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| Saving plants over the Winter, etc.; My Garden Experiments | |
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| Topic Started: Oct 18 2015, 05:33 AM (231 Views) | |
| Olive Oil | Oct 18 2015, 05:33 AM Post #1 |
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Gold Star Member
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I am trying two experiments this year. It involves very little labor and I hope at least to be partially successful. I am wrapping geraniums, spikes, and some perennial herbs in newspapers after digging them up and shaking off most of the dirt. Then I'm placing them in one large compost paper bag which I will hang in a dark part of the basement . Every spring I spend quite a few dollars replacing these plants. If they die, nothing lost. I can't put plants in pots in the basement to overwinter as my cats will eat them and get sick. I'm also experimenting with my compost makers, by putting a little squirt of hot sauce on each addition. I hope to deter critters. I have also been emptying my vacuum bag and any combings from my two cats into the mix. This seems to work. I don't use enough hot sauce to deter bacteria growth. It's a good way to use up hot sauce, purchased but not liked. |
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| campy | Oct 18 2015, 07:31 AM Post #2 |
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Handyman Extraordinaire
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That will work as long as they are dry when put away or they will rot. I used to overwinter dahlias by wrapping the tubers in newspapers and replant them in the spring. Never failed for me. |
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| Olive Oil | Oct 18 2015, 11:30 AM Post #3 |
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Gold Star Member
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Thanks for reminding me that they should be dry. I hope we have a warm dry day and I can spread them out to dry. I think I paid 3.99 each for the spikes this year which was terrible. I ended up buying a few fake ones from the dollar store. |
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| campy | Oct 18 2015, 11:39 AM Post #4 |
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Handyman Extraordinaire
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Wrap them individually if you can because that way if one goes bad it won't affect the others. |
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| haili | Oct 18 2015, 11:44 AM Post #5 |
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Gold Star Member
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My red geraniums from last year are big and beautiful but I think I'll leave them outside this year and then toss them out. I cut them right back last year and left them in their pots where they stayed in front of an upstairs window until the weather warmed up in the spring. They didn't look that great for a month or so but then they perked up and they seem to love the colder fall weather. This year I brought in an oval planter of succulents and a pot with white geranium, coleus and spider plants which I plan to split up next spring and plant elsewhere. |
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| campy | Oct 18 2015, 11:49 AM Post #6 |
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Handyman Extraordinaire
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Geraniums are very tender. They wouldn't last ten minutes in my area. |
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| haili | Oct 19 2015, 12:16 AM Post #7 |
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Gold Star Member
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I've had geraniums last well into Nov. and mine are still looking great after the frost last night. Sometimes after hard frosts spoil the outer leaves they can still be saved if you cut them back and bring them in. Plants that size cost about $30 each in the spring at garden centres but after two or three years I think it's time to let them go. |
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| margrace | Oct 19 2015, 01:26 AM Post #8 |
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Gold Star Member
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I had good luck in rooting some cutting s last spring but I do find I like to keep some of them over the winter, I have a lighting system in the basement and a big window down there facing south. |
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| Trotsky | Oct 19 2015, 01:27 AM Post #9 |
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Big City Boy
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I kept my geraniums going for years outside on a Juliette type balcony 8 months of the year and inside on a sunny windowsill for winter. They bloomed less in winter and I cut back the watering by half. But they were the hardier old red variety, none of the fancier new hybrids.
Edited by Trotsky, Oct 19 2015, 01:28 AM.
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| erka | Oct 19 2015, 07:58 AM Post #10 |
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Gold Star Member
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In the 50's, I remember neighbours would cut back the geraniums (to bare stumps) and have the plants on the window sills (indoors) over winter. These red geraniums would bloom year after year. |
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