I grew up in Munich, Germany, and I remember we had potatoes, apples,and coal in the basement,(which was really a cellar for storage) as well as geraniums hanging upside-down on a string. There just was no other way to keep them. My mother would just brush off the dried leaves in the springtime, and plant them in her flower boxes on the terrace. Soon you could see new shoots coming up, growing into beautiful plants. My mother won prizes with her geraniums. I remember she fed them with blood meal. Temperatures? I have no idea. There is snow and ice in Munich in the winter, but a basement would offer some sort of warmth, I'm sure. It was dark and cool. I know it works. Good luck! Ingrid

So, these 20 plants have been kept going since last fall--having brought them in before being touched by frost; they've been put into a sunny window---and pretty soon, the sun values have dwindled to the point the plants have been given hardly any sun at all---such is winter---and the plants cant possibly keep growing like they do in summer. They get gangly....the stems are weak....the leaves don't have the greeness they usually do and the whole plant suffers. You cant feed them...they're not growing anything to feed. You water them as much as they use it...which isn't much..since they are not putting on new foliage. The bloom takes a lot out of the plant and the plant loses vigor. Question: What do we usually do to push a plant to grow new leaves?............I think you know! Cut it back. The roots will have less to feed and will begin growing new leaves. Give it good light......south or west exposure is ideal. East if you have to........and north just wont do... do what you must but give it more, increased sun. Don't fertilize....until new foliage is well along. Then feed about every third or fourth watering with 20/20/20 liquid fertilizer. Water it well ---to the point it drains out the bottom...dump the excess....and allow the plant to dry down between waterings. Pretty soon new leaves will emerge and within a couple of weeks, it should be well along on its way to good health. May I suggest next year, instead of keeping the plants going all winter....that you allow ten of them to just be put into a cold room....a coldcellar...or anywhere they can be put so as to not freeze...and let them sleep the winter away dry as a bone...never being allowed any water at all...put in darkness, never being disturbed...until NOW...this time next year...mid February, when you bring them out, cut them back, repot them, water them and give them the best window you can. They'll reward you with increased vigor of bloom and growth. OK, so you don't have those 10 plants giving you bloom thru part of the winter.....big deal! You get them back in the spring...bigger and better than ever before.

Gopi, the hardest thing to come by is the cool place to store your geraniums. Not many modern homes have such a place-- a place where the heat put out by the furnace doesn't access. Some basements might have a corner that is not as warm but far from cool. I'm fortunate in that respect because I have a coldcellar--a place much like what farmers have--a fruitcellar--where products are stored over winter for sale in the spring. I put my preserves there on shelves and in-between put the upside down hanging geraniums. I place a plastic sheet on the floor to catch the debris--and there's lots of that when you go retrieve them. Cool is a place where the temperature is not much above 50º- 55º. Any warmer than that might initiate growth. Light too, if in such mild area, will encourage development. Unfortunately, the growth is slow and doesn't do the plant justice--it is weak and any leaves that might form anew are weak and unable properly to draw light and moisture. You might be encouraged to think the plant, even as dormant as it is, needs some water--it doesn't. Water only causes moisture to hang around. Mildew is often the result. No, the plant ideally is taken out of the ground in the fall and not see light, or water again until we wish it to grow and foliate out like it did the previous summer. February --the ides of March...that is the time that there is sufficient sunlight to encourage developing new leaves. Most plants are not like this---they are unable to be renewed. But geranium is in a class by itself--with a few other exceptions-- like pansy--they can be renewed simply by giving them what is needed....warmth, light, and water. If you cant provide the coolness needed, then don't attempt to do the above--it will only cause disappointment when the plant cant do what it needs to do. Instead, do what you have been doing, keeping the plant going as long as you can through winter, enjoying what bloom it does provide and then, if you can bring it to February or March, then do the cutting back at that time. It should do as well.

There are several ways to overwinter geraniums. The easiest is to bring them inside and put them on a window sill. Cut them back so they are not trying to support so much foliage. If you want, root the cuttings in water over the winter. I feed mine all winter to bring on some cheer in the winter months but you dont need to by any means. Keep them on the dry side. If you dont want the whole plant in the window, take cuttings from the mother and either root them in water or put them in a small pot with some potting soil and put that in the window and root them. Take the mother plant out of her pot pull off all the soil and let her dry like that for a day or so. Dust the roots with sulphur to prevent fungus and put the whole plant in a paper bag in a place that does not get too cold, the back of the garage (against the house) is usually a good place and leave until spring. Plant her again in spring and feed as usual. You 'should' get the plant back again, but no guarantees. The cuttings on the other hand should fill in just fine. Good luck. Kat