According to RHS, soft stemmed pelargoniums can't be stored in a semi
dormant state over winter, so presumably not much point in hanging them
upside down somewhere cool in the house.
The plan this year is to trim to 4", put them in smaller pots, and cover
the whole thing with 2-3 layers of bubble wrap. I'll close the top with
a peg but maybe leave a little space for ventilation. As my shed proved
too damp last year (I lost the lot), I'm thinking of leaving these
outdoors against a south facing wall.
Anyone got any bright ideas? I don't have a greenhouse or cold frame
BTW. Thanks for any suggestions

On Sep 18, 8:08*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-09-18 19:15:30 +0100, stuart noble said:

According to RHS, soft stemmed pelargoniums can't be stored in a semi
dormant state over winter, so presumably not much point in hanging them
upside down somewhere cool in the house.
The plan this year is to trim to 4", put them in smaller pots, and
cover the whole thing with 2-3 layers of bubble wrap. I'll close the
top with a peg but maybe leave a little space for ventilation. As my
shed proved too damp last year (I lost the lot), I'm thinking of
leaving these outdoors against a south facing wall.
Anyone got any bright ideas? I don't have a greenhouse or cold frame
BTW. Thanks for any suggestions

Would the usual suggestion of a spare room window sill or covered floor
be any good? * If you do leave them outdoors, can you make a frame of
e.g. bamboo canes and horti fleece and anchor it down so as to cover
them? *OR can you find some old, glazed window frames at a reclamation
site and prop those up on bricks to make a cold frame? I've done that
in the past - here in S Devon, admittedly - and it worked well.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

In my opinion if you just cover them with 3 layers of bubble wrap then
they will rot over the winter.
I'd take cuttings now, then when you can cover the cut back plants
with a good 12" of dry leaves, then cover with your bubble wrap.
You could take the cuttings 4 to a 42 pot and then over winter them in
a cool spare room, in good light but not close to a window unless you
put a couple of layers of bubble wrap between them and the glass.
In my youth when all parks grew their geraniums from cutings we used
to take them at the end of August/early Sept, then over winter under
cool glass, kept at around 45f.
OR
If you want to realy go back in time you could lift them and store
them in a clamp as they did potatoes, that is a layer of straw, then
layer the plants between further layers of straw, cover with a good 6
inches of straw then cover the whole lot with at least 6 inches of
soil, 12 is better, then leave till early spring.
David Hill

"stuart noble" wrote

According to RHS, soft stemmed pelargoniums can't be stored in a semi
dormant state over winter, so presumably not much point in hanging them
upside down somewhere cool in the house.
The plan this year is to trim to 4", put them in smaller pots, and cover
the whole thing with 2-3 layers of bubble wrap. I'll close the top with a
peg but maybe leave a little space for ventilation. As my shed proved too
damp last year (I lost the lot), I'm thinking of leaving these outdoors
against a south facing wall.
Anyone got any bright ideas? I don't have a greenhouse or cold frame BTW.
Thanks for any suggestions

Cut them back and either take these as cuttings or keep the old plant as it
will regrow or both. These would be better off being kept on a sunny
windowsill but away from any frost and hardly watered at all over winter. I
only water mine when they ask for some, they wilt a bit.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 18/09/2011 23:17, Bob Hobden wrote:
"stuart noble" wrote

According to RHS, soft stemmed pelargoniums can't be stored in a semi
dormant state over winter, so presumably not much point in hanging
them upside down somewhere cool in the house.
The plan this year is to trim to 4", put them in smaller pots, and
cover the whole thing with 2-3 layers of bubble wrap. I'll close the
top with a peg but maybe leave a little space for ventilation. As my
shed proved too damp last year (I lost the lot), I'm thinking of
leaving these outdoors against a south facing wall.
Anyone got any bright ideas? I don't have a greenhouse or cold frame
BTW. Thanks for any suggestions

Cut them back and either take these as cuttings or keep the old plant as
it will regrow or both. These would be better off being kept on a sunny
windowsill but away from any frost and hardly watered at all over
winter. I only water mine when they ask for some, they wilt a bit.

Alas I don't have a sunny window sill or a cool room (they're all heated
to 18 degsC). Last year I put the September cuttings near an east facing
window and one by one they keeled over and died (the thinnest first).

On 18/09/2011 20:08, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-09-18 19:15:30 +0100, stuart noble
said:

According to RHS, soft stemmed pelargoniums can't be stored in a semi
dormant state over winter, so presumably not much point in hanging
them upside down somewhere cool in the house.
The plan this year is to trim to 4", put them in smaller pots, and
cover the whole thing with 2-3 layers of bubble wrap. I'll close the
top with a peg but maybe leave a little space for ventilation. As my
shed proved too damp last year (I lost the lot), I'm thinking of
leaving these outdoors against a south facing wall.
Anyone got any bright ideas? I don't have a greenhouse or cold frame
BTW. Thanks for any suggestions

Would the usual suggestion of a spare room window sill or covered floor
be any good? If you do leave them outdoors, can you make a frame of e.g.
bamboo canes and horti fleece and anchor it down so as to cover them? OR
can you find some old, glazed window frames at a reclamation site and
prop those up on bricks to make a cold frame? I've done that in the past
- here in S Devon, admittedly - and it worked well.

