How garden geranium reproduces
Geranium propagation is carried out by cuttings, seeds and the method of dividing the bush.
Germinating seeds
The seed method is used quite rarely, since it is very laborious and does not always give a positive result:
- Collected or purchased seeds are laid out on a nutritious soil, slightly pressed with a finger, and do not go deep.
- The soil is moistened with a spray bottle, the container with the planting material is covered with a film or glass. Place the container in a warm place.
- The film must be opened daily to ventilate the ground. Watering is carried out as needed, when the topsoil dries out.
When several full-fledged leaves appear on the seedlings, they can be planted in the garden. To get abundant flowering by summer, seedlings must be prepared in February. When to plant geraniums in open ground in spring, it depends on the weather conditions - there should be no night frosts.
Attention! In order not to miss the moment of ripening of the capsule, you can put a paper bag on it, since the seeds are very easily scattered with the wind.
Geranium seeds
Rooting cuttings
Geranium in the open field for the summer can be propagated by cuttings. This is the easy way:
- Several shoots are cut from an adult plant.
- Cuttings are placed in a container of water, which is placed in a warm room.
The roots will begin to form in about 2-3 weeks. Another way is to treat the cut with a biostimulant of growth, and then deepen it into a moist soil mixture.
Planting geranium seedlings on the street and caring for them does not give the gardener any special trouble. The main condition is the absence of frost, stable, warm weather.
Dividing the bush
The advantage of this method of breeding geraniums is that it is very light and helps to rejuvenate the mother bush. Time of the event - March-April or the end of August:
- The plant is dug up, damaged parts of the root system are removed.
- The rhizome is divided into parts, each must have at least 1 bud.
- Divided rhizomes must be planted in a nutritious soil, watered.
Geranium transplant
Time is spring or autumn. Landing at a new place is carried out by the transshipment method: it is necessary to save a lump of old earth around the roots on a dug-out bush. You need to add fertilizer to the new hole.
Transplanting geraniums is highly discouraged; it can destroy an adult plant.
Step-by-step instruction
Moving into the soil by the rhizome
It often happens that after the winter period, the stems of geraniums are strongly elongated - it loses its decorative appearance. There is a way out - to transplant the plant into open ground, cutting off all the shoots, leaving hemp 5-10 cm.Proceed as follows:
- Pruning geraniums with a sterile tool.
- Treat the sections with an antiseptic.
- Moisten the soil in the flowerpot.
- Prepare a bed and dig holes corresponding to the size of the root system.
- Carefully remove the geranium along with the earthy clod.
- Put the roots in the hole and sprinkle with earth, slightly compacting the soil around the bush.
- Drizzle with warm water.
Seedlings
Geranium seedlings are planted in open ground in mid-May, when the probability of morning frost is minimal. Plants are planted in a prepared bed at a distance of 10-20 cm from each other and watered abundantly. For the first 2 weeks, the seedlings are shaded from direct sunlight, while you need to make sure that the soil in the garden does not dry out.
Seeds
If a decision is made to grow geraniums from seeds, then you should take care of this at the end of January, at the beginning of February, this is the only way you will get a flowering plant in the summer.
In order to sow seeds you need:
- Prepare a seedling container and appropriate soil - you can buy seedling soil from a store.
- Pour good drainage on the bottom of the box, then a layer of soil.
- Seeds are spread over the surface at a distance of 5 cm from each other and sprinkled with a small layer of earth.
- Moisten the soil by spraying and equip a small wig by covering the box with plastic wrap.
- After 2 weeks, the first shoots will appear, the film must be removed at this time and the container with the seedlings should be placed in a warm, bright place, but without direct sunlight.
As soon as the time for planting in open ground comes up, the seedlings are planted as described earlier.
How to transfer from a pot to the street?
Consider how to plant a plant from a pot into the ground. As soon as all the preparatory work has been completed, you can start planting geraniums in open ground. When transplanting an adult flower, the rhizome is preliminarily treated with a stimulating substance. You can buy it at a flower shop, but you need to use it strictly according to the instructions. The algorithm of actions for planting geraniums in open ground is as follows:
The earth needs to be dug up to a depth of 35 cm.
Spread the compost over the entire surface of the dug-up bed in a layer of 10 cm, and mix it well with the top layer of soil.
The hole must be of a certain depth - at least 25 cm
In this case, you need to pay attention to the roots of the plant.
Put a mixture of peat, garden soil and sand at the bottom of the hole - you can buy it ready-made in the store.
Carefully remove the plant from the flowerpot, taking care not to damage the root system.
Place the geranium roots in the prepared hole and sprinkle with earth, slightly compacting the soil around the bush.
Sprinkle moderately with warm water .. When planting a number of plants, it is worth observing the distance between the bushes - optimally from 45 to 60 cm, depending on the type of geranium.
When planting a number of plants, it is worth observing the distance between the bushes - optimally from 45 to 60 cm, depending on the type of geranium.
Preparing for landing
In order for geranium to bloom actively and for a long time, it is necessary, first of all, to choose the right material for planting and the place where the flower bed will be.
Geranium garden planting and care, which is simple, must receive a sufficient amount of nutrients for normal development.
The work begins with the purchase or cultivation of seed material. If you want to propagate the plant by rhizome, then you need to buy it in February, when the buds wake up. The piece should be free of damage and other defects.
The material is placed in a container with soil and in a cool place. When choosing a place for planting geranium seedlings, you need to make sure that tall plants grow in flower beds. Low species can be planted as curbs.
