Good (late) morning Kossacks of the Green Thumb!
I looked for the (usual?) Saturday morning garden blogging post, but did not find it. The Good Lord helps those... so I decided to start a thread.
(edit: BillW sent me the good link in the body below, also changing the diary title so as not to offend the purists. Admittedly, I did not look hard enough for the Sat. Morn Garden Blog.)
Mainly to ask some questions about winter indoor convalescing and propagating flowers.
So, I will start with posting my geranium processes, and ask questions about Gerber Daisies. Follow me over the jump to find out about or try to help with anything and everything listed below. (Gee, aren't you curious now?)
(Thanks to BillW who sent me the good link.)
Getting ready for a new arrival at SS's house, and the little boy should be along about middle February. I wanted to celebrate his arrival with some flowering plants in the house, as well as get the home flowering right after early Spring hits. (The country I come from is called the MidWest.)
First, let me offer my process for getting geraniums passive and active over the winter months:
A. The passive option (Zombie Geraniums):
Dig up your geraniums. Even if they have gotten smacked by frost, I have had some success (partial not complete) with this method. Be careful with the root ball, but you don't need to be extremely careful. Geraniums are hardy, and store a considerable amount of chemical energy in their main stems. We are going to utilize this trait for purposes of creating zombie geraniums next spring.
Carefully remove the excess dirt from the root ball. What you are trying to do is to expose the roots, and get rid of the dirt (which will hold moisture and encourage rot). Once you have done this, take the plant, put it upside down into a paper sack. Store it in a cool, dry place -- until Spring. Then plant it (some bone meal at the bottom of the hole will help encourage good early root growth in the flowering season), in some well-drained soil and give it a good drink of water.
In several days, you should see some new green growth as your zombie geranium returns to life, and gets a huge head start on other paltry mortal geranium peers. This technique results in significantly larger plants earlier in the season, with more blooms. If you keep dead-heading (removing) the blooms (and their stalks), the plant will bloom constantly until (just after) the first light frosts of next fall.
B. The active option (Clone Wars Geraniums):
This option can be used if you have a little plant care center set up in your house for the winter months. I have a set of full-spectrum 4' florescent banks suspended beneath my workshop counter. Under these sit my various flora charges: Bonsai, geraniums, starts, etc. I do spend money on the electricity to power my care center, but it can be therapeutic to have lush green (some flowering) plants in your company during the winter months.
Geraniums (in my opinion) propagate very easily. There are some things you will need to help yourself here. First, growing medium. I like using a mix of 1 part vermiculite : 1 part pearlite : 2 parts spagnum or peat moss. This is a soilless way of doing it, but if you are concerned about cuttings drying out, mix in 10% or so potting soil. Get yourself some rooting hormone (Dip n' Grow works good), and look on the plant for stem tips, with several nodes you can use.
Nodes are found at the segmented stem edges. Meaning, every place where a branch, or leaf meets the stem, or another branch, that is a node. They are important in that new stems and leaves come from these areas alone. No other place on the plant. When you strip the excess leaves and stems off of the cutting, and dip the stem in water and then rooting hormone, the new roots will come out of these nodes. You want at least 2 (preferably three) nodes that are coated with rooting hormone, and beneath the soil line when you stick it in a pot (or seedling containers). You want to cut off all except 2 or 3 leaves (small ones, no bigger than a 50-cent piece if you can avoid it), any flower stalks, flowers, etc.
Then, you will want to give the plant a good misting (with a squeeze bottle) and straight water. You will want to continue this form of watering for a few weeks, twice a day (more depending upon how dry you keep your house). It will take some time, and some leaves may die, and some will yellow, but the plant will take the stored energy in the stem, and use it to create new leaf sets and new growth.
I get myself set up, and do a little plastic six-pack at a time. That way you are likely to get at least 3 good plants from 6 attempts. These little packs make great Spring gifts. You can give your friends and family a set of flowering plants, ready to put in the ground, or another container.
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Gerber Daisy question:
I dug up my sister's nicely sized and quite healthy Gerber Daisies. I know that these are an annual, but I think I might be able to clean them off, attempt to split them like hostas, and then see if I can get them to put on new growth. I have experience with regenerating annuals, at least for another season, so I am tempted to see if I can hack the daisies for next year.
Does anyone out in Kossackland have any experience with trying to winter-over Gerber Daisies, and if so, what kind of luck did you have, and how did you go about it?
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Thanks for reading and hope this helps anyone who is interested. So, if you read all this, and aren't interested in either the info or the question, what are you doing with green and growing (maybe hibernating) things this fine day?
Peace and Plants,
- SS