GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - What plant(s) are these? What do do with them?

dominic Lucas · 17-07-2007, 05:28 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

In article ,
(Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article . com,
" writes:
|
| My new greenhouse in France will be unheated in Winter I would imagine
| that would be too cold? The pots that I grow them in are huge and
| cannot be moved out of place, what can I do, can I take them up and if
| so what can I do to keep them safe, I have a cellar that is very cold
| but frostproof?

Take cuttings in summer. Like many plants from semi-arid temperate
areas, most pelargoniums can take a fair amount of cold if they are
kept fairly dry. I am by no means an expert, but have succeeded
fairly well with some of the scented ones by neglecting them :-)

Given their growth rate, a few reasonable plants overwintered in the
greenhouse when not too cold and the cellar when bitter would take
off as soon as it warms up. Again, please note my lack of expertise,
but I did achieve that with some.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Only thing I would add, is if you try the overwintering in newspaper
trick, make sure they stay dry! I've done this several times, and it is
successful, but if the plants/paper get damp, mould sets in. I have also
been told (but not tried it) that washing the plants before you put them
in paper reduces the risk of damp. I usually revisit them every few
weeks, and replace the newspaper.

I have also done the cutting thing, and made a paper cylinder to go
round the put before they go in the greenhouse, it seems to reduce the
risk of frostbite if the greenhouse dips below 0.

Currently without a greenhouse or pelargoniums, but I'm working on it ..

Hope that helps.

Dom