Growing Geraniums from Root Cuttings

When ready to plant, cut off the lower leaves, allowing but two or three to each cutting. Also pull off the little wings on the stem, since they are inclined to rot. Dip stem ends in hydrated lime to prevent decay and then insert about halfway, in a flat or large pot of pure sand or a mixture of sand and peat moss. With geraniums, rooting powders are hardly necessary.

When cuttings develop inch-long roots, they are ready for spacing out in another flat or for separate planting in 2½-inch pots. Fill with a mixture of three parts sandy loam and one part peat moss or leaf mold. After planting, keep in the shade for the first few days, and bring indoors before cold weather.

When the separated cuttings have developed strong root systems, shift to 3½- or 4-inch pots. Use the same potting mixture as before, with bone meal added. Later as established plants begin to grow, feed periodically with a high phosphorous fertilizer, as 5-10-5 or 4-12-8.

To keep plants bushy and to encourage branching  pinch while small, starting when they are three to four inches high. Provide sunny windows, and keep turning pots to prevent lopsided growth. Water regularly, but allow soil to dry out just a little between applications. Above all, do not permit pots to stand in water, but set them on pebbles spread out in the saucers. Best growing temperatures are 60 to 70 degrees F. by day, no higher, with a ten degree drop at night, though this is not always possible in the average home.

If you wish, you can hold onto your original plants and winter them indoors. Cut back tops to 6 or 8 inches, and if containers are not too enormous, place them in a sunny house or a well-lighted cellar window. The important thing in winter is to grow old plants cool, at about 50 degrees F., and to water sparingly to encourage rest.
Plants may also be wintered in cool cellars with little light. Remember only that the less light, the cooler the temperatures should be. This is because too much warmth and insufficient light cause lanky growth that undermines vigor.

In late winter or early spring, if old plants are growing in strong light, take cuttings for young plants to use outdoors, rooting by the method described. Or if you prefer, when weather permits, cut back your old plants, repot them in fresh soil and set outdoors. Many gardeners find this method successful, and it does provide big specimens Growers of geraniums often ask whether plants can be lifted in fall and stored by hanging upside down in cellar or basements.

This was possible in old-fashioned cellar with dirt floors and without central heating units; but it is not possible in modern basements, which are warm, dry and well insulated. Gardeners with cellars or sheds when temperatures remain above freezing, can winter geraniums this way. The dead-looking sticks, set out in pots or in the garden in warm weather, will astound you when they develop into glorious flowering specimens. The fact that geraniums, under certain conditions, can be wintered without soil is certainly proof of their toughness.

Keeping Tuberous Begonias In The Shade

Tubers can be held over from year to year if stored properly during the winter. In fall in cold areas, frosts will blacken the foliage, but in warmer regions the need for rest will be indicated by yellowing without actual frost. Usually this occurs in October, when it is advisable to withhold water. After frost kills tops or they turn yellow, lift plants carefully with a spading fork so as not to injure them. Then, with the tops attached, spread the tubers in the sun for a few hours to dry. After the drying period, cut off tops; but if a portion of stem remains, do not break off. Allow it to dry before removing it later.

Finally, shake off the soil, arrange tubers in trays or shallow boxes, and cover with dry peat moss or clean, dry sand. The ideal storage temperatures is 45 to 50 degrees F. Some gardeners winter the clean tubers in paper bags, keeping the same colors together, and results are just as good. You can also leave tubers in pots. In this case, simply turn containers on sides and store in cellar, basement, shed or other frost proof spot where temperatures remain 40 to 60 degrees F.

If kept too warm, bulbs tend to shrivel and their future as handsome pot plants for locations in filtered sunlight is seriously jeopardized.

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