Geranium is a well-known indoor plant. Our grandmothers also loved to decorate their window sills in their houses with it. It pleases with a rich, varied palette almost all year round. Geranium is easy to care for and with its bright flowers can decorate not only an apartment, but also enliven any balcony.
When to take Pelargonium outside?
This time occurs differently in each region, but usually geraniums can be planted as early as the first ten days of May. It is at this time that the rhizomes of the plant can warm up to the desired temperature of 15-18 degrees. The timing of flower planting will also be influenced by the choice of planting material.
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A little history and cultivation features
Indoor geranium came to European countries almost 300 years ago from southwest Africa. Over the past centuries, new varieties of geranium have been developed with a variety of bud shapes, leaf colors and inflorescences. They readily decorate not only houses, but also flower beds and flower beds. Geranium can be used to decorate balconies in hanging pots and boxes. The plant has become one of the most popular and beloved.
Of the more than thousands of known varieties of geranium, almost all grow optimally on balconies and loggias. The main thing is to create the conditions necessary for growth and flowering for the plant. Pelargonium is a light-loving plant. It loves the sun, but not its direct hot exposure, but being in partial shade. Tolerates dry air and does not require spraying. The plant feels good at low temperatures. Most suitable conditions: cool nights and warm days. At the same time, the plant gains strength, does not stretch out and always blooms.
To achieve constant flowering, it is important to know one nuance when growing geraniums. The plant stops blooming when it has enough space in the pot. Therefore, it will not require much land. If the roots are tightly and quickly woven into the soil, then the plant will bloom quickly and abundantly. A small pot size is one of the conditions for bright flowering. In large containers, it may not please you with bright inflorescences for a long time and you will have to wait for the roots to fill the voids. Therefore, plant several cuttings at once in large boxes and pots.
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As the geranium grows, the lower leaves may turn yellow. Wait for a couple of new leaves to appear and remove any yellowed leaves. To form a symmetrical and lush bush, you need to pinch the top on the eighth leaf, the shoots can be pinched on the sixth leaf. If the geranium has not yet bloomed, then turn the pot on different sides to the sun so that the shoots grow evenly. When flowering, you should not turn the bush so that it does not stop blooming. Water sparingly as the soil dries out.
Preparing seedlings (or seeds)
Some gardeners germinate seedlings from seeds, others buy ready-made pelargonium roots. But whatever the planting material, it should be hardened before planting. It consists in the gradual adaptation of the plant to the air. Seedlings planted in cups or other containers should be taken outside and left for a certain time, which should be increased every day.
If the air temperature at night does not drop below zero, then you can leave the flowers outside. This hardening will help the plants better adapt to new open ground conditions and subsequently provide the pelargonium bush with abundant flowering all summer long.
In addition to planting a plant from an indoor pot, there are other ways to propagate it:
- Seeds. The plant grown from them will be biennial and will bloom only in the second year. Saplings grown from seeds are very fastidious; they can react strongly to heavy watering or heat.
- In divisions. A previously growing geranium bush in a pot is divided into several parts, which are planted in open ground and begin to form new bushes almost immediately. Moreover, their flowering begins already at 2-3 weeks.
- By cuttings. To obtain viable planting material, mature flowering bushes can be used. The upper part is cut off from them, the length of which should not exceed 15 cm; it is advisable that two leaves remain on them. After roots appear on the cuttings, they can be planted; closer to autumn, the first flowers may appear on them.
How to care?
Humidity
Geranium does not have any special requirements for humidity, but it loves fresh air. The culture tolerates humid and dry atmospheres.
Note! You should not spray it, otherwise it will lead to burns.
Temperature
It is necessary to grow geraniums outdoors at an air temperature of at least 12 degrees. If this indicator decreases, the leaves will begin to fall off and droop.
Watering
It is necessary to moisten the plant regularly, but avoid standing water, as this can lead to the development of root rot. But drought is also undesirable, otherwise the flower will not bloom or its inflorescences will become smaller and the leaves will begin to fade. But after watering, all elements of the plant will be restored.
It is best to moisten the soil after the top layer has dried. Excessive soil irrigation causes the cessation of flowering.
Feeding
Geranium does not need abundant nutrition. It is quite enough to use compost and peat that were added to the hole before planting. An excess of fertilizers will have a detrimental effect on the formation of flowers.
Before flowering, you need to apply fertilizer containing phosphorus. Potassium compounds should be used once every 2 weeks during the formation of inflorescences and during active flowering, as they will provide large lush inflorescences.
Trimming
With the onset of autumn, you can move on to forming the geranium crown. Then it will be thicker and begin to bloom profusely. During pruning, it is necessary to leave the stem with 6-7 leaves.
Recommendation. You need to remove shoots that grow not from the roots, but from the leaf axils.
