Learn how to grow geranium indoors, growing geranium as a houseplant will allow you to have them year round. Check out!
Love geraniums? That’s good! Now you might be asking– Is it possible to grow geraniums indoors? Definitely yes, although growing geranium indoors is not as easy as other houseplants. There are some basic key requirements and geranium care information you need to know.
As you know geraniums (Pelargonium) are not winter hardy in cold climate, the best way to grow them year-round is to grow them indoors.
Choosing a type of geranium you want to grow
Choose healthy geranium plants from a nearby nursery. Look out for your favorite flower colors and scents. Also, remember some of the geranium cultivars never bloom and grown for their fragrant leaves only. Mother Earth Living has good information on geranium varieties you can grow indoors.
Requirements for Growing Geranium Indoors
Location
Geraniums love the sun and don’t mind drenching in sunlight for long hours. Therefore, if your room has a South or West facing window, place them there. Even when grown indoors geranium requires exposure to direct sun in order to thrive and bloom.
If you can’t keep the geranium near a sunny window use 40-watt supplemental fluorescent tube lighting fixed 12 inches over the plants for minimum 14 hours each day to help them growing.
Soil
Don’t forget, the right soil is the key! Avoid soil that blocks the drainage holes. Use soilless potting mix. Don’t use garden soil, the texture of soil should be well-drained and loamy.
Watering
Here comes the most important part, proper watering ensures whether your geranium plant will live or die. As we know geranium is a drought-tolerant plant, it doesn’t require regular watering. Water only when the soil seems dry. Avoid overwatering!
Temperature
Avoid placing your geranium plants in cold, hot or drafty spots. Geranium adjusts well to room temperature if it is warm. However, during the day the temperature around 65 to 70 F and around 55 F at night are optimum.
Indoor Geranium Plant Care
Fertilizer
During the growing season fertilize every month using half strength all purpose liquid fertilizer for optimum growth. Instead, you can use slow release fertilizer as well.
Pinching and Pruning
To have a bushy, well-branched indoor geranium plant, remove the tips occasionally. Also, you can prune or cut the stems to get the desired shape.
Overwintering
As geraniums are not winter hardy it is important that you keep them away from drafts and too much cold. Also, watering must be reduced too!
Pests and Diseases
Overwatering can cause root rot, wetting the leaves while watering leads to fungal infection. In pests, mites, mealybugs, and aphids can be a problem.
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I have had my geranium for 3 yrs now. I bring it inside in winter and back out in warm spring. It flowers all year long.
I just acquired a Geranium that someone was throwing away, I hate when I see a perfectly good plant that maybe was neglected some thrown out. I took all that was brown off. But its a large Geranium, it has flowers on it and more buds have opened. Can I turn it into a inside plant? Re-pot to larger pot I think also might help it?
I have a geranium tree that was given to me about 2 years ago, it’s about 5 ft. tall, we have some brutal winters here in BC, this winter the tree has started to drop good green leaves, I think that I should cut it back but I think that spring is the right time. I’m worried that it might dies before spring, it looks healthy but everyday there’s a leaf or two that have fallen off, I’m trying not to water it too much and I also read that fertilizer might not be such a good thing every time that I water it. As you can see I really don’t know too much about this plant, the more I read the more confused I get… HELP
Light Temperature: Bright light is essential to keep geraniums in flower throughout the year. South- and west-facing windowsills are the best locations for geraniums, especially during the winter months. If strong, natural light is not available in the home, artificial light is acceptable. Satisfactory results can be obtained if the plants are placed 12 inches beneath a 40-watt, daylight, cool fluorescent bulb for 16 hours each day. Temperatures during the day of 65 to 70 ?F and around 55 ?F at night are ideal. Avoid placing geraniums in cold, hot or drafty areas.
Live in a cold winter climate. Have been bringing in the same ( 25+) geranium plants inside for over 20 years.
Cut them back & put in fresh soil in the fall. Over the next few weeks there will be leaves that yellow so you will have to cut away. Not too much water, but don’t let them dry up completely. I keep them close to window (south facing). They bloom all winter. Keep nipping the blooms once flower is full. By March they’re like a Jungle in my windowed areas. BY early April I move them to my covered porch, conditioning them to the cooler air. By early May they are in the ground. Usually look a bit sad for a week or so but soon regain. As stated before, have been circulating the same plants this way for over 20 yrs.
They seem to thrive in a bed of Petunias &/or lobelias surrounding them.
Help ! I got some geraniums plants that smell so good and the color of their flower are beautiful , but I noticed that their leaves are getting holes in it . So I moved the soil and found some bright color green worms ! What can I used to kill those pesky bugs and , also what kind fertilizing can I used on them please !!
HOW FAR DOWN DOES ONE PRUNE GERANIUMS. SOME STEMS ARE 8 INCHES LONG AND STEMS APPEAR FROM THAT LONG STEM. DO I PUT STEM IN WATER TO PROMOTE ROOTS TO PUT IN POTS>
THANKS SO MUCH. SUSAN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
B
ok. Susan