Peculiarities
The main difference between plants is in places of natural growth. Pelargonium in Russia is a foreigner. She came to us from a place where there is no winter. A heat-loving flower in our country has taken root on the windowsills. For the summer, it can be planted in the garden on a flower bed. But with the approach of autumn bad weather, they will have to be returned to their living quarters.
Geranium is a completely different matter. By its nature, it belongs to street plants. In nature, geranium grows throughout the European part of our homeland, with the exception of the northern regions. Cultivated garden plants do not require shelter for the winter, as they are frost-resistant.
In our article, we will focus on geraniums, but not on the street, but on the one that pleases the eye all year round. The plant feels great in pots: it blooms for a long period. A pleasant delicate aroma and lush greenery create a unique atmosphere of warmth and comfort in the apartments.
Nuances of plant feeding
How to feed blooming geraniums?
At the stage of laying the buds, each owner is looking for how to feed the geranium so that it blooms better. At this stage, it is advisable to focus on vitamins and mineral elements, this will extend the preservation time of opened inflorescences and increase the number of new buds. How to feed geraniums during flowering - with potassium preparations.
For lush growth on the street
Pelargonium feels great both outdoors and indoors. Cutting geraniums for subsequent planting in the ground is a common occurrence. How to feed geranium seedlings for the growth and formation of a powerful bush is of interest to many. The best option is complex mixtures containing nitrogenous components, potassium - phosphorus compounds.
Which fertilizer for geranium is better depends on the quality of the soil
To grow well
Which fertilizer is better for geranium depends on the quality of the soil, climatic conditions, and the state of the planting material. Multicomponent mixes for indoor geraniums differ in composition and concentration from street specimens. Growing in pots requires a higher concentration of nutrients in complementary feeding complexes. How you can feed geraniums at home is described in detail above, the choice depends on the expected end result, the growing conditions of the culture.
How to feed geraniums so that the leaves do not turn yellow?
If the geranium has pale leaves, how to feed it to help the plant get out of the stupor is a question that interests even experienced indoor flower lovers.
Leaves change color for several reasons:
- the soil has become impoverished;
- small volume of the pot;
- lack of a drainage layer at the bottom;
- an excess of nitrogen compounds in the soil mixture.
All points are solved when they are found. Nitrogenous overfeeding is stopped by adding phosphorus - potassium preparations.
What to bring when landing
For the first twelve to fourteen days after planting, no additional food is added to the transshipment of the plant. After the final adaptation in a new place, a complete mineral complex of elements is added to the soil. You can add a dry mineral fertilizer mixture to the new soil. In this case, the next application is carried out no earlier than 2 months following the transplant.
After the pick
How to feed geranium seedlings after picking - after a few weeks after the procedure, a nitrogen-phosphorus mixture is introduced. This contributes to the development of the root system, the growth of new shoots.Irrigation with biological products based on humates has a beneficial effect on further growth and development, this activates the growth of young plants.
Errors when caring for room geraniums
Illiterate care is the main reason for the appearance of yellow leaves in "geraniums". This is an unpretentious plant to grow, but the basic rules for its development must be observed. Knowing the typical mistakes, it is easier to understand what your favorite indoor flower needs.
Wrong capacity
The choice of a pot for pelargonium must be approached very deliberately. Some novice growers in vain believe that the roots need a lot of space. But this is not suitable for all plants.
Indoor geraniums in a cramped container will quickly fill the entire space with roots and plant growth will slow down. As a result, the leaves will begin to turn yellow and dry. Using a very large flowerpot is also not an option. In a spacious pot, pelargonium will begin to intensively build up the root system, giving all its strength to this process. For this reason, flowering will be delayed.
Lack or excess of lighting
Pelargonium is a light-loving flower. It is better to place it on a windowsill where there is enough light. In the shade, a yellow border forms on the leaves, they will begin to dry out. But the direct rays of the sun are also detrimental to pelargonium. Brown burns appear from them.
Too much watering
Indoor geranium is a drought-resistant species, this should be taken into account when leaving. It is enough to water once a week. During hot summers, the frequency of humidification can be increased. The plant does not tolerate excess moisture. A characteristic feature is the appearance of yellowness on the foliage.