Might be easier to make a frame with bricks and bubble wrap but, from
what Dave says, stopping them rotting will be the difficult part. I can
keep the rain off but condensation is more difficult. The straw/dry
leaves idea is interesting because it would insulate and absorb moisture
at the same time.

On 19/09/2011 10:55, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-09-19 10:10:48 +0100, stuart noble
said:

On 18/09/2011 23:17, Bob Hobden wrote:
"stuart noble" wrote

According to RHS, soft stemmed pelargoniums can't be stored in a semi
dormant state over winter, so presumably not much point in hanging
them upside down somewhere cool in the house.
The plan this year is to trim to 4", put them in smaller pots, and
cover the whole thing with 2-3 layers of bubble wrap. I'll close the
top with a peg but maybe leave a little space for ventilation. As my
shed proved too damp last year (I lost the lot), I'm thinking of
leaving these outdoors against a south facing wall.
Anyone got any bright ideas? I don't have a greenhouse or cold frame
BTW. Thanks for any suggestions

Cut them back and either take these as cuttings or keep the old plant as
it will regrow or both. These would be better off being kept on a sunny
windowsill but away from any frost and hardly watered at all over
winter. I only water mine when they ask for some, they wilt a bit.

Alas I don't have a sunny window sill or a cool room (they're all
heated to 18 degsC). Last year I put the September cuttings near an
east facing window and one by one they keeled over and died (the
thinnest first).

I'd still urge you to go to a reclamation site or tip and get hold of
some blocks or baulks of timber and some old windows. After all, this
would be something you could use year after year, not just as a one-off.

I don't actually have room for a cold frame believe it or not :-)
Out of interest, I assume said structure shouldn't be in direct
sunlight? I have distant memories of things baking, even in mid winter.
I'm going to have a think about other uses I could put it to but, right
now, I'm struggling to think of any

In article , Sacha
writes
OR can you find some old, glazed window frames at a reclamation site
and prop those up on bricks to make a cold fram


Or a plastic box? With brick on top?
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article , Sacha
writes
I'd still urge you to go to a reclamation site or tip and get hold of
some blocks or baulks of timber and some old windows. After all, this
would be something you could use year after year, not just as a one-off.


Might this work for agryanthemums Sacha?

On 19/09/2011 14:08, Janet Tweedy wrote:
In article , Sacha
writes
OR can you find some old, glazed window frames at a reclamation site
and prop those up on bricks to make a cold fram


Or a plastic box? With brick on top?

Or even a polystyrene box for extra insulation. IIRC fishmongers throw
these out.

"stuart noble" wrote

Bob Hobden wrote:
"stuart noble" wrote

According to RHS, soft stemmed pelargoniums can't be stored in a semi
dormant state over winter, so presumably not much point in hanging
them upside down somewhere cool in the house.
The plan this year is to trim to 4", put them in smaller pots, and
cover the whole thing with 2-3 layers of bubble wrap. I'll close the
top with a peg but maybe leave a little space for ventilation. As my
shed proved too damp last year (I lost the lot), I'm thinking of
leaving these outdoors against a south facing wall.
Anyone got any bright ideas? I don't have a greenhouse or cold frame
BTW. Thanks for any suggestions

Cut them back and either take these as cuttings or keep the old plant as
it will regrow or both. These would be better off being kept on a sunny
windowsill but away from any frost and hardly watered at all over
winter. I only water mine when they ask for some, they wilt a bit.

Alas I don't have a sunny window sill or a cool room (they're all heated to
18 degsC). Last year I put the September cuttings near an east facing
window and one by one they keeled over and died (the thinnest first).

You probably watered them too much considering they had cool/cold nights on
the windowsill when the heating went off. They are almost desert plants so
keep them almost dry in winter.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

In article , Sacha
writes
He also suggests using a bit of old carpet or something of that sort to
cover the glass


Oh well that's me out then I use mine to cover the floor!
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On 21/09/2011 00:34, Janet Tweedy wrote:
In article , Sacha
writes
He also suggests using a bit of old carpet or something of that sort
to cover the glass


Oh well that's me out then I use mine to cover the floor!

In the end I decided to buy a cheap plastic cold frame from Argos. Well,
£30 for a few bits of plastic isn't cheap, but nor were the d-i-y
alternatives. I'm using it as a base to which I'll add copious amounts
of bubble wrap. This will obviously reduce light levels, but hopefully
keep the inside above freezing. I may have to just drape it over the
outside, as there's no way of fixing it on the inside. Ah well, it'll be
an interesting experiment