Just wondering, do you get freezes in Zone 9? If not, keep it growing outside. If you do, you could have it outside, bringing it in when a freeze is forecast. It's been quite a few years, but I lived in San Antonio for a few years, and remember there were winters that had very little freezing. Pelargoniums can take cool temps, but not freezing.

Here in Wisconsin, I keep mine out as long as possible by covering them with old blankets at night. Once the cooler temps are more regular, I bring them in for the winter. You might be able to keep yours out much, much more than us northern folks.

Piksi,
I agree, unless the weather approaches frost, the plant would benefit from being outside. To be on the safe side, you might keep it in the garage (not the house!) at night. If it gets real windy--take it in the garage. I would put it in a sunny place outside (not inside the house). Did the plant loose its leaves after a frost? If so, I would go ahead and use the new growth for a cutting. You might try to save the mother plant. Otherwise, I would trim all unhealthy growth, give it a good warm rinse, and then a bath in warm water with a little listerine or bleach added. Re-pot with some clean soil, and put into a very clean pot. Remove any flower buds as soon as you notice them. Hope your pretty plant comes back.
Pat

Thanks, ya'll for the help.

Pat, the plant started losing its leaves before frost, so it was looking badly even before winter.

It's been in the garage but gets sunlight daily when it's sunny. I've been checking on the moist almost daily.
Today is 45 degrees and sunny.

Have you rooted these before? Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, Pat, how do you give it a bath?

Thanks.

I agree, the garage is no place for a healthy plant.
The mushiness speaks of loss of sunlight and loss of nutrients as well as possibly the plant has been overwatered.

To encourage it to come back I would cut it back by 1/3...to 1/2...remove it from the pot, look at the roots, have you possibly overwatered and they are mushy themselves.

Spread the roots out, remove any that appear damaged, remove also any soil that clings to them and re-pot using fresh new potting soil or fresh soiless mix. Make sure the pot has good drainage and water it well.

Then give it the best sun you have indoors....a west or south exposure would be ideal.....east if yu have to....and north will not do. To help the plant avoid any harsh winds or other inclement weather, the indoor warmth should encourage new growth before long. If you wish to encourage root development, give your plant a smidgen of 10/52/10 fertilizer but otherwise, don't feed your plant until new growth is evident and then only at half-rate. Increase the fertilizer as the plant foliates...20/20/20....until it has grown sufficiently to promote flower buds when you can switch to 15/30/15.

Water it when the top 1" is dry to the finger...then water until drainage is seen in the saucer below...then dump the excess.

When you feel the weather outside is no danger to your plant then put it out there to enjoy all that California sunshine.

Mine are fine most years in this Z8 on a semi-protected porch. They have overhead protection, wall of house on the north side, glass wall to their west. Porch is open on two sides, and my geraniums easily take temperatures into the upper 20's, anything predicted lower than that and I cover them with old tableclothes.

I haven't covered them yet this year (we've had light snow), and I do see some foliage damage, but no real injury to the plants. I cut them back in early November by about 1/2 to keep them from being broken by windy coastal storms, and will cut them back even harder in early March. I water only occasionally, letting them become dry between waterings, and will begin to keep them more moist, plus start fertilizing with a water soluble fertilizer mixed half strength with the March pruning. Maybe I should mention these are in large 24" terra cotta pots.

I did lose 5 year old plants last winter to an ice storm, even though I'd covered them....the wind blew my coverings off overnight and the temperatures were just too harsh.

Hi Piksi,
About giving the Pelargonium a bath--rinse with a water that is at least room temp or slightly warmer. After you've rinsed off all the dirt, then just prepare a bath using a little lysol or bleach--1/2 teaspon or so to a quart of (at least) room temp. water. The idea is to cleanse the plant of anything that might be alive (fungi included); gently rub the stems and roots clean. Lay out on a paper towel and check the roots (like Diane suggested). Trim the plant real good. You can trim the roots--especially if you are trimming the top of the plant. This would be a good time to take your cuttings--(after a bath). If there aren't many roots--trim just a tiny bit. If the roots look real bad--you might as well take as many cuttings as you can and through the plant out--maybe trying to save the plant may give you some experience--that's mostly how I learn.