Lack of regular watering
Indoor geranium is capricious with regard to watering. It does not tolerate a lack of moisture, it is bad for waterlogging. You need to find a compromise: water the soil when it dries up to 2.5 cm. If this is difficult to track, then mulching the soil would be a good option. For this, pine bark, peat, crushed stone, tea, moss, marble chips are suitable. The time between waterings will increase, there will be no risk of spreading rot, and it will be possible to prevent yellowing of the leaves.
Incorrectly selected soil
In order for the roots of pelargonium to grow well, a special loose fertile soil mixture is needed. You can buy it at the store. Soil collected in a yard or forest may not be suitable for indoor geraniums, and will cause poor development and lack of flowering.
Heat
Indoor geranium grows best at a temperature of +20 ° C. High degrees give yellowness on the leaves. This happens especially often in winter, when heating radiators strongly heat the air near the windowsill on which the plant stands. With a cold snap, the development of pelargonium slows down, flowering is delayed. She prepares for withering away.
Lack of fertilizer
Active growth and vigorous flowering require good feeding. This requires iron, phosphorus, potassium. You need to add nutrients regularly once a month. You can buy a low nitrogen, all-purpose indoor flowering plant mix.
Ingress of herbicides
When the leaves turn yellow and dry, indoor geraniums are likely to be exposed to chemicals such as weed control drugs. Pelargonium is sensitive to household hygiene and cosmetics products - air fresheners, hair sprays.
Drafts
Indoor geraniums are often placed on windowsills. Not surprisingly, this beautiful plant is always pleasing to the eye. But regular airing damages the appearance of pelargonium. The leaves begin to turn yellow and dry, gradually all fall off. You can fix the situation by choosing a place without wind.
Poor or no drainage
To drain excess moisture from the root system, there must be a drainage layer in the pot. In its absence, the process of decay begins, which gradually destroys the entire plant. Its beginning can be identified by the leaves. They start to turn yellow for no apparent reason.
How to feed geraniums at home?
Of course, it is difficult to add the minerals mentioned above in their pure form to the soil, therefore, in most cases, the owners of beautiful plants have to go to specialized stores for already selected preparations.
For feeding geraniums at home, special preparations are used:
- "The Merry Flower Girl". This fertilizer contains all the components necessary for geraniums, and it is also used for other flowering ornamental shrubs.
- Universal remedy "For flowering plants". A universal preparation for flowering ornamental plants, which contains potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen.
Note! But, these products are suitable for basic dressings. For additional means of replenishing the soil, it will be necessary to prepare solutions of a different composition.
Feeding with manure and iodine
At the end of the flowering of the plant, it is supported with iodine or manure. This is necessary so that the next season geraniums bloom even thicker and more beautiful:
- Solution with iodine. 5-6 drops of iodine are diluted in a liter of warm water. Before adding the diluted medication, the plant is preliminarily watered with ordinary settled water. Next, they move on to feeding iodine-containing liquid, which is carefully poured along the edges of the pot, without getting on the roots of the flower, as this can leave burns and kill geraniums.
- Manure fertilizer. Although it is better not to use organic fertilizers to feed indoor plants, a properly prepared mullein can still be used for autumn feeding. For this, the dry product is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 4 and must be defended for at least 7 days. After the manure has settled in the water, the solution is filtered and poured into the ground of the pot (it is better not to get on the roots).
Nutrition with nitrogen and vitamins
Nutrition with nitrogen and vitamins is suitable for the summer maintenance of plant growth, since during the period of active flowering geraniums need just such a recharge. Vitamins for feeding are preferred in group B.
But it is important to understand: that excessive feeding of the soil with nitrogen will have a bad effect on the inflorescences, therefore, it is not recommended to exceed the intervals between fertilizing with this component.
General recommendations
Geranium propagation
Of course, you can purchase an adult flower and put it on the windowsill. But not everyone does this, so you should familiarize yourself with the rules of reproduction. The easiest way is grafting. Twigs no more than 6-7 cm long are separated from an adult plant. The stalk is placed in a container with water. Roots begin to sprout very quickly. When the root system is formed, the twig is transplanted into the ground.
