Geraniums are fairly hardy in the summer, but they still need a little extra care to keep the blooms looking fresh and vibrant. We have some important summer tips for geraniums to keep them healthy all season!
Earlier in the spring, I posted my top four tips for growing potted geraniums.
Today I wanted to share with you a little more about geranium care pertaining to summer. Summer is in full swing and if you live in an area like me (Texas), this time of year takes a toll on your plants! These tips are more for your potted geraniums, but they are totally applicable to ones you have in the ground too!
I don’t like to call myself an expert, but I have been growing geraniums for so many years, I have learned all the little tips to keep them thriving.
Important Summer Tips for Geraniums
Remember, this is mainly for potted geraniums, but can be applied to ones you might have planted in the ground. I would love the chance to plant geraniums in a flower bed, but with our rainy springs, cold winters, and hot dry summers, they don’t survive.
Growing them in a pot is the next best thing!
Alright, let’s get started…
1. Make sure they only get morning sun!
Now that the summer sun is at the strongest point, it is important that your plant soak up soft morning sunlight to avoid draining too much nutrients out of the leaves. I move my pots around every few weeks to get the optimum morning light.
Even though the tag on a potted geranium says full sun 6+ hours, they can’t handle intense summer sun over 100 degrees. If your climate isn’t as intense as ours, you might be able to extend the sunlight exposure, but I have found morning sun is key.
2. Water light in the mornings every few days.
My last tips talked about how geraniums are not big fans of water. In the summer, they do require a little more, but it is important to not over water. Water every few days just until the soil is damp and avoid watering the leaves!
The biggest issue people have with growing geraniums is over watering. Their roots are very small and fibrous, so they can get root rot very easily.
3. Cut off (or pinch) blooms the moment they wither.
Let’s talk about how to deadhead geraniums. When you pinch off spent blooms, this is called deadheading. It is a very important aspect to geranium care.
Withered blooms continue to suck nutrients out of your plants. Since it is warmer weather, your plant needs all the help it can get. Always pinch off or cut the bloom when it starts looking dry. If you look at the photo below, you want to make sure to pinch down at the main base the bloom has grown from. They come off very easy.
4. Remove all yellowing or browning leaves.
Just like withering blooms, those yellowish or brown leaves also continue to suck out nutrients, plus they aren’t very attractive. Even just the slightest sign of yellow or brown (like the picture below), remove the leaf. Also remove these leaves from the main stem. The less leaves, the healthier the blooms too.
BONUS: Be Careful About Fertilizing Geraniums in The Summer Heat!
Fertilizer contains large levels of nitrogen. This can burn plants in the heat. I prefer to use the slow release plant food from our book, but you can also use eliminate fertilizer in the hottest months. In the spring, this homemade plant food is best.
Your plant needs nutrients during the growing months, but fertilizer is very strong. In Texas, our summer temperatures are 100+, so fertilizing is put on hold until fall.
These tips are simple, but so important to follow in the summer season. I will also be sharing my winter tips in a few months, so be sure to follow my blog for more easy gardening tips.
If you have questions about how to deadhead geraniums or repotting them, feel free to contact me!
What is you favorite summer flower?
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You want to hear something really sad… even after I do all these, I still manage to shorten their life, even end their lives. Seriously, I think my culprit is I tend to overwater everything. So I stopped planting them. I admire others green thumbs.
I think that is most peoples problem with plants like these. My mom is the same way, she is always asking me how in the world my plants looks so good 🙂
My experience with geraniums is similar to many other plants. The soil must drain easily drain out the bottom of the pot. I live in south central Texas and the sun here is brutal and will burn many plants. I had good luck with them until it became 100 degrees. I use a liquid organic fertilizer and plenty of compost in the soil when planting and mulch the top of all my pots.
That 100 degree heat can really kill a plant quick. We have been dealing with that recently, so I have been having to baby all the plants even more than usual 🙂 I like to use liquid fertilizer as well, I find it works better than slow release capsules! Have a great day Paula!
Hi Alexis.. Your geraniums look beautiful. My mom offered me a cutting or “part” of her lavender colored geraniums a while ago. What’s the best way to take part of her plant and make it mine? What part do I take – the entire plant (roots and all) or do I take a cutting and put it in water until roots grow then transplant?
