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Overwintering Pelargonium Geraniums in the flat (in chilly Berlin)

Hey, Pelargonium Dad here - I want my babies to survive over winter! Problem is, I'm in a flat in Berlin without a shed or garage to store them.

My options:

- Store them in the cellar, but it will probably get to 0 degrees in there, and I'm not sure how dry it is.
- Leave some of them around the house as house plants (but this won't work for the huge planters).
- Store some of them on high shelves (but worried they'll be too warm, dry out, freak out).
- Wrap them in fleece on the balcony and hope for the best (least favourite, but most practical option).

It can get to -10 here, sometimes lower. So leaving them out on their own is not an option.

Some of them are also huge, but I'm reading that I should not trim them back! 

Any fellow Pelargonium Dads and Mums out there?

Posts

  • coccinellacoccinella Posts: 1,428
    You can move the pots in to the garage as they are, but I would prune at least a third off. Do not water until spring. Check them from time to time.
    Mine survive all winter in very little soil (I dig them out from the garden) in an underbalcony, cold but not freezing. 
    There are many videos on YouTube about pruning g and storing pelargonium. 

    Luxembourg
  • @coccinella … do you mean the cellar?  He doesn’t have a garage. 



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • coccinellacoccinella Posts: 1,428
    sorry yes.

    Luxembourg
  • If they were mine, I think I'd pot up some cuttings in gritty compost and keep them in the flat, as an insurance against the big ones not getting through the winter...
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • AuntyRachAuntyRach Posts: 5,291
    The cellar at 0 degrees is probably better than wet/snow/wind outside. Most of mine are by the back door (slightly undercover) and most survive - in fact some can look bare/dead but come back nicely.  Cuttings are a god idea, but they need shelter too - ideal for windowsills. 
    It’s always a gamble so I would make your peace with maybe loosing a few if Winter is harsh. 
    My garden and I live in South Wales. 
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