A more difficult way is growing from seeds. In order to quickly get a healthy seedling, the seeds are placed in the ground at a shallow depth. The planting is not watered, but sprayed and covered with polyethylene. The container should be in a dark, warm place. Seedlings usually appear after 7-10 days. After the sprouts appear, the polyethylene is removed, the container is brought out into the light. Flowers are planted in separate pots when 4 sheets appear. After picking, you can start feeding the plant. Planting is carried out in winter so that geraniums bloom in summer.
How to eliminate yellow leaves
Experienced flower growers are well versed in the state of their favorite plants. They determine the causes by the state of the foliage. For example, the formation of a yellow border on the leaves indicates a lack of water. In this case, you need to thoroughly loosen the soil in the pot and make a one-time abundant watering. In the future, you should adhere to the frequency of introducing settled water under the root:
- in hot weather - 2-3 times a week;
- in winter - once every 7 days.
Yellowness and wilting appear with excess moisture. In order for the leaves not to turn yellow, geraniums must receive adequate timely nutrition. The flower pot is chosen medium in size with the obligatory drain holes in the bottom.So excess water will not stagnate, and the roots will not be damaged by rot.
Greens begin to fade when there is a lack of lighting. This does not mean that the flower should be exposed in the sun. He just wants space. There should be a decent distance between adjacent pots. When the flowers are spacious, they will fluff up, and the leaves will acquire their natural color.
What to do with a flower disease?
Geranium is ill infrequently, but if the disease has taken possession of the plant, it is necessary to determine the nature of the disease. They are fungal and viral. Fungicides help from leaf rust and black leg, as well as from rot. If the plant is attacked by insects, for example, aphids or caterpillars, various mites or a whitefly, special means will become salvation.
As soon as the first signs of the disease appear, you need to inspect the flower.
Particular attention should be paid to the back of the foliage. Often, the presence of insect pests can only be detected by the remains of their vital activity.
Timely spraying with disinfectants will help the geranium to regain strength.
Beneficial features
Lush geranium perfectly cleans the air in living quarters from pathogenic microbes. The delicate aroma has a positive effect on the nervous system, relieves stress and depression. If you attach a fresh leaf to a scratch or abscess, healing will occur much faster. Our ancestors used a decoction of the flower to treat gastrointestinal diseases.
For information on how to care for geraniums to bloom all year round, see the next video.
Types of geraniums
Indoor pelargonium is divided into two main types:
- Shrub, these plants are of short stature, rather lush, among which the most popular among lovers of these flowers are considered to be zonal, with a border along the edge of the flower, and a large-flowered one with a name, royal.
- Pelargonium ampelous, an ivy flower, has long shoots and resembles a vine.
- Geranium is quadrangular, blooms in spring and summer, however, it depends on the timing of planting, it can grow more than half a meter. The flowers are beautiful cream and pale pink, similar in appearance to a butterfly.
- Curly geranium, the best variety for planting at home, a lush bush with many leaf shoots, flowers are bright from pink to purple, flowering occurs in early July.
- The royal line, subject to all the rules for caring for the plant, can bloom almost all year round. The inflorescences are quite large, there are also terry varieties, the color range is varied, these are white, purple. red, purple colors, but they do not give off a strong odor.
- There are varieties of non-flowering geraniums, but they compensate for this with their rich apple aroma. mint, lemon.
Many of the bush species of geraniums have large inflorescences and a pleasant aroma, due to which they are appreciated by flower growers.
Purchased and homemade folk remedies: what and how to fertilize a flower?
We will analyze how and what is the best way to feed geraniums for lush and abundant flowering, what ready-made or home-made means can and should be used.
In order for the plant to bloom magnificently
The easiest and most common way is to go to a special flower shop and buy ready-made fertilizers. The advantage of this method is that you can contact a consultant who will advise the best option suitable for geraniums. Most often, the choice stops on nutrient solutions intended for indoor flowering plants.
Let's take a closer look at how to water geranium from liquid dressings so that it blooms magnificently
When choosing fertilizers for flowering, you need to pay attention to the composition, or rather to trace elements: potassium, copper, nitrogen, zinc, calcium, iron, boron, phosphorus
Homemade folk remedies:
- Dairy feeding. It is necessary to dissolve 100 milliliters of milk in 1 liter of water. Use alternating with regular watering (1 time milk and 3 times water).
