they naturally grow leggy during the bloom period. You can rejuvenate them by cutting them back hard. They should be fine if it rains as long as the soil is well draining; they should not be sitting in pools or soggy soil. As for what’s eating the buds…Japanese beetles can cause some damage. Rabbits eat the flowers…it could be that they nibble on the leaves. Deer will eat almost anything.

outdoor geramiums..

They have grown well...but now the leaves are curling does that mean they are getting too much water;...I live in Florida....need help....

Geraniums

Hi Genny,

Yes, the cause could be from too much watering, though it could also be from general inconsistent watering (e.g., too much then too little, too little then too much, off and on watering, etc…). The best way to deal with this problem is to begin a consistent watering regiment. Allow the soil around the plant to dry to 1 or 2 inches deep, and then water well. Wait until the soil returns to the same dryness, and then repeat. Hopefully, the plant will begin to recover over time. If not, the problem may be more serious and be caused by a fungal disease. We hope this helps!

dividing a plant

Hi, I have been asked by a family member overseas to gather some info. She has a Canadian variety of a geranium for a number of years. Her plant is very full and she would like to divide it. Can she do that by just separating the plant itself and re-potting both halves? Thanks for any help :)

Re: dividing geraniums

Yes, you can divide them. They are quite hardy but will recover. I would first trim the plant back by no more than a third and wait a week for it to recover, and then dig it out and observe.
Cut with sharp blade, perhaps many new plants, pot up in good soil or in ground, keep shaded initially and water well. Keep an eye on them!! They will tell you what they need.
Luck

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geraniums

I like the way you present information, but please make sure the ads do not block out the text.
Thanks

Rabbits chewing on my geraniums

The rabbits have started chewing on my geraniums they have chewed them almost to a point what do I do to stop them they were so beautiful now they look awful help please!

Geranium Help

Hi Cheryl,

To stop rabbits from eating your geraniums, surround the plants with 4-foot-high wire mesh or chicken wire fencing (1 foot buried underground, 3 feet above). Further disuade them from coming near by regularly applying powdered fox urine or blood meal at the fence’s edge. We hope this helps!

Leaf size on potted geraniums

Hello, I have two geraniums that I put in pots outside in May. When I purchased them the leaves were about 4 inches across. They are beautiful, look healthy, and are still blooming, but all of the new leaves are small-2" max. Is there a reason for this? The pots are larger than what they came in from the flower market. I live in Central KY which I believe is zone 6. They receive sun all morning until about 3 in the afternoon. Thanks

Small Leaves on Geraniums

It sounds like the geraniums may just need a bit more time to mature, but you may also consider applying a fertilizer to give them some extra help. Look for a 15-15-15 Geranium fertilizer and follow the instructions included.

geraniums

hello! Can you put a branch that broke off in jar of water to root it?