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Taking geraniums out

FinchFinch Posts: 15
in Plants
Hello, 
I live in a wind tunnel on the north coast of Cornwall. All risk of frost has passed but with the daytime temperatures being so low at the moment, average 9-13 degrees despite the hot sun, I'm worried about the effect of the cold northerly winds on top of the cool air temperatures. Will geraniums (pelargonium) - ivy and zonal - cope with those conditions during the day or should I keep them inside longer? (Night temperatures too low to leave out right now).
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  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,145
    Try hardening them off gradually by putting them out from midday to almost sundown for a few days and then earlier in the day for a few days and by then it should be OK to leave them out all night too.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • LynLyn Posts: 21,919
    Similar weather conditions as yours I won’t be putting mine out at all until 1st week in June.  Better safe than sorry.
    if you've got a greenhouse you may get away with putting them in there and leave the door and window open during the day  but I’d leave them where they are for now. 
    Its going to be about -1c  in the early hours.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 8,853
    When I had ivy-leaved pelargoniums I found that the stems were quite brittle and would break off in windy weather, so you might want to be careful if it's very windy.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,427
    Some one posted the other day all risk of frost has passed how do you know this?
  • didywdidyw Posts: 2,919
    I'm part of a team that plants up our little town with hanging baskets and planters. We have pansies and violas looking very nice at the moment and for the summer we have primarily pelargoniums.  These are being grown by our supplier in polytunnels at the moment and will not be planted out until the 1st weekend of June.
  • FinchFinch Posts: 15
    JennyJ said:
    When I had ivy-leaved pelargoniums I found that the stems were quite brittle and would break off in windy weather, so you might want to be careful if it's very windy.
    Good point! 
  • FinchFinch Posts: 15
    Nanny Beach said:
    Some one posted the other day all risk of frost has passed how do you know this?
    It's according to your region. Best find out from gardening neighbours or local garden centers. In Wiltshire, where I was, the last frost would be early/mid May. Here in South Cornwall mid April is what the locals have told me. 
  • FinchFinch Posts: 15
    Lyn said:
    Similar weather conditions as yours I won’t be putting mine out at all until 1st week in June.  Better safe than sorry.
    if you've got a greenhouse you may get away with putting them in there and leave the door and window open during the day  but I’d leave them where they are for now. 
    Its going to be about -1c  in the early hours.
    No greenhouse, sadly. They live with me in my tiny caravan and have taken over my table so I'm itching to get them out but I think I'll err on the side of caution. 
    I would normally have lots of seedlings growing by now but it's such a cold spring here. 
  • FinchFinch Posts: 15
    Obelixx said:
    Try hardening them off gradually by putting them out from midday to almost sundown for a few days and then earlier in the day for a few days and by then it should be OK to leave them out all night too.
    I see you're in the Vendée. What is the weather like for you this spring? 
  • LynLyn Posts: 21,919
    @Finch. My daughter’s in St Austell, a suntrap any time of the year, her baskets and all her garden has been planted up for over 3 weeks now,  just around Easter I think.
    here it’s still frosty and very cold nights,  if your down on the South Cornish coast you’d get away with it, but I would chance it anywhere else.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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