- Among flower growers, the yeast solution has proven itself well. It is easy to prepare and can replace a root development drug. Mixes 1 liter of water and 100 grams of raw materials.
Purchased funds:
- Zircon "," Royal Mix "," Clean sheet for pelargoniums "- additives sold in dry form, which are needed to prepare an aqueous mixture. It is not at all difficult to make it; instructions for use and dosage are written on the package. The advantage of these preparations is their long shelf life.
- "Garden Club" belongs to the class of liquid dressings and is a solution of vitamins and salts. The advantage over dry ones is that when diluted with water, it completely dissolves.
Houses
Wood ash is an excellent feeding option when growing geraniums in a pot at home. You can prepare an aqueous solution as follows:
- A tablespoon of ash is diluted in a liter of water.
- The liquid must be warm, at least 20 degrees. At this temperature, all the particles will quickly dissolve and give the maximum nutrients.
- The mixture is poured over the soil.
Iodine is a good fertilizer that helps the houseplant flower more abundantly. It will speed up the formation of inflorescences, as well as increase the number and volume of buds.
It is very simple to prepare the mixture: 1 drop of an alcoholic solution of iodine is added to 5 liters of water. Enough 50 milliliters for 1 geranium bush. To prevent the flower from getting burned, the earth is watered along the walls of the pot.
B vitamins: B1, B6, B12, are common and effective fertilizers. They are sold in glass ampoules. This feeding will enrich your pet with vitamins. It is prepared like this: 1 ampoule is dissolved in 2 liters of warm liquid, mixed thoroughly, and then the soil around the plant is watered.
A few weeks later, it is necessary to make the next top dressing, but with a different vitamin, and then with a third.
What else can you feed geraniums during flowering? Magnesium sulfate - has a beneficial effect on blooming geraniums. It cannot be used in its pure form, so a solution is made: 15 grams of the substance will be required for 5 liters of water.
We offer you to watch a video about home feeding geraniums:
What's better on the street?
If the geranium is on the garden plot, you can use fertilizers that are intended for flowering garden plants.
Cow manure is excellent for feeding. Correct application and optimal dosage will allow you to get not only lush buds, but also juicy bright leaves. Also, the flowers themselves will increase in size, which is a good bonus, because at home this is not easy to achieve.
Universal complex fertilizers are often used. They are added to the substrate every 14-18 days. With the onset of cold weather, such feeding is reduced by 2 times.
For good growth
Beginning in early spring, fertilizers containing nitrogen should be applied. Thanks to him, the growth of foliage and rhizomes is activated. Special stimulants are used for active growth: "Heteroauxin" or glucose solution. The soil is fertilized with them once a week.
You can also prepare the remedy yourself. The eggshell contains a large amount of calcium, which favorably affects the growth of the flower. The shell is crushed, filled with water and left for 3 days. Then it is thoroughly mixed and the geranium is poured at the root.
Modern fertilizers for flowering houseplants
The culture is responsive to organic, mineral and organic fertilizers.
You can buy ready-made universal products developed taking into account the characteristics of the mineral nutrition of flowering plants, for example,
- Agricola,
- "Ideal",
- "Floral aquarine",
- "Health turbo for indoor flowers",
- "JOY for indoor flowers".
You can use professional fertilizers for pelargonium:
- "Clear sheet. Fertilizer for petunias, surfinias and pelargoniums ",
- "PLANTON K for pelargonium and other flowering plants",
- “Agronomist pro. Fertilizer for Pelargonium and Surfinia ", etc.
Finished fertilizers are applied according to the instructions, without exceeding the dosage.
What if you did something wrong?
Excess fertilization can lead to root rot
And with a deficiency of nutrients, geranium leaves lose their elasticity and brightness.
If the indoor pet does not bloom, then the flowerpot may be too large or there is an excess of nitrogen fertilizer in the soil.
