Saving Geraniums Over Winter in Pots

Question

If I do the geraniums over the winter in pots, do I water them periodically or just the one time when I cut them back and bring them indoors?

Answer 1

Water thoroughly after cutting back and then leave it alone, but periodically check the soil. If it gets rather dry, water it. You do not want it to dry out completely so water only as needed.

Answer 2

I just had to add my 2 cents…for years, I ‘wintered’ my geraniums by doing just as Nikki suggested & of course, I had beautiful blooms again the next summer. BUT,one year,my plants were so big & gorgeous it killed me to cut them back, etc…so I selected the biggest, hardiest pots & brought them inside for the late fall/winter. I did not cut back or anything – I was lucky to have a large window in my kitchen that always caught the sunlight even in depressing winter.(I lived in Chicago at the time!) So I kept these gorgeous plants alive all winter in the kitchen – they bloomed like crazy! And it was so uplifting to have such great color in the throes of winter….however, this is a cautionary tale as these plants grew and grew, till they finally looked like small bushes! once the Chicago deep freeze of spring was over, I put my beautiful full luscious geraniums back out on the patio but this time using 6ft stakes to keep them upright. I did this with the same plants for at least 4 years till I had to move back East! You cant imagine how large these once 10inch potted geraniums grew to be. After 2 yrs of this routine, the plants looked like small trees (with huge blooms!) – most folks could not believe they were geraniums. Of course, the trick is to have a sunny usable interior space to allow these flowering plants continuous growth, but it is so worth it if you can fanagle it. I watered the plants once aweek, gave them sun, & BAM! Instant summer in Winters’ death grip on the MidWest! Good Luck!