If the bush has grown greatly for the winter, then at the end of February or at the beginning of March it can be pruned again. Cut shoots are perfect for cuttings.
Subsequently, to improve flowering and create a beautiful crown shape, cut off geranium shoots when 4-5 leaves appear. But only from December to January it is better not to touch the plant, as it enters a dormant period. There are many benefits to pruning geraniums:
- the bush turns out to be dense, as a result of which it acquires a compact and decorative appearance;
- pruning helps protect young leaves and shoots from diseases, since dried flowers and leaves are often affected by gray rot.
We have prepared a lot of useful tips about geraniums: pinching, ideal soil for an indoor flower and pot, feeding with iodine, planting geraniums.
How to care for your garden in summer?
Summer care for geraniums grown outdoors is not very different from the standard. At this time, it is necessary to increase the amount of watering; the soil should not be allowed to dry out. Do not apply nitrogen-containing fertilizers anymore, as they promote the development of foliage, and flowering will be poor and unsightly. In the summer you need to add compounds rich in potassium, then the bush will bloom for a long time.
Features of geranium
The plant received its name back in the 1st century AD. e., its beneficial properties were highly appreciated by many healers, and it became popular in Europe. It began to be grown in Russia in the 18th century. Now more than 400 species of pelargonium and 200 species of its South African families have been bred.
Outdoors, wild geranium can be found in meadows, on the banks of rivers and lakes, in coniferous and deciduous forests. Its cultivated varieties demonstrate unpretentiousness to harsh weather conditions, they bloom twice per season, and can withstand harsh winters and dry summer days.
Now, along with simple varieties, there are hybrids with double flowers, their colors are very diverse, some colors cannot even be found in the wild. And the leaves can be either single-colored or combined.
The new varieties bred by breeders are distinguished by a variety of colors not only of flowers, but also of leaves, which can be dissected or rounded.
Planting and propagation
The plant can be planted in pots in two ways:
- Seeds. Breeders have developed many varieties of geranium grown from seeds. They need to be sown from September to April. The soil must be loose and disinfected. After planting the seeds, the pot is covered and kept at 20 degrees. The first shoots will appear after 10 days. It is important to maintain moderate soil moisture. The total period for growth and flowering will be about five months.
- Cuttings. All types of geraniums are propagated by cuttings in the same way. For cuttings, side shoots, plant tops and middle parts of shoots with several branches are used. The cuttings should be cut with a sharp knife approximately five millimeters after the leaf node. Then the sections are dried for about five to eight hours to form a film that protects them from rotting. Immediately before planting, the cut is sprinkled with charcoal.
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Preparation for landing:
- Prepare a soil mixture of turf - a layer of six centimeters and calcined sand - four centimeters. You can use commercial soil mixture for geraniums.
- Place drainage made of pebbles or broken ceramics at the bottom of the pot.
- Moisten the planting mixture and disinfect it with a weak composition of potassium permanganate.
- The cuttings are planted six centimeters apart from each other, compacting the soil tightly.
- The first watering is carried out after the soil has completely dried.
- For a month, you should protect the cuttings from direct sunlight and maintain a temperature of around 20 degrees.
After 30 days, the cuttings are planted in a permanent place:
- Drainage is placed at the bottom of the pots, a little prepared soil is added, and complex fertilizer is added.
- Pour out the remaining soil and plant the cutting, carefully straightening the roots.
- The plant is watered and placed in partial shade for a week until it begins to grow.
After all the manipulations, the geranium is placed in a bright place. To tiller the shoots, it can be pinched.
Second wintering place
I spend the winter on my windowsill and have no problems. The main thing is to allocate a place for them there. The only thing I can advise is that if you place it on a windowsill, place foam under the pots so as not to freeze the roots. And try not to place it in ventilated areas. If your battery is hot, this is also not so great. Better without bottom heating. Regular care: watering, collecting dried leaves. If necessary, make small corrections to the branches. But in the spring, in March, I cut off all the long stems by a third, and leave the old thick stems almost at the root, 15 cm, no more than a stump. Then young shoots quickly begin to emerge from it, and in the middle of summer they are all in bloom. Of course, with proper care and feeding.
Storing pelargonium in winter
Geraniums require special care in winter because at this time the flower goes dormant. Therefore, during this period it is better to put the pot in a warm room, but with low air humidity. It is recommended to ventilate the room from time to time, but there can be no talk of any drafts.
It is also important to monitor the soil; it should be moist, but not wet, so that the root system does not rot.
Some gardeners recommend storing pelargonium in this way:
- After all the buds have fallen off, the plant is pulled out of the pot.
- Next, several bushes are tied together and suspended from the ceiling. The air temperature in the room should be within +3..+8 °C, and humidity 75%.