Overfeeding pelargonium provokes a build-up of green leaves, and the flower stalks, meanwhile, weaken. Recommendations - carefully remove the flower from the pot, gently shake off the soil and make sure that there is no root rot. After it, transplant the geranium into a pot of a different size that is optimal for the root system.
Attention! The transplanted pelargonium cannot be fed for the first 2-3 months. All the food needed at this time is in fresh soil .. Watering the flower after transplanting is necessary in moderation, but regularly
Provide adequate lighting. Avoid temperature extremes and drafts. If these simple rules are followed, in a month, pelargonium will bloom again.
It is necessary to water the flower after transplanting sparingly, but regularly. Provide adequate lighting. Avoid temperature extremes and drafts. If these simple rules are followed, in a month, pelargonium will bloom again.
For the successful cultivation of pelargonium, not only feeding is needed, it is important to know other nuances, for example, how to grow in the garden, how to propagate, including by cuttings and seeds, what pests and diseases are.
Indoor plants need not only proper care, but timely feeding. Fertilizing pelargonium is easy and inexpensive. The main thing is to observe the measure, not to forget about the mineral complex and water with iodine. And the beautiful geranium will delight you with lush and long flowering.
How to fertilize a plant, as well as folk and store remedies for this
The easiest way is to go to a flower shop, where a specialist will advise you in detail and give you recommendations on choosing a high-quality fertilizer designed specifically for geraniums with all its features. Most likely, your choice will be a nutrient solution for flowering houseplants.
To find the perfect top dressing for geraniums, you need to focus on the composition of such trace elements as:
- manganese;
- nitrogen;
- zinc;
- potassium;
- copper;
- boron;
- phosphorus;
- calcium;
- iron.
You can learn more about what to feed and when to use fertilizers here.
Fertilization rules
Based on many years of experience, professional florists have identified several simple rules for fertilizing a pot of geraniums and how to water it so that it blooms magnificently:
If the pot of geraniums is standing still in the sun, you should wait a little while fertilizing
First of all, you should take the pot to the shade and give the plant a couple of hours to recover.
Recommendation! And only after a while, start feeding and apply liquid or granular fertilizer
Such precautions are associated with the fact that in extreme heat this plant is in a state of stress and does not need to be fed with anything else.
It is also important to pay attention to the degree of soil moisture in the geranium pot before applying any kind of fertilizer. This is necessary to avoid painful burns to the roots of the plant.
It is allowed to feed geraniums only in the warm season.
Fertilizers are applied from May to September once every two weeks.
To bloom profusely at home
The wood hall can serve as an excellent feeding of the house. To prepare an aqueous solution for feeding, 1 tablespoon of ash is diluted in 1 liter and poured over the soil in a pot.The water for the solution should be warm, not lower than 20 ° C, so that the particles dissolve as much as possible and give the plant as much useful and nutritious substances as possible.
Iodine, which can be found in every home medicine cabinet, is also useful as a fertilizer for the abundant flowering of indoor geraniums. It speeds up the formation of inflorescences and increases the number and volume of buds. The solution is prepared quite simply: we take 5 liters of warm water and add 1 drop of an alcohol solution of iodine to it.
One bush will be enough for 50 ml of such a top dressing. To avoid burns to the trunk and roots of the geranium, water the soil along the walls of the pot.
You can learn more about feeding with iodine here. A fairly common but effective method is feeding a plant of group B: B1, B6, B12. It is convenient to buy them in glass ampoules. The solution enriched with vitamins is prepared as follows: dissolve 1 ampoule of one of the vitamins in 2 liters of warm water, mix thoroughly and spill the earth around the flower.
After 2.5-3 weeks after the first feeding, a second one is made, but a different vitamin is already used. Then, after the same period of time, it is watered with a composition with a third type of vitamin.
Magnesium sulfate also has a positive effect during flowering. Magnesium sulfate is used not in pure form, but as a solution: 15 grams of the substance is dissolved per 5 liters of water.
In this case, the water temperature should be at least 20 ° C, which allows the crystals to dissolve entirely, and the fertilizer is better absorbed.
For lush growth on the street
Advice! If your beauty lives in the summer cottage or on the balcony of a city apartment, then you can use exactly the same fertilizers as for garden flowering plants.
