Geranium: home care
Geranium is a houseplant that is quite common and in demand. It has bright flowers and does not grow much. There is a belief that this flower is a talisman, it protects the house from ill-wishers. Since geranium has the ability to emit a pungent odor, it is believed that it only does this when there is a person with a negative attitude in the room.
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Planting geraniums
Geranium is a plant that requires constant care. It loves light, and if you place it incorrectly, it will reach for it and stretch out. It looks very ugly. To avoid this result, shoots that are elongated in height should be removed.
It is necessary to replant geraniums from a new cutting every year.
Geranium is planted in two ways:
- Cuttings into the ground. They need to be cut obliquely. The incision is made just above the kidney. Then it is allowed to rest for two hours so that the cut is aired and covered with a film. After this, you can plant the geranium in a pot with soil and water it.
- Cuttings into water. The cuttings are also cut obliquely above the bud and placed in water. To avoid the problem of root rotting, activated carbon is added there. After the roots have formed. Geranium is planted in a pot.
The pot for geraniums should be small. If you don’t have one, then you can plant several cuttings in a large pot. Otherwise, the plant in a large pot will die. Since growth and flowering depend on how quickly the roots cover the ground and intertwine among themselves.
This is a plant that requires care but is not harmful. All you need is to provide it with a sunny, warm place and proper watering.
Geranium varieties
Geranium or Pelargonium has more than two hundred species. She is both an indoor and outdoor plant. Has a lot of colors. Let's look at the most popular types.
Zonal geranium
The most common is Zonal geranium. It is an indoor plant. It has many subspecies, but they all have common features: unpretentiousness, intense flowering, endurance.
The differences are in the trunk with two types of leaf blades: wavy and drooping. The leaves are framed with a red-brown border and can emit a pungent odor.
The following forms exist:
- Ordinary with five petals.
- Terry petals, more than eight in number.
- Semi-double petals with a maximum number of eight pieces.
Also, zonal geraniums differ in the shape and color of the flowers. It grows up to sixty centimeters in height.
Royal geranium
It is considered the most beautiful view. Hence the name. It has large flowers of bright colors: purple, burgundy, white, fuchsia.
The height of the flower is fifteen centimeters. It appeared back in the nineteenth century and since then has taken root in almost every home where flowers are loved.
Its distinctive features are:
- Petals are corrugated or wavy.
- The first two petals are different. They are larger in size and look like velvet.
- Large flowers.
Thyroid geranium
Distinctive features:
- Shoots reaching a meter in length.
- Dark green leaves shaped like a star.
- Flowers hang in clusters.
Geranium blooms from spring to late autumn. It is both an indoor and outdoor plant.
Geranium in open ground
Geranium is a perennial plant. But despite this, she has a hard time with the climate of the middle zone. Because of this, when growing it in open ground, you need to take into account certain nuances:
- The required soil should be neutral or slightly acidic.
- The soil should be light. If there is sand or peat in it, then this is welcome.
- The soil must be fertilized every autumn.
- Watering the plant should be properly organized. Since drying out the soil is unacceptable.
- The most optimal temperature for flower growth is fifteen degrees. Therefore, it is best to plant geraniums in a place where there is slight shade.
Planted in the ground, geranium is capable of " target="_blank">bloom all summer. However, to prevent the plant from getting sick, it should be given rest. This is done simply. Remove fertilizing and reduce watering. Get rid of faded inflorescences. It is best to do this before the onset of cold weather.
In order for geranium to survive the winter well, it is best to transplant it into a pot and bring it into a warm room.
Homemade geranium
There are two types of home or indoor geranium: climbing and bush (small).
Indoor geranium can easily do without additional spraying. However, if you once again decide to humidify the air, she will take it well. Spraying of geranium foliage is done with filtered and warm water (let it sit first). Otherwise, streaks will appear on the foliage.
Watering is carried out measuredly and in large quantities. In warm weather, carefully ensure that the soil is always moist. Otherwise the plant may dry out.
Geranium care
Caring for geraniums is easy. As has already been said many times, flower this one is not demanding. All you need to do is just not forget about it completely. To ensure that pelargonium grows healthy and blooms beautifully, follow these rules:
- Monitor the soil moisture level of the flower. Geranium can tolerate drought for a while, but excessive dampness will kill it immediately. Therefore, it is enough to water it generously about twice a week. Watering is done at the root, without touching the leaves of the plant.
- If you want geranium to bloom with beautiful and lush flowers, then place it in a sunny, warm place.
- Be sure to loosen the soil. Thanks to this, the roots will receive air flow, and the earth will not coke.
- Feed pelargonium with fluoride fertilizers. This will help it bloom better. But do not use organic fertilizers, this flower does not tolerate them.
- Both adult and young plants require formation. An adult flower is carefully trimmed, leaving no more than five buds on each shoot. New branches will emerge from them over time. In the case of a young plant, to create thickening, the top is pinched with your fingers. These manipulations are carried out at the beginning of spring.
- It is necessary to replant the plant several times a year.
Transplanting geraniums
If the geranium has grown and requires replanting, the main thing here is to choose the right time. To avoid negative consequences, use the following criteria:
- The period came when the geranium slowed down its growth and stopped blooming.
- The earth began to dry out very quickly. This suggests that the root system has developed so much that it does not have enough space.
- The roots of the plant began to pull out of the pot.
If the above listed signs are absent, and the plant is no longer young, then you can check it as follows. Carefully remove the geranium from the pot and examine the root system. If there is almost no land left, then you should immediately replant the flower. If there are few roots, simply return the flower to the pot.
Geranium propagation
There are several ways to propagate geraniums at home:
- cuttings;
- root division;
- seeds.
The most common is cuttings. In this option, an adult plant can produce up to a dozen cuttings, or even more.
But geranium cannot be propagated at any time. This is done in the fall, closer to winter. When flowering has stopped and growth has slowed.
The process itself goes as follows:
- The cuttings are cut with a sharp knife, carefully under the leaf.
- There should still be a few healthy leaves left at the top of the plant after cutting.
- In order for the cuttings to germinate, a special environment is created for it. It is planted in soil with sand and vermiculite two centimeters deep and kept in the dark for three days.
- Then the plant is placed in a warm, well-lit place.
- Watered through a tray.
Geranium: photo
Garden decoration
Balcony decoration
Geranium in the house