Also, does your tip to cut off withered blooms and yellow/dead leaves apply to all plants? I know my mom used to make me sit in the garden and pull all the dead azaleas off…
Thanks! Have a good day,
Hi Laurie! I will email you details on dividing your geranium! It is very easy to do and they usually do really good. I have found that removing dead blooms and bad leaves is good for all plants, although some benefit more like these geraniums due to their shallow roots. For things like roses, or more hefty plants, I always trim or prune them more. Hope you have a wonderful day! I’ll shoot you that email right now 🙂
Hi Alexis. These are great tips. My mom is a master of the geraniums too! She brings them in each winter (we are in Southern Ontario) and they are huge now! My favourite part is pinching off the dried blooms: there’s something so therapeutic about it, knowing that you’re making the plant stronger.
Thank you for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty! Looking forward to seeing you back next week.
I agree!! I love going out in the mornings and getting rid of all the spent blooms…it is life starting over fresh 🙂 Thank you Jane! I’m so glad you came by. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
Great tips! I love geraniums because I can bring them in the house over the winter and have them for the next summer too!
I agree Amy, it is nice to bring them in and have them each year 🙂 Have a great day!
Great tips…. I find I am doing most of these quite well… and I didn’t even realize they needed morning sun, but that is what mine get where they are. The thing I need to improve in doing is to dead head better. I do it, but not regularly enough. Thank you. 🙂
Thank you! Sometimes I forget to dead head, but then my OCD kicks in and I have to go outside and hit it hard 🙂 Now I try to just do it every morning so I don’t forget! Have a wonderful day!
Can I use this in all my plants. I have a hydrangea tree. I planned on putting some sweet potato vines at the bottom but one lady said not to? I hope you see this and can let me know! Thanks so much. I’m a beginner. My mom and grandmother passed away from Covid (2 days apart) last July/August. My mom kept a gorgeous yard. So I’m trying to keep it up in memory of my mom. She had a green thumb. I kept all she started alive last year and am so excited to see the elephant ears coming back. I have to make this yard beautiful. Even tho she’s not here to see it. Makes sense at the same time it doesn’t. :/. But it definitely makes me feel better. It helps my stress level and is very satisfying. I don’t know the first thing about growing plants. Wasn’t even sure how exactly repot my geraniums. I forgot to add rocks to the bottom or anything for drainage. Should I take them back out and add or just drill holes in my pots? Sorry this is so long and more questions came up. But I want so badly to get this right. Thanks again! Shawna
Hi Shawna, sorry to hear about your mom and grandma 🙁 Yes, you can use this on all plants. For hibiscus tips, head to our post about hibiscus here. That is okay if you forgot rocks at the bottom, just be mindful and don’t overwater 🙂 It will be fine. Geraniums don’t like much water anyway. I hope this helps!
Great tips! I love geraniums! I them in pots outside my back door. Have a great week 🙂
Thanks Brenda! Have a great day!
This was so helpful, Alexis. I have often wondered if I care for these properly {I’m not exactly the best gardener *smiles*} so your tips were perfect for me 🙂
Thanks for sharing with Roses of Inspiration. Have a lovely week!
Thanks Stephanie! 🙂
Great tips.
Thank you Sherry!
Alexis, thank you fro these tips. I love geraniums, but once the heat hits, mine don’t do very well. I have them in both pots and in the ground and not in full sun. Do you feed your plants during the summer months? If so, what do you feed them. I live in Austin. Where are you in TX?
I live in Fort Worth. The heat is very hard on them especially right now with 100+ degrees. I don’t feed them in the summer. The fertilizer can be to harsh with our hot temps here in Texas. I typically only feed them in the spring and then a few times in the fall. Mine do best with just water to keep the soil damp, but not enough that the roots get drenched. I always have mine in pots, I had a few in the ground years ago, but the winters were too hard on them. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂 Have a great evening!
Hi Alexis,
I love Geraniums too. Thanks for sharing these useful tips!
Last week, in Northern Italy, the temperature was 100 degrees almost until evening, and it become quite difficult to do very well with flowers!
Have a nice Sunday,
Roberta
La Sportina
That sounds about like our weather here in Texas! Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful evening!
Thanks for sharing the summer tips at my last Fabulous Friday, I am taking a break from this party and doing another party where I co host and its called Dream Create and Inspire. Stop by if you have a few minutes
Thanks Maria
http://www.simplenaturedecorblog.com/dream-create-inspire-link10/
Hi Maria, I would love to stop by! THanks for letting me know 🙂
How far down do you remove the dead flower? I usually go to the bottom. Your photo shows not so far down.