Cow dung is excellent. With proper fertilization of geraniums with such a means, not only flowering begins, but the leaves become more juicy and vibrant. At the same time, it is still possible to achieve rather large flowers, which is not always possible to do in indoor conditions.
Along with manure, you can use all universal complex fertilizers. They should be brought in every 2-3 weeks. But as soon as it gets colder on the street and it becomes necessary to bring the pot with the plant into the room, the amount of dressings should be halved. This will help the plant adapt better.
To grow well
In the spring, or rather from March, you should start feeding the geraniums with fertilizers that contain nitrogen - this activates the growth of leaves and roots.
At different times of the year
In the spring, geraniums need full dressing every 14 days. Before applying them, the soil in the pot should be well moistened in order to avoid scalding the root system. During this period, nitrogen-containing fertilizing is especially important. In addition, this mineral allows geraniums to recover more quickly after spring pruning.
In the summer, the amount of dressings is halved. During this period, the plant is gaining buds and begins to bloom. Therefore, the need for potash fertilizers increases.
In the fall, fertilizers are applied no more than 1 time in 30 days. These are mainly mineral complexes containing phosphorus.
In winter, the plant is dormant, and therefore should not be fed. Moreover, even the amount of watering is minimized. The air temperature during this period should not exceed +12 degrees.
Fertilizer application tips
- Geraniums, standing on a windowsill on the sunny side, must first be rearranged to a darker place and only then fertilized. In direct sunlight (more than 4 hours a day), the flower is stressed, and therefore it must first be removed from this state - to wait a day.
- After applying fertilizer, the top layer of soil in the pot is carefully loosened so that the proper amount of oxygen can flow to the root system.
- If dry leaves appeared on pelargonium or it began to fade, you should not rush to feed.First you need to figure out what is the reason for the changes. Sometimes this is too frequent watering or, on the contrary, insufficient moisture in the soil in the pot.
- They prepare for transplanting geraniums in advance: about 2 weeks before that, the last fertilization is applied. As soon as the pelargonium takes root in the new pot, feeding can be resumed.
- Before fertilizing, check the degree of soil moisture in the pot. If the soil is dry, abundant watering is necessary.
Attention! If you feed with dry soil in a pot, you can cause severe burns to the root system of the plant.
- Fertilizer is intensively applied only from mid-May to late September.
- It is forbidden to feed geraniums more often than 1 time in 7 days.
- Young shoots require a smaller dose of fertilizers (the usual one is halved).
The best remedies
Fertilizers for any flower crop can be found in specialized stores. And yet, indoor plant lovers often prefer proven folk remedies to purchased chemicals. It has long been known that yeast is used to grow geraniums. Getting into the soil mixture, yeast fungi give an impetus to the increased formation of potassium and nitrogen. These elements are required for active growth.
A yeast feed is prepared as follows: a 20-gram sachet of dry substance is poured into a container with 1 liter of warm water. The contents are mixed and sent to a warm place for infusion for a couple of hours. After the allotted time for infusion, another 5 liters of water are added to the liquid and mixed. The fertilizer is ready for use. Top dressing is performed no more than 3 times. The frequency is a week.
There is another option for yeast feeding. In it, the weight of the main element is halved - up to 10 g. The "vacant space" is occupied by a tablespoon of granulated sugar. The rest of the preparation process is repeated
It is important that the fertilizer must be fresh every time. You cannot store it
3% hydrogen peroxide helps with the yellowness of the foliage. Top dressing is done by spraying and watering. To prepare the solution, a pharmaceutical agent in the amount of 2 tablespoons is dissolved in a liter of water.
Dairy feeding is a wonderful prophylactic agent. The likelihood of flower diseases is reduced if watering with water is alternated with watering with diluted milk. Fertilization requires 100 ml of milk and 1 liter of water. In the pharmacy, you can buy another very useful tool for indoor flowers. This is boric acid. Experienced flower growers have geraniums that bloom profusely thanks to special feeding. Half a gram of powder dissolved in a liter of water works wonders by doubling kidney formation.
Banana lovers don't need to buy potted plant fertilizer. The peel of heat-loving fruits contains a lot of useful elements: potassium, calcium and nitrogen, magnesium and phosphorus. All that is required is to grind the peel and bury it in the ground. After a couple of weeks, the skins will decompose, providing the plant with good nutrition.