To plant a cutting--trim to a node, a 2" cutting. Be sure to keep track of which end is the 'down' end, as the down end is what gets stuck into the soil mix. Not everyone will allow the cutting to callus--but you can let the piece of cutting to sit for up to 24 hours to form a callus where it has been cut. If you allow your cutting to callus, you won't need to use a rooting compound (although it won't hurt if you do). If you don't let your cutting to callus, then you will be on the safe side if you dip your 'down' end of cutting in some rooting compound. Fungi is the killer you want your cutting not to get. Set your cutting into your soil or soiless mix. Only about a half inch or so needs to be above the soil/mix. What is important is that whatever you use, it needs to be sterile. Some people like to use sand because it doesn't seem to get fungi as easily. I don't like sand--that's just me. I like to use coarse Vermiculite and coarse Perlite--about equal parts. You may not be able to find the coarse varieties--that's ok. I use it because there isn't so much of the stuff that drifts in the air while I'm working with it and because it provides an airier mix. I like to dampen the mix before I plant the cutting--that way it's just right. If you are keeping your soil/mix just damp, you won't need a drain hole in your container--but I like to poke tiny, needle size holes in the sides of my styrofoam cups. It's not altogether necessary--I do that because that way I feel safer that the soil isn't staying too damp. A small container is good, like a 3 oz styrofoam cup. It is very important that the cutting get very good air circulation and be kept just a little damp--not wet. The cutting needs a warm environment and sunlight--but not direct sunlight. A bright window that has a sheer curtain is good. This time of year would be too cold to put a cutting in the garage or outside--that's because the cutting needs a soil that is warm enough. Because a damp, warm soil is just the place a fungi can grow well, you want to be sure to not be touching your soil or cutting. I use a clean toothpick to poke in the dirt if I want to check the dampness of the soil/mix.

There don't need to be any leaves on a cutting, but it's best that if there are leaves--they should be few (or one) that are young leaves. Several cuttings can be taken from the same stem.

If your Pelargonium has a fighting chance, taking a cutting can't hurt--in fact, it may help the plant if it gets trimmed.

I'll be thinking of you as I take my cuttings.
Pat

I'm kind of in a panic about my pelargonium, too. This one has been with me for probably five years, in the same pot - formerly shared with some of those silver-leafed plants (brocade?) but now on its own - and it was healthy as can be till this summer. I put it out on my balcony which faces south, so it gets plenty of sun. It's been unusually hot here in Chicago, so I watered it more frequently than usual. It's still got some blooms, but now it's gotten rather leggy, and this past week a bunch of leaves turned yellow (I picked them off). I'm afraid I overwatered it. After reading some of the other posts here I decided to hack at the more barren stems. I used two as cuttings and replanted them. I've had some success with two previous cuttings so hopefully these will thrive too, and I hope the main plant will regrow as well. Wish me luck. :)

My pelargoniums were out on the deck for one night of frost, and several apparently were badly frostbitten because their stems turned mushy. I cut back to the "solid" part of the stems, but the formerly solid parts are now turning mushy. What is the best thing to do? I now have them all indoors. Why do the prior postings all suggest repotting them when they come in?

Hello everyone,

I am new to gardening, new to the forum, and -- as you will see -- new to my nifty little Canon SD1100 IS.

I have a couple of rather unspecial (except to me) Geraniums in containers that I have enjoyed all summer. I'm reluctant to let them go and have been dragging them around my shady townhome site trying to catch a few rays from the low sun that is still mostly blocked by leaves that have not yet fallen. Also, have brought them inside during a couple of frosty nights, although the daytimes have been deliciously warm. As you will see in the photos, my red beauties seem to have gotten sick (although they still have many lovely blooms).

I am guessing that my problem is edema (a.k.a., corky scab) as my leaves somewhat resemble some online images I found of this condition. And "corky" certainly seems an apt description when you get in real tight, as in the second photo.

One thing that really struck me about these lesions is that often there appears to be somewhat of a circle of "blisters" with some more in the center. This is evident in the lower left area of the wide photo. Also, at about one o'clock from the lesions in the lower left, the same pattern is evident again. It is a little more subtle but the same pattern appears again in the upper left area of the photo. This seems to me so distinctive that I would have expected the discussion that I read of edema to comment on it, which it did not. So maybe I am on the wrong page.

I'd be very grateful if anyone could either confirm my guess or put me on the correct path.

(I came here to GardenWeb to post, because I have gotten somewhat familiar with the site from following the terrific container soils threads from tapla (Al). I am a little discouraged, though, that the forum does not seem well designed to draw attention to current and active discussions. My impression is that no one will see my plea for help except the small number of people who make a specific point of following the Geranium forum and scanning through the threads. This may be the elite of "Geranium people," but it seems to me that things here are overly categorized and walled off so that you don't get many eyeballs to justify putting much effort into a post. Maybe a post like mine just doesn't fit the template, and I should seek help some other way. I'd be glad to have feedback on other approaches or other places to put this kind of post. Thanks to all.)

My sickly Geraniums:

Detail:

I believe that I have located the cause of the problem plaguing my Geraniums in the photos above: Geranium rust.

Photos and details at http://www.bspp.org.uk/NDR/jan2008/2007-82.asp.

Really great photos showing the ant-hill-looking lesions were posted by someone on Flicker who was asking the same questions as me, http://www.flickr.com/photos/zosterops/2832681494/