Thanks
Depending on the size of the geraniums bloom, we have had success with just removing spent blooms, but also going down to the original stem. If the plant is getting big and producing long shooters, we will remove all the way to the large stem. If it is a smaller, newer plant, we get good results with just removing the dead bloom itself. In the Texas heat, the geraniums do best when they are pruned down as much as possible 🙂
Try Calliope geraniums! They are HEAT LOVERS that don’t have to be moved; they thrive in full sun! They also perform much better than regular geraniums with less need for deadheading and don’t yellow due to their unique premium leaves! Using the right geraniums should be the number one tip! Calliope Geraniums!
Hi Oliva! Calliopes are definitely a great geranium breed! We have them in red and pink and they do great in the Texas heat. They actually yellow here in the summer and have to be moved to the shade when it gets up in the 100+ degree weather, but otherwise they are a great option! Here is a great article about them from a fellow garden designer at the Dallas arboretum http://www.gardensmart.tv/?p=articles&title=Geraniums . This is a great reference for Texas gardeners.Thanks so much for writing in, have a great day!
I live in Minnesota and plant the seed geraniums in the ground. They are so much less expensive. They bloom well for me ,and I fertilize often. My question is about the zonal plants that are bought in hanging plastic pots. Usually they come with 3 plants to a pot. They look so overcrowded. Should these be put in a larger container and do they do better root bound?
That is so great that you can plant them from seeds! That definitely saves a good amount of money.
You are very right, they get way too overcrowded when they come 3 plants per pot. In our experience, potted geraniums only do well in small pots with one root system. We have transplanted multi-grouped geraniums into larger pots, and they thrive much better. Another option that can work if you want to keep smaller hanging plants around, is just to separate the plants. Over the last ten years of working with potted geraniums though, the larger the pot, the better it will thrive. Especially in our hot climate, but even in temperate climates, they do better that way. They prefer not to be root bound.
I live in Michigan and do not know whether to dead head just the bloom or the whole shoot. You mentioned that it takes nutrients from the plants. What do I do?
Hi Nancy! It doesn’t make too much of a difference, but for looks, I just remove the entire shoot that goes down to the base or main stem. Sometimes the shoot that goes down to the base is still nice and green, I will leave it if that’s the case. Either way, you definitely want to make sure that the dead bloom is gone. Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂 Have a great day!
Can I sprinkle some Epson Salts over the garden. For nuitgin.
Epsom salt is fine
Thank you for the great tips. I will definitely follow your posts!
Thanks so much Shellie! I look forward to seeing you around Chemistry Cachet!
Hi, we have a lot of geraniums in our garden, they seem to thrive almost everywhere, despite very hot weather (Greek Islands) However, I have one that is a problem. I took a cutting of it some years ago because I liked the colour. It has been in a pot on the patio ever since. Lovely, big healthy leaves, but never a flower. Not one. What did I do wrong?
I have encountered that with some of my transplants and cuttings. You might need to fertilize them for blooms. Have you used any yet? One of my hibiscus plants is 6 years old now, but each winter it goes dormant. It comes back each spring, but it never blooms unless I fertilize it every few weeks. Once it starts blooming, it does well for the rest of the season.
I live in the ground floor and am starting to keep geraniums. Its around the parking lot am planning to keep… No sunlight but very bright… Do you think it will thrive well?
AS long as there is some ambient light, they will do okay. Sunlight is best for a few hours to produce the best blooms, but they will do fine in the shade too.
Thank-you for posting about geraniums. I just received a stick from a friend that rooted for me ,cause I was having no luck getting them to root. lol But, I planted it and it is growing!
So, I learned about cutting the dead or dying flowers and yellowing leaves. Thanks!!!
You also asked “What is you favorite summer flower?”
Well, Mine is lavenders and Gardenias. If you have any posts about how to take care of them so that they Bloom and not drop buds I would greatly appreciate it. I live in Southern California. (Covina) where in the summer we have 100 degree temps too..
I love both of those! Lavender and gardenia are so pretty. I don’t have anything specific for me since they don’t grow well here in Texas 🙁 But I do have some summer tips for flowers that work for all types in this post. It is similar to caring for these geraniums. Although this post was written for flowers in pots, it can apply to ones in the ground too! 🙂
Alexis, I am wondering if you can help me , I have found that if I just put sugar water in the soil right by my flowers, adding sugar to my watering can or just adding water to a leftover can of soda and pouring it into the soil, in about 3 weeks I get a large amount of blooms on my flowers. Geraniums especially but all my flowers. I worry it will somehow deplete or harm their growth-it is sugar after all. I accidentally discovered it when watering my plants after a party and trying to make use of many unfinished cans of soda. When i tested it , the blooms were abundant again so when I think of it, I do so now. What is the sugar doing?