Before you bury the fertilizer in the ground, it should be thoroughly rinsed. Bananas are brought to Russia from afar, so that they are preserved, the sellers subject the products to chemical processing. Only after removing the harmful surface film can the peel be used. For the lush foliage of geraniums, banana peels work better than other products.
Succinic acid plays an important role in the life of indoor plants. With its help, you can regulate the development of the flower, protect it from diseases and the accumulation of toxins. And it also helps the plant to survive the most unfavorable times. Succinic acid improves the condition of the soil, helps the process of foliage photosynthesis. The benefits for geraniums will be obvious if you use amber dressing in conjunction with other fertilizers.
Watering rules
The geranium watering regime directly depends on the season. In the summer, when the air temperature is high, the plant needs to be watered frequently and abundantly.It is worth constantly monitoring the earthen lump in the pot, it should not completely dry out.
But at the same time, it is not worth pouring the plant, if the moisture stagnates, this will lead to decay of the roots and it may die. Watering is carried out 1 to 3 times a week - this is optimal for geraniums.
Watch the plant carefully, if gray spots, mold appear on the leaves, the stem begins to turn black, this indicates overflow or stagnation of moisture at the bottom of the pot. Experts advise to drain the water from the pallet after watering so that the earthen lump does not turn sour.
But the lack of moisture also adversely affects the health of geraniums - the leaves become pale, drooping, and the flowering is scarce. By earthen who can be understood when geranium needs watering, since in the summer it can dry out every day or every other day.
As for the winter period, at this time, geraniums, like other plants, have a dormant period, therefore, watering is reduced to a minimum - 1 time in 10 days.
If indoor geranium is constantly waterlogged in winter, the plant may die from root rot.
Our experts have prepared materials for you on how to properly transplant and plant geraniums, choose a pot and soil, and also prune.
Top dressing and additives
In fertilizers, geranium is capricious. An excess of fertilizers and nutrients for pelargonium is destructive.
It is best to use simple one-component and multi-component mineral supplements:
- Potash - ash or mineral fertilizing - needed for good flowering;
- Nitrogenous - necessary in early spring for good growth of greenery, quickly dissolve in the soil;
- Phosphorous - for a good ovary of buds and inflorescences;
- Iodine strengthens the flowering plant, but it must be applied very carefully so as not to burn the roots;
- Magnesium sulphate fertilizer, special for geraniums, providing long and bright flowering.
Trace elements useful for pelargonium include supplements of iron, manganese, zinc, calcium. Copper gives flowering a brighter color, it can change the color of the inflorescences. Useful substances are needed in small quantities.
For complex plant nutrition, you can use ordinary pharmacy vitamins dissolved in water. Take one daily dose of complex vitamins per person and expect it to be enough for a lush geranium bush for the entire feeding season.
Many people ask how to fertilize geraniums if it dies. The answer is simple - nothing. Trim the cuttings, germinate and plant in a new pot with fresh potting soil. Top dressing will not save a dying geranium. You can try replanting the plant into a new pot.
The most common cause of plant disease is overflow, root disease or excess fertilization. Yellow leaves speak of a systemic problem - lack of strength, overflow, soil problems. If the leaves are pale, the plant lacks sunlight. Expose the pot to the sun or place a phyto lamp.
Do not feed geraniums with folk remedies - humus, manure, widely advertised bird droppings. Geranium does not like organic fertilizers, it is not a meadow plant that can assimilate humus and manure. Geranium loves stones, rocks and prefers to benefit from mineral fertilizers.
The feeding regime for geraniums is as follows:
- In the winter and autumn period, feeding is not needed. Generally not needed. Other plants do not need geraniums. Even for the company, even if you have a little left of the total fall fertilization.
- Top dressing of geraniums should be started in spring, with the appearance of the first rays of the warming sun.
- Prepared fertilizers are applied 2 times a month, always after watering, after about an hour, so that the water is well absorbed into the soil. Another option involves making water with a reduced proportion of fertilizer for geraniums and spilling soft fertilizing at the same time as watering.
