Could you please tell me, when I can start to rehydrate and grow my bare root geraniums in Toronto, that I saved from last year? I have some grow light space but would likely need to use sunny windows until I can set up and small green house.
Good for you to overwinter your pelargoniums (the name for the annual “geranium” as opposed to the perennial garden geraniums.) We have a complete guide to that plant, how to grow it and how to overwinter and reawaken it. Just click on Pelargonium (Geranium): A Toronto Master Gardeners Guide
There you will see that we recommended waiting til spring is really here — not this coming Monday, March 20, but once the sun is a bit warmer.
If you haven’t been soaking them in water from time to time all winter, I would suggest that you do so now, to make sure that they are still pliable / alive. Hang them back up until the end of the month, check that they are in good shape, soak again, cut off half the top growth and pot them up. A sunny window will be fine until you can put them in your planned greenhouse, or in a sheltered corner of the garden once the risk of frost is over and the night temperatures remain around 10 degrees.
Enjoy this year’s blooms!
17/03/23