How to Prune & Regrow Geraniums

Geraniums are a source of bright cheery blossoms all summer long, and there is no need for the first frost to just turn them into a pile of dead branches. Bring them indoors before the cold weather hits and prepare them for a new season indoors and, if you do it right, your geranium will not just make it through the winter, but into the next summer to start again. Even better, when you prune the plant after bringing it indoors, save the cuttings to increase your stock of the beautiful flowers.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• 8 oz. plant pot
• Peat moss
• Perlite
• Vermiculite
• Rooting hormone powder

1. Bring the plant inside before the first frost of the fall, while the nighttime temperatures are still in the 50s F.

2. Fill an 8 oz. plant pot half full with a mixture of dampened peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite. Remove half of the mixture to make room for the root mass of the geranium and then cover the roots with the removed half. Tamp the soil down lightly. Water it with about 4 oz. of water to settle the soil in around the roots.

3. Set the geranium in the sunniest window of the house. Rotate the plant a couple of times per week so that all the sides get some sunshine.

4. Prune the tips of the geranium branches every few weeks to encourage new buds and to help create thicker growth.

5. Take the trimmings of the plant and choose several 4-inch-long sections from the ends of the longest branches. Pull off the leaves from the bottom half of the cuttings. Set them in a cup of water. Place a spoonful of rooting hormone powder on a small plate and roll the bottom half of the cuttings in the powder. Stick them into a plant pot filled with the same mixture you used for the mother plant, sinking them down 2 inches deep.

6. Water the cuttings lightly and then place them in a plastic bag out of direct sunlight to root for the next month or two. Transplant them into individual 8 oz. plant pots when they have healthy roots and plenty of new growth.