How to care for geraniums

Where to put geranium

Choose a well-lit area such as a southern windowsill. On northern windows, especially if they are on the lower floors and are shaded by trees, the plant will suffer from a lack of light.

Zoned and scented pelargonium do well at room temperature. They do not need a cold wintering.

But the royal prefers peace in the cool (up to 10-15 ° C) from late autumn to early February. This will ensure lush bloom.

In spring and summer, when the night temperature is at least 16 ° C, take geraniums out to the balcony or loggia. Fresh air promotes good growth and abundant flowering. When it gets colder, return the plant to your apartment.

When and how to water geranium

Watering time is easy to determine. Check the soil with your finger, wooden stick, or toothpick. At a depth of about 1 cm, the ground should be dry.

Water the plant with settled, filtered or boiled water at room temperature. A cold one will cause root problems, and hard tap water will form a white coating on the ground.

Try to water the plant evenly at any time of the year. Long droughts and then abundant watering will not be beneficial.

Use a thin-nosed watering can. Pour water along the sides of the pot to keep out of the leaves.

Do not spray the geranium, it does not tolerate it well. Also, try not to get on its leaves when doing water treatments for other plants.

How to transplant geranium

Don't repot your geraniums too often. It is enough to do this when the roots become cramped in the old pot. The best time of the year for the procedure is spring.

Choose a small pot so that the root system fits in it and there is still a little space left, literally a centimeter and a half along the edges.

The material and shape are at your discretion. The main thing is that there are several drainage holes at the bottom. Through them, the remaining water will drain into the sump, and the roots will not rot.

Use a geranium primer. You can also mix ¾ universal soil and ¼ additives: river sand, peat, perlite or vermiculite. At the bottom of the pot, be sure to put at least a centimeter of drainage: expanded clay or broken brick.

How to care for geraniums: How to transplant geraniums

To transplant, carefully remove the plant and, along with the earthy clod, place it in a new vessel, at the bottom of which there is drainage and some soil. Top up the soil so that there are no voids along the sides of the pot.

Do not water the geraniums 3-4 days after transplanting.

How to fertilize geranium

Feed the plant every 2-3 weeks from spring to fall.

Use complex mineral fertilizers, the main components of which are potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. They will help strengthen the pelargonium and ensure good flowering.

In winter, give up feeding.

How to prune geraniums

Prune zoned pelargonium in late February - early March. This will help to give a neat shape to the plant that has stretched out over the winter.

Do the pruning almost "under the stump": leave about 5–6 cm. The geranium will quickly regain its shape.

How to Care for Geraniums: How to Prune Geraniums

To maintain shape, pinch the side shoots: remove their tops with your hands or with scissors.

Trim and pinch the scented geraniums as they grow to form a neat bush.

Prune Royal Pelargonium in the fall before sending it out for the winter. Leave a small part, about 10-15 cm. With spring pruning, flowering will be several months later.

Cuttings that remain after pruning can be rooted. To do this, treat the cut with crushed charcoal and leave to dry for a day. Then plant in a moist mixture of universal soil and perlite. Water as the soil dries.

How to treat geranium

The appearance of the plant is a good indicator of maintenance problems. Pay attention to the state of pelargonium, this will help to take action in time.

Leaves turn white

Cause: heat.

Due to the summer heat or too much heating appliances, the upper leaves of the geranium can turn white. Move the plant to a cooler place to help it.

Leaves turn yellow

Causes:

little light;
drying out or overflowing;
excess or lack of fertilizers;
too small a pot;
reaction to the transplant.

If the problem is due to a lack of lighting, find a more suitable place for the geranium or use artificial lighting.

When dry, place the pot in a deep container of water and wait until the soil is saturated. Allow excess moisture to drain and return the geraniums to the pallet.

To deal with the effects of an overflow, remove the plant from the pot. Rinse the roots with a pale solution of potassium permanganate, remove the rotten areas and treat the cuts with charcoal. Then plant in new soil.

If the pot is too small, transplanting will help. But if it's a matter of stress after a recent transplant, you can just leave the plant alone.

Leaves turn red

Causes:

hypothermia;
a sharp drop in temperature;
reaction to bright sunlight.

In any case, saving damaged leaves will not work.

In cooler seasons, bring the plant from the open air into the apartment. For indoor keeping, try to keep the geranium from drafts.

If it is caused by a burn, which usually happens in summer, move the plant to a different location.

Blisters on the leaves

Cause: dropsy (edema), which has arisen due to improper watering.

Over time, the blisters darken and become stiff. It will not be possible to cure them. Just remove any damaged leaves.

To help the plant, normalize the watering schedule, add a drainage layer, and ventilate the room where the geranium is standing.

Rust on the leaves

Cause: fungal infection.

Remove damaged leaves. Treat the plant with fungicides twice, at intervals of 14 days.

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