Soil preparation
Since geranium is not capricious, you can plant it anywhere in the garden. However, if possible, it is better to plant on more fertile, nutritious and light soil to ensure a beautiful flowering of the bushes.
Before planting, the selected area is dug deep enough. Then nutrients are added to the soil. If manure is used, then you need to make sure that it is fresh, as this is detrimental to plants.
It is best to plant geraniums outdoors in the second half of May. The soil is prepared a few days before planting. The pits must be made deep, since the roots of the plants are long. The distance between the holes should be about thirty centimeters. This is enough for the normal development of geraniums.
A drainage layer is laid at the bottom of the pits. This will help prevent stagnation of water and damping out of the geranium root system. As drainage, fragments of bricks, gravel and small stones are used. The drain is closed with a mixture of peat and sand.A rhizome is placed on the prepared base, which is covered with sand and watered abundantly. The surface near the planted plant is covered with mulch.
Geranium in the flowerbed
Ornamental varieties of geraniums were bred from the ancestors of this plant living in meadows and meadows. The flower has adapted well to the conditions of the wild, it is unpretentious and tenacious. Breeders noticed that the bush has beautiful carved leaves, which themselves can serve as a decoration for flower beds in the garden in the period between flowering, and have created many different varieties of an ornamental plant. The color of the inflorescences is very diverse: blood-red, white, lilac - any, except for yellow and orange. You can plant one branch in the country, provide good care, and it will begin to grow and soon turn into a lush openwork island. There is one drawback - fragile stems, but scientists are dealing with this problem and have already created species whose beauty will not be spoiled by rain or strong winds.
Why, among the huge number of perennial ornamental plants, do many owners of summer cottages like garden geraniums? If you have the time, energy and desire, you can plant orchid roses and even completely exotic flowers, accustomed to the tropical climate.
And a person who comes to the dacha only on weekends and is forced to have time to pay attention to the garden, and the vegetable garden, and the flower garden in 2 days does not have the opportunity to provide difficult care for capricious pets. He needs decorative crops:
- For many years they grew in one place and did not require annual planting.
- They were not afraid of drought and did not require daily watering.
- They tolerated frosty winters well.
- They did not get sick and were not attacked by pests.
- Didn't require weeding.
- They bloomed for a long time, but they had an attractive appearance and without flowers.
All these qualities are possessed by perennial garden geraniums. Simple care, endurance and beauty of the plant attract the sympathy of summer residents to it.
There are many varieties of ornamental bush. By combining different varieties, you can create an interesting composition covered with multi-colored bunches all summer long. While the plants are still young, and the leaves do not cover the entire area, one-year-old pelargonium will help fill the empty soil. They need about the same care, and in appearance, pelargonium does not differ much from geranium and does not violate the style of the flower garden.
Landing
Gorgeous geraniums are grown in the open field in the form of single plantings on lawns. Since the plant is sterile (does not produce fruits and seeds), planting work is carried out only by dividing the rhizome.
- Pour a mixture of peat, earth, sand in equal proportions into the prepared recesses.
- Plant the plants, observing an interval of 40 cm between them.
- Moisten the soil a little and lay a mulch layer of sawdust.
Lighting and location
For the full growth and development of a plant, a temperature regime of 15 degrees Celsius is required. The culture does not tolerate direct exposure to sunlight, so it is better to plant it in partial shade. The ideal place is lawns, flower beds, garden plots.
Soil requirements
It should contain peat and sand, which have a positive effect on the growth of the flower.
Watering. Gorgeous geranium prefers moderate but regular soil moisture
This is especially important in the first months after transplanting, when the culture needs a lot of strength to root in a new place.
Water the plant as the top layer of the soil dries out. Increase the amount of moisture in the summer. For these purposes, use only settled and warm water. This flower does not need spraying.
Loosening and mulching
However, the soil should always be loose and light, therefore, after watering, once every 2-3 weeks, it is necessary to work the soil with a tool. It is also necessary to add mulch from time to time, which makes the process of moisture evaporation slow. Nutrients must be added every 2 weeks.This will start in March and end in November. A ready-made geranium nutritional formula sold in a specialist store is suitable for feeding. You can use traditional medicine:
- Dilute 1 drop of iodine in 1 liter of water. Add the composition 50 ml at a time. It is better not to increase the dosage, as this can burn the rhizome.
- Dissolve 100 ml in milk in 1 liter of water. Use the resulting solution to water the plant. Carry out the procedure once a month, alternating with regular beer.
- Combine 20 g of dry ash with the ground or dilute in 1 liter of water. This top dressing replenishes potassium reserves.
- At the pharmacy, you can buy vitamins B1 and B6 in ampoules. To prepare the solution, you must first take B1 and dissolve in 2 liters of water. The resulting solution is used for watering the soil with geraniums. After 2.5 weeks, you need to use vitamin B6, which is also diluted with water and water the plant.
You can not use organic matter for feeding geraniums, since she does not like it. The magnificent geranium does not like transplants, although it does not really need them. It is recommended to do this only when the roots begin to show up from the drain hole of the pot.
The pot should be 1-2 cm larger than the previous one. If you take a container that is too spacious, then the plant will give a lot of branched shoots, but there will be no flowering.
Pruning. With the onset of autumn, the magnificent geranium must be pruned. All stems that grow not from the root, but also from the shoot are subject to removal. The foliage is also cut, leaving only 7 leaves. If a lot of foliage has formed in winter, then pruning will also need to be done in the spring. With the beginning of the growing season, it is necessary to pinch after the 4th leaf. Pruning is not carried out in winter.
