Grow Geranium Indoors Year Round with Never Ending Blooms

Learn How to Grow Geranium Indoors year-round for the display of colorful blooms throughout the seasons in your home.

Love geraniums? That’s great! You might be wondering: can you grow them indoors? The answer is yes! While it’s possible, growing geraniums indoors can be a bit more challenging compared to other houseplants. However, with the right care and attention, they can thrive beautifully inside your home.

Geraniums, also known as Pelargonium, aren’t winter-hardy in cold climates. If you want to enjoy these lovely plants year-round, the best option is to keep them indoors. Let’s explore some essential tips for growing and caring for geraniums indoors!

How to Propagate Geraniums

In spring or summer, take cuttings from the new growth of plants that were kept indoors over the winter. You can also take cuttings in late summer if you prefer!

Cut right below the third node! Remove any flower buds forming. Using clean secateurs, trim the leaves so only the top two remain. Then, make a fresh cut at the base of the cutting just below the lowest joint.

Fill a pot with light seed starting mix and press your cuttings down gently. Place the pot in a warm and bright area, but not too hot. If you’re taking cuttings from different varieties, be sure to label the pot.

Container Size

Start seedlings in 4-6 inch pots to help their roots grow strong. For mature geraniums, use 8-12-inch pots to give the roots space to spread. Make sure the pots have drainage holes to prevent root rot and keep the plants healthy.

Types of Geranium

Start by choosing healthy geranium plants from a local nursery. Look for flowers in your favorite colors and leaves with great scents. Keep in mind that some geranium varieties don’t bloom at all—they are grown just for their wonderfully fragrant leaves.

• Zonal geraniums, also known as common geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum), often have unique leaf patterns. These can include tri-colored leaves, silver leaves, foliage with white markings, and other fancy types. Their flowers usually come in shades of pink, red, or white.
• Ivy-leafed geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum) have a trailing growth habit and leaves that look like ivy. They are often used in hanging baskets and window boxes.
• Martha Washington geraniums (Pelargonium x domesticum) are often sold by florists in winter as flowering potted plants. They don’t handle heat well and aren’t as suitable for outdoor growing in summer in hot climates as common geraniums. Check out more geranium varieties here.
  

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Requirements for Growing Geranium Indoors

Location

Geraniums need exposure to direct sunlight to bloom all year round. The best spots for them are south or west-facing windowsills. If you have a balcony or sunroom, you can grow them there as well.

If natural light is not strong enough at home, you can use artificial light. Place the plants 12 inches below a 40-watt daylight fluorescent bulb and keep the light on for 16 hours daily for good results.

Soil

Use a potting mix that drains well and is rich in organic matter with a neutral pH. A good soil combination could be equal parts of garden soil, peat moss, coarse sand, or perlite.

You can also use a commercial soil blend, which can work well. You might need to try a few different mixes to find the one that works best for your growing conditions.

Note: Geraniums grow best in soil with a pH between 5.8 and 6.5. If the pH drops below 5.5, many hybrid geraniums may not flower well, and their leaves can develop brown spots; acidic soil can also cause problems like iron and manganese toxicity, making the plants unhealthy.

Watering

Check your plant every 2-3 days to make sure it has enough moisture. Geraniums do well when the soil dries out a bit between waterings. Water the plant enough so that some water drains from the bottom of the pot.

Only water when needed, and check the soil for dryness by sticking your finger in it; if it feels dry, it’s time to water the plant.

Temperature

Avoid placing your geraniums in cold, hot, or drafty areas. They thrive in a warm room temperature, with the ideal daytime range being 65 to 70 F (18-21 C) and around 55 F (13 C) at night.

If you want your geraniums to perform better, try not to expose them to temperatures below 40 F (4 C) and above 85 F (30 C).

Indoor Geranium Plant Care

Fertilizer

To help your indoor geraniums grow and bloom well, feed them during their active growing season, usually from spring to early fall. Use a balanced liquid fertilizer with a formula like NPK 10-10-10 or 20-20-20. If you want your geraniums to bloom beautifully, choose a fertilizer with more phosphorus, like 10-20-10.

Mix it at half strength (as per the package instructions) to avoid over-fertilizing, which can harm your plant. Apply the fertilizer once a month to moist soil to prevent root burn.

In winter, when geraniums naturally slow down, reduce feeding to every 6-8 weeks if you live in a moderate climate, stop altogether in cold climates as they don’t need extra nutrients during their resting period.

Pinching and Pruning

Start pinching your geraniums in spring and occasionally when the plant is young. Pinch the top growing tips to help the plant grow sideways and give it a fuller and bushier appearance.

To pinch, hold the stem tip with 2-3 leaves between your fingers and gently twist it off just above a leaf node. Repeat every few weeks as the plant grows!

Remove the tips occasionally to have a bushy, well-branched indoor geranium plant. Also, you can prune or cut the stems that are not getting light or restricting the air circulation to get the desired shape and structure.

Overwintering

Geraniums cannot handle frost, so you’ll need to bring them indoors before temperatures drop below freezing. To overwinter them, dig up large garden plants before the first frost, which typically occurs when temperatures fall below 32°F (0°C).

Replant them in pots that are big enough for their roots. Check for signs of insects or disease, and discard any unhealthy plants. Trim the plants to one-third of their size and place them in a sunny window, ideally in a room with a temperature above 55°F (13°C).

Alternatively, take cuttings in the fall, pot them, and keep these smaller plants on a windowsill in a warm spot during winter. Once temperatures consistently stay above 50°F (10°C) in the spring, you can replant them in your garden or continue growing them in pots.

Pests and Diseases

Overwatering and high humidity can cause edema, which shows up as small, corky spots on the leaves. To fix this, water should be less without overhead watering and more light should be provided.

Botrytis blossom blight can appear in cool, damp conditions, making flowers fade and dry out quickly.

Remove fading flowers right away and ensure good air circulation. Common pests to watch include mealybugs, caterpillars, mites, whiteflies, and aphids.

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