- From time to time the roots will need to be dipped in water to prevent them from drying out.
- With the arrival of spring, half of the bush is cut off, and the rest is planted in the ground and watered.
If geraniums were properly cared for at home during the winter, then after a while new shoots and flower stalks will appear.
Fifth wintering place
If you have a spacious refrigerator at home and there is no other place, then why not use it? You can store it on the door shelves, in the vegetable compartment, on the top shelf. The bush needs to be prepared:
· Look at your weather, but the only condition is the temperature is not lower than 10 degrees, and ideally 15, and dry.
· Remove pelargonium from the soil by the roots.
· Carefully cut off the part so that a lump of earth with roots d 8-10 cm remains.
· Do not wet the lump, even if it is very dry.
· Now wrap the roots in cling film.
· Prepare a 1 liter package (not film) of milk or juice. Wash it inside.
· Trim the above-ground part so that 2 plants fit into the bag.
· Wrap the package in paper packaging, the same newspaper in 2-3 layers.
All that remains is to check the condition of the pelargoniums so that the newspaper does not get wet. And from February it will be possible to plant it in containers for germination.
Transplanting pelargonium: how it happens
Geraniums are transplanted at home as the flower grows. However, if the plant begins to disappear or rot, then the procedure is resorted to immediately.
You can buy soil at the store, or you can prepare it yourself.
To do this you need to take:
- Peat (1 kg).
- Turf or leaf soil (4 kg).
- Coarse sand (500-600 g).
All these components are thoroughly disinfected with manganese, dried and only then mixed. The soil for geraniums should be loose to allow air to pass through well.
When choosing a container, it is best to pay attention to clay pots with drainage holes. Plastic retains water well, so it is better to discard it immediately. Be sure to put grated polystyrene foam, expanded clay or broken brick at the bottom. You cannot do without a drainage layer, because it prevents fluid stagnation.
Next, a little earth is poured, the pelargonium is placed in a pot and sprinkled with earth.
After this, you need to care for indoor geraniums as described above.
When do geraniums go into hibernation?
Geranium is a flowering plant. Therefore, in the winter months it begins to go into a state of dormancy. This happens in December. For three months, until March, the plant goes into rest and gains strength for the next growth. At this time, flowering often stops. The flower hardly uses nutrients; it does not grow or develop. The gardener needs to create optimal conditions for geraniums. Later, from March to August, the next period will begin when the plant begins to grow. Then the conditions of detention will be completely different. Yes, and additional care will be required. But more on that in our other article.
What diseases can affect geranium
“Uninvited guests on geraniums” is something that some gardeners encounter. It is not difficult to notice pests if you regularly inspect the flower.
Most often, pelargonium is affected by:
- Rot or gray mold. You can notice the problem by the leaf plates that are affected by the fungus. It occurs due to excessive watering. To get rid of the problem, you should remove all affected areas, replant the plant and spray the bush with one of the antifungal agents.
- Whitefly. Lives on the lower part of the leaf blade. Considering that the pest feeds on plant sap, it must be gotten rid of immediately. Affected leaves must be removed, and the plant itself is treated with fungicides.
- Aphid. Settles at the bottom of leaves. You can fight aphids using the same fungicidal drugs.
- Powdery mildew. The fungal disease affects the leaf blades, on which a light coating appears. The cause of the problem is low temperature and high humidity. The plant must be treated with chemicals.
- Blackleg. It usually affects cuttings that rot. To eliminate the problem, all diseased cuttings should be removed and the geranium should be treated with an antifungal agent. Root rot. Appears due to excessive watering, as a result of which the root rots. In this case, the plant can no longer be helped.
For beginners, caring for geraniums at home may seem difficult and sometimes even impossible. However, once you get the hang of it, after a while everything will work out on its own.
Propagation of perennial street geraniums
If you create comfortable conditions for it, then after the fruits of the plant ripen, the seeds open and spread far beyond the boundaries of the site, some of them settle at the very place where the plant is sown.
When planting geraniums already growing in the garden, you need to divide its bush into several parts; it is better to do this in the fall. If the purchased or divided planting material did not have time to be planted before the onset of frost, then you must first take care of its rhizome so that it remains dense and retains its viability.
To preserve the rhizome, it is sprinkled with peat and then placed in a perforated bag or a special container. In this case, it is necessary to maintain a certain temperature regime, which should not fall below 1 degree and rise above 4. At this time, you need to monitor the moisture content of the peat, but an excess of moisture should not be allowed so that the roots of the plant do not rot.
It happens that even if all the recommendations are followed, the plant begins to grow unexpectedly, and it is too early to plant it in open ground. And in order to stop its growth, you should move the container with the seedling to a bright but cool room.
