bringing a nursery-potted geranium/impatiens inside for 2 nights - fatal?

I have not gardened with potted geraniums and impatiens for a good long while, but just installed a second-storey window box and filled it with separate larger pots I combined from nursery-bought pots of good-sized geraniums [Regal and zonal], Impatiens and a small dahlia, several grasses and ivies. The box gets bright morning sun only, shade the rest of the day.

Well, two nights ago I brought them inside because a window-washer was coming and owing to the fact he did not get to me until the second day, the plants were inside for 2 days and 2 nights -- one night and part of a day in the bathtub, no water in tub. I noticed a decline -- some yellowing leaves on geraniums, some blossom drop and possible wilted leaves on Impatiens. Generally looking very unhappy. They are not dry, the room was unheated but no lights turned on. Are they going to improve? The Impatiens in particular looked wonderful when I brought them in, but I did see some yellow leaves starting on the zonal geraniums. The temperature outside was a not very nice 10 degrees C. to 15 degrees or so, and rainy, although the window box is under a large overhang and no rain was falling very directly at all upon them. The room's temperature was set to around 10 or 12 C.

I have potted zonal and Regal geraniums in large outdoor patio pots, too, and the zonals are not exactly thriving although they were when purchased. These are not yellowed, just not growing, not adding leaves and blooms are coming along very slowly. Fertilized, watered, etc., not to excess as far as I know. Mind you, not the sunniest place but not at all without sun. The Regal is doing wonderfully, though, no problems.

What has gone wrong in both cases? The Regal geraniums seem in great shape, more or less.

 

They'll be okay. The thing to remember when you buy a plant like this is that, up until a few days ago, it was probably growing in nearly ideal conditions in climate-controlled, perfectly lighted and watered greenhouse somewhere. Naturally it is going to feel somewhat affronted by getting yanked out of there, transported to a strange new place, placed outdoors, then brought indoors, and generally treated as though it were not King of the Universe.

When you bring them indoors, the most important thing is probably to place them in the brightest place you've got. They have ways of adjusting to varying levels of water, temperature and humidity, but they can't just dream up sunlight.

 

Well, encouraging, although I wonder if I bought the geraniums too early [the ground-level patio ones were purchased about 3 weeks ago] and put out too soon from being in a greenhouse to the real life of this unusually chilly-spring Victoria region... I read on the web that one shouldn't transplant annuals outside until late May... and overheard two really elderly ladies at a garden store saying the same thing! I had independently come to the conclusion that the fancy shrubbery I've seen in some nurseries now, ready to bloom almost [some lush, fully-leafed-out Weigelas I noticed], might take a set-back by putting them out in these 8-10 [Centigrade] degree evening temperatures, sometimes even 6 or 7 Centigrade, of the tall-tree, cool Saanich suburb I live in. I bought several shrubs from a nursery which seems more in-ground and a lot of their stock seemed natural to the temperatures this spring and much less advanced in growth -- a Weigela purchase came barely budded-out and is now finally in leaf, but not lush like the greenhouse-coddled ones I referred to above -- while last year's Weigela purchase has acclimatized and grown larger and fuller and is leafed out now in large leaves looking quite lively.

 

I bought some geranium seedlings from my local greenhouse, at the beginning of April. Although I usually grow them from seed, I can't resist special varieties I don't possess.

As long as you keep them warm and in good light, they will be fine until the middle to end of May, when it's time to put them out. They will even grow and bloom all winter indoors!

: )

Far too soon to put them out - I keep them in my sunny window sills, and this is the result...

 

Wonderful, except that I don't have sunny windowsills -- nice deep windowsills under deep roof overhangs in this townhouse complex, and so many tall evergreens around that there is little sun, really, only out on my patio or at a garden's distance from the house -- my windowbox and that window sill I suppose does get enough sun, half a day of morning sun starting early, then a bit of shade as the sun is behind some trees, then sun until 1 pm or so... weird, not like any other part of the world. Like living in the Black Forest. This is tree country, and this suburb has special anti-tree cutting rules. I guess the inside of my sliding patio doors would get lots of sun, though... we do get some rays! Tonight it's supposed to be 7 or 8 Centigrade! No wonder the items, some of them, look kind of fazed by the climate. Normally, or usually, the Victoria area in general is considered wonderfully summery from about April onward, although as I said, I have overheard old-timers cautioning people that late May is the time to put annuals out. I used to keep geraniums indoors too, in Nova Scotia, in sunny windows with no overhangs [there they often have Cape Cod style houses with, strangely, almost zero overhangs].

 

Yes, you may have bought them a bit too early. I know how it is though -too excited to wait any longer! Geraniums can really appreciate some afternoon shade though, so they may make it just yet. Give them as much light as you can possibly muster up indoors, until you put them out in late May.

Yeah, those overhangs really stink! Sorry, you have to deal with that. : (

Good luck with your geraniums. I'm sure they will be just fine. Show pics later, when they're blooming, if possible...

: )