pelargonium overwintering

 According to RHS, soft stemmed pelargoniums can't be stored in a semi
dormant state over winter, so presumably not much point in hanging them
upside down somewhere cool in the house.
The plan this year is to trim to 4", put them in smaller pots, and cover
the whole thing with 2-3 layers of bubble wrap. I'll close the top with
a peg but maybe leave a little space for ventilation. As my shed proved
too damp last year (I lost the lot), I'm thinking of leaving these
outdoors against a south facing wall.
Anyone got any bright ideas? I don't have a greenhouse or cold frame
BTW. Thanks for any suggestions

 

Would the usual suggestion of a spare room window sill or covered floor
be any good?   If you do leave them outdoors, can you make a frame of
e.g. bamboo canes and horti fleece and anchor it down so as to cover
them?  OR can you find some old, glazed window frames at a reclamation
site and prop those up on bricks to make a cold frame? I've done that
in the past - here in S Devon, admittedly - and it worked well.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

 
In my opinion if you just cover them with 3 layers of bubble wrap then
they will rot over the winter.
I'd take cuttings now, then when you can cover the cut back plants
with a good 12" of dry leaves, then cover with your bubble wrap.
You could take the cuttings 4 to a 42 pot and then over winter them in
a cool spare room, in good light but not close to a window unless you
put a couple of layers of bubble wrap between them and the glass.
In my youth when all parks grew their geraniums from cutings we used
to take them at the end of August/early Sept, then over winter under
cool glass, kept at around 45f.
OR
If you want to realy go back in time you could lift them and store
them in a clamp as they did potatoes, that is a layer of straw, then
layer the plants between further layers of straw, cover with a good 6
inches of straw then cover the whole lot with at least 6 inches of
soil, 12 is better, then leave till early spring.
David Hill

 On 18/09/2011 20:08, Sacha wrote:

Might be easier to make a frame with bricks and bubble wrap but, from
what Dave says, stopping them rotting will be the difficult part. I can
keep the rain off but condensation is more difficult. The straw/dry
leaves idea is interesting because it would insulate and absorb moisture
at the same time.

 writes

Or a plastic box? With brick on top?
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk