Geranium is a wonderful indoor plant that has a lot of advantages and has not only luxurious and colorful flowers, but also a lot of healing properties and qualities.
It can be, as well as a garden plant, and a room flower decorating a window sill and home interior.
Geranium has a lot of varieties and a sufficient number of varieties so that any grower, and just an amateur and connoisseur of beauty, can create for himself the right floral arrangement.
Geranium will find a worthy place for itself on the windowsill among other flowers and protect them from the possible invasion of indoor flower pests - which literally cannot tolerate this plant and are afraid of it.
Features of growing geraniums
Geranium is unpretentious and will not require its owner any special conditions for growing and caring for it. But still, there are some features and rules for breeding and keeping this plant.
• Good flowering of geraniums requires proper watering, acceptable lighting and warmth. In winter, geranium can be kept in the house, and closer to summer, planted in open ground in a garden or vegetable garden.
• This flower can be grown both from seeds and through cuttings. The plant easily perceives the bright rays of the sun, so that in sultry times it can only be dimmed a little.
• The key to successful cultivation of geraniums is proper soil drainage, as well as the selection of medium - moist and slightly acid saturated land.
• It is also necessary to feed and fertilize geranium, especially if it grows in pots.
• Geranium must be watered, but sparingly, and also during the growth period, weed the soil of the plant from weeds.
• Geranium must be cut in time and correctly, otherwise it may die, especially in winter.
Geranium: home care - breeding
Geranium propagation can be carried out in two ways - by grafting and reproduction of seed planting material.
Cuttings - The most popular and uncomplicated method of propagation of geraniums, from ancient times used by flower growers. There are practically no setbacks.
1st method of grafting.
Cuttings are cut from the mother plant at the end of the summer season, well, or in early autumn. The stem is removed from the very top of the plant, while at least 4 leaves should remain on the handle. After this procedure, the stalk can be put in a container with some water and wait until the roots are formed. After the appearance of the root system, the plant needs to be planted in a pot with earth prepared in advance for this.
2nd method of grafting.
The stem, as described above, is cut off from the plant and then placed in the shade until it fades. Then the stalk is dipped in a stimulant called "Kornevin" or juice taken from aloe, then in coal powder, and at the end of the whole process, it is planted in a prepared pot.
At the same time, it is important for the cuttings to properly prepare the soil - garden soil or greenhouse mixed with sand in a proportion of 1/1.
Therefore, in both cases, you need to show a little care and attention and your pet will delight you with luxurious, plentiful flowering and lush health.
Seed propagation method - This is not such a popular way of reproducing planting material, such as, for example, cuttings of geraniums. But for the development of new varieties of geraniums, this method is the most acceptable method, especially if there is a desire for a gardener or just an amateur to experiment and get seedlings different from the source material from a certain variety of seeds - in color, shape and size.
In general, in order to avoid any failures associated with the cultivation of geranium from seed planting material, it is necessary to start planting geranium seeds and experiments with inexpensive varieties of this plant.
The soil for planting geranium seeds must be well loosened and, in addition, the main soil should consist of sand and humus. At the beginning of the spring period, you can start sowing.
Before you start planting seeds, you need to thoroughly shed the soil under geranium with a solution of manganese (to protect the plant from a disease such as a black leg). After the seeds need to be poured into the ground with any capacity and lightly sprinkled with a layer of soil, but so that they are not visually detected on the surface.
Then, for the seeds planted, it is advisable to create a certain greenhouse in the form of a film with which they will be covered, and then put the planted material in a warmed place.
Geranium: home care - soil, lighting, flowering conditions
The soil
Geranium soil should be rich and nutritious, but not light. It is advisable to add a little clay base to the soil, as well as sand.
For self-mixing of the components, it is necessary to take part of the humus (leaf or sod), the same amount of peat, sand and the same amount of clay soil from the river bank.
Such soil rather well holds moisture, in connection with which the soil does not lend itself to souring. In addition, the soil under geraniums is recommended to be loosened regularly for better health of the flower.
Lighting
In the summer, when the daylight is long and saturated with the rays of the sun, the geranium located on the windowsill feels excellent from either side of the room.
However, the south side, near the window, on some kind of flower stand, is considered the best location for geraniums, because it is this plant that has the most direct relation to photophilous flower specimens, which even in hot days the direct rays of the sun cannot bring either harm.
But, despite all of the above, on hot days, you need to protect geranium from sunlight with papyrus paper to avoid the appearance of burn spots on the plant.
The room where the geranium grows needs to be ventilated, but without creating drafts. And in order for the geranium to grow strong, fragrant and delight the eye with its luxurious and bright colors - it must be protected from being kept in the shade and as often as possible to be taken out into the fresh air and sunlight.
Flowering conditions
In order for geranium to please its household with the beauty of its flowers year-round, it is necessary to create favorable conditions for it and proper care.
The abundance of flowers in the summer will directly depend on how the plant spent its wintering.
Geraniums just need to spend the winter somewhere in cool places as far as possible from fireplaces and heaters, at a temperature of no higher than 13 degrees. At this time, the plant absolutely does not need top dressing and plentiful watering.
If all the rules of wintering are observed, not only will the plant not get any diseases, but from spring to late autumn it will delight everyone with an abundance of its flowers and their beauty.
You also need to remember and know the fact that geranium is in great need of breaking off faded inflorescences. And if everything is done correctly, then this plant will extend the flowering period from May to October.
Pruning
For this process it is necessary to use a knife with a sharp and long blade. They need to cut off the wilted and yellowed leaves so that the stalk remains on the geraniums. Circumcision of geraniums must be started, in the fall leaving processes with several nodules. All places of cuts must be lubricated with pre-ground activated carbon.
But it is necessary to take into account when cutting geranium the factor that after such a painful operation for a plant, it will bloom soon. So you need to be patient and continue to care for your favorite plant.
Geranium: home care - top dressing and watering
Watering
The main requirement that must be observed when caring for geraniums is regular watering. You can not take special care of humidity or spraying the plant, this geranium is not necessary. It will even be better if spraying is carried out only from neighboring flowers and plants, in this case, you can easily avoid such a nuisance as water falling on geranium leaves.
But it is also not necessary to fill in geraniums, as this can provoke the appearance of mold and lead to decay of the root system, especially in winter.
It is necessary to realize that with a constant lack of water, the flowering of the plant will be weak, and the flowers will be crushed.
So, a prerequisite for proper care of geraniums is drainage at the bottom of the flower pot and moderately moist soil.
Top dressing
Geranium will feel great and bloom all the time if every 30 days in the fall and winter and twice a month in the summer and spring to top-dress in the form of fertilizer.
Phosphorus top dressing favors abundant and long flowering of geraniums. Before you start fertilizing the flower, you need to water it well so that top dressing does not burn the geranium root system.
It is also useful to make such top dressings, which have - nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus components in equal proportions.
And also in the composition of these top dressings, various microelements necessary for a good vital activity of the flower must be included.
Geranium: home care - why does it die?
Proper care of geraniums guarantees her a life without diseases and vital signs. However, still troubles in the form of diseases of leaflets, flowers and the root system can arise, and you need to be prepared for such a turn of events.
The main reasons for the death of geraniums are a lack of sunlight, excessive humidity, excessive watering and, as a result, the appearance of fungal diseases, such as:
• Gray rot - formed on the leaves of the plant in the form of a cobweb or plaque, on the stem manifested as a dark substrate.
• Leaf rust - appearing in the form of damage to the sheet plate with yellow spots of small dimensions.
• Powdery mildew - stalks covered with powdery stalks and leaves of geranium.
Also a dangerous phenomenon that can destroy the root system of a geranium is a defeat by nematodes, which manifests itself in the form of nodes on the roots of the plant.
Even geranium can be attacked by such pests, leading to the possible death of the plant, such as:
• Aphids, due to which leaves of geranium fade and spots of small dimensions appear on them. From below, on a leaf plate, insects of a gray-green color are announced, which quickly multiply and draw all the juices from geranium leaves.
• Whitefly is also a very dangerous pest that feeds on the plant’s sap and gradually, if not taken, leads to the death of the plant.
These and other pests can be destroyed by spraying the plant with special means that are harmless to the geranium itself.
