Hi, I really can't say for sure w/out seeing the plant. But there are a few reasons plants become leggy rather than full. One being, they are too far away from the light. The stems are reaching for the light and b/c it is too far away for the plant to benefit from it, there is very little growth in the leaves. Another one is lack of fertilizer. Plants need food to be healthy. If light isn't the cause, try pinching off the tips of the stems that are leggy. And if there is any new growth, as in leaves, cut them off. This will encourage the roots to produce more foliage from the soil line. I'm sure others will jump in and give more usefull advise. Hope this helps. . . Maid~

Cague, you don't say where it is you live...so let's assume its a zone 5 or 6 area and you cant grow your pelargoniums outside year round but must bring them inside before being hit by frost. Forty plants...that's a lot of color...a lot of plants to deal with. You'd have to have the space indoors to properly keep them going through winter. What is more important is the sunlight that the plants must have and round about mid October through until mid February, the sun's values are much diminished. So that brings about how to save them. The usual method of cutting them back prior to bringing them in and placing them in the best window you have...south, east or west is OK....north...wont do. Keep them going as they will and let them grow until you can use them for cuttings. Or take cuttings right away. If placed in smaller pots (3-4") after dividing, they are kept going until new roots and new leaves form when you can then re-pot into larger pots...(5") I keep thinking 40 plants...divided...so that's at least 80....80 pots in windows...and more if you take cuttings. The method of placing them in a cool basement is not available for you. Let's assume your garage is attached to the house. The wall next to the house can be 3 - 5 degrees not so cold as the space outwards. If you have a shelf there...it'd have to a big shelf for 40 plants. Boxes....cardboard boxes into which you place styrofoam on the sides and bottom, Then place your plants into...then surround with styrofoam, peat moss, sand or vermiculite. It must stay dry.....dry, cool and dark. Around the box you place a large plastic garbage bag...enveloping the whole box...then surround that with burlap. This should be sufficient to keep the plants from being touched by frost. The plants must be in a dry state before going into such plastic bag. Moist plants, placed in a closed bag (especially plastic) will certainly be in jeopardy due to mildew and/or mold. Further, you can arrange a light bulb...s bare light bulb above the box/es to turn on at night during the coldest times. This can keep the area warm enough to shrug off any inteseness of cold. This sounds to me like a lot of work for all 40 plants...but if you can provide for them, you should be able to bring them back for next spring. Mid-Febraury, the sun begins its travel back and this is the time growth can be initiated. The plants would come out of hibernation and, cut back, re-potted in fresh potting soil, watered and given the best sun. They then go back outside when you plant your annuals.

Poodlepro's advice is what works for me too. In summer, in fact, I've been known to break a piece off, stick it in the ground, maybe water it, maybe not. And, voila, they survive and thrive! I haven't tried the water method. I don't use rooting hormone. Well, I did use it twice, with terrible results. For the seeds, you should just be able to collect them into paper envelopes. I have a bunch I collected into a pie tin last autumn, am going to try sowing them now. (Winter sowing- my first.) Also will try sowing some in my cool sunroom. But haven't grown pellies from seed before, so I'm winging it. For a couple of years, I've taken cuttings of my pellies in the fall, grown them in the cool sunroom over the winter. But this last season, they got rust really badly, so I really reduced the stock, and am being vigilant for signs of rust. They got the rust after being moved outside in spring. Very wet year here. Everything had fungus, rust, yuck! Good luck with yours.

BOILING WATER WORKS! I am just reading how to get rid of red geranium stain since I just got done making a mess of my white linen shirt and khaki capris thinking that I wouldn't get them stained just by cutting a few flowers. Wrong! I first tried cold water, no luck. Then I tried "Dawn", no luck. Then laundry detergent, no luck. I then "googled" the problem for a solution. I read "music teacher's" hint and I doubted it because I always heard that heat sets the color not remove it. At this point I had nothing to lose. I couldn't believe it! It worked like magic. Wished I had tried that first thing.