Sugar feeds plants especially flowers! All those little packets you get with fresh flowers contain sugar too. The only problem with sugar is it can feed bacterial growth. In potted plants, it’s not as big of an issue, but it can make this happen. Occasional sugar feeds are fine though. It’s a quick carbohydrate feed for your flowers 🙂
Also, overtime sugar (like salt) can actually stun plant growth, so I wouldn’t do it very often! Forgot to mention that 🙂
Thank you very much! It is good you use that chemistry know how! I appreciate it!
Thanks Beverly! I love getting to share it 🙂
Hi I live in central Africa where temperature is very hot 33-37 degree year around. Our summer is 25degree Celsius ?. I tried somany time gerrauim brought also in pot fro South Africa but stays little and dries out or rots. Either too much water or too dry? Can’t follow and I live geranium it’s so fragrant! Pls help me understand? how to treat?
We have very hot weather in Texas too during the summer. Root rot is usually going to be from overwatering. Geraniums do best when they are dried out, then occasional watering in the heat. Follow all the tips I list in this post and it should help.
My geranium blooms are drooping, what is the problem ?
That is normal 🙂 When blooms get large, they droop
Thanks for the tips! We live in central CA (also very hot and dry), but I realize now I’m overwatering my two geraniums. They receive morning light, but no true shade; only indirect light after noon. But one is in a huge pot, so I can’t move it easily. Ideas? Advice?
I think it is fine where it is getting morning light. Geraniums are pretty tough. Overwatering is probably the number one reason they will die. Just allow the soil to dry out completely, then lightly water.
Hi from Sydney!
My hanging variety has bloomed like crazy, but now I am getting a bloom w one flower and some dried buds. Any ideas?
Thx
It sounds like it might need some nutrients. If it isn’t hot where you are, you can try some fertilizer. Temperatures below 85 are okay to use it
Hello, I’m from zone 4 Pakistan. I too am a geranium lover, but my geraniums die soon when the monsoon rains start here in July. What should I do to keep them alive during hot summer and rains? Once I brought all of them inside , but killed them with over watering. It’s heart breaking to see them dying every year. Maybe I can bring them inside and not water them?? Please help
You can just lightly dampen the soil when they are inside. They also need a good amount of sunshine, so they can die inside from lack of sunlight. Keep near a window if possible
Hi from Arizona,
My geraniums die out each summer. I am not sure if the problem is the heat or the monsoons of June and July. They are in a raised bed and not in pots. They get light irrigation and 10 hours of sunlight. Do you think a frost cover would protect them from the sun? Do you think the extended rain causes root rot?
Your weather in Arizona is probably like ours in Texas during the summer. When our weather gets to 100 degrees for us in June, my geraniums have to be moved to the shade. They can’t do more than a few hours of morning sunlight. They don’t do well with excess water either. I have not been able to grow geraniums in the ground in Texas, so I have to use pots where I can control the heat and water
Hello, I have two pots of geraniums and the flower buds tend to turn brown and die before they bloom. Any ideas
If the plant looks fine other than the blooms turning brown, it could be the environment. Too cold or too hot outside. I am not sure where you live, but this is usually more so the issue when weather is too cold. If the plant also looks in bad shape like the leaves, it sounds like root rot. This happens when pot is too small and the plant gets too much water. Geraniums prefer to be completely dry before light watering. That would be my guess
which type of geraniums get the fullest blooms?
I think the zonal geraniums have the largest blooms
Hi,
I have gerenium potted in a boat shape pot. It has shallow depth and so i water it accordingly. Also, i have placed it in my balcony where there is no morning sun. it receives afternoon sun. My issue is that new leaves are coming and flowers are also blooming but leaves turns dry and yellow soon. My fear is that soon there will be no leaves. Its Spring in North India and temperature is already at 33 C. Can you suggest on what more i can do so that my plant remains healthy?
Thanks.
Aradhana
It sounds like it might be too much water. They need very little water especially if pot is shallow. They get root rot very easily. I would try not watering it, but also transferring it to a larger pot. With hot temps, they need a good watering when possible, but if the shallow pot isn’t allowing it, this would be my suggestion
Geraniums rock! My mom used to take her potted ones when they traveled for long trips, so I guess it might be a DNA thing. She taught me those care tips you shared, exactly the same ;-). I have one geranium and it’s living in a raised flower bed sort of shaded from the afternoon sun by a larger, bushier neighbor. I plan to dig it up and move it inside for winter. I like plants that are pretty independent-minded and don’t need coddling, unlike African violets that defy my repeated past attempts to grow.
Geraniums are the best! They require very little care as long as you follow these easy tips. I have some in pots I have kept for many years, and they still look great