Royal geranium in the photo - capricious beauty

At the end of the 17th century, an unusually beautiful flower appeared in Europe - geranium or otherwise pelargonium... Due to its unpretentiousness, geranium grew in every home. She easily tolerates frosts on a cold window and in early spring pleases the owners with lush flowers.

Content:

• Features of the royal geranium
• Geranium care
• Possible problems

Geranium came to us from South Africa and has become very popular. Every hostess, seeing a geranium at least in the photo, dreamed of decorating her apartment, balcony, etc. with it. This plant loves fresh air, calmly tolerates rain, heat, dry air, which is why gardening balconies with geraniums is widespread.

Now there are about 250 species of these plants of various shapes and colors.

Features of the royal geranium

Geranium has always attracted with its beauty and beneficial effect on humans. The now fashionable Feng Shui teaching claims that this plant makes a person friendlier, more sociable and helps to achieve their goals.

Among the whole variety of geraniums, one special species stands out, which is distinguished by large beautiful flowers, the absence of a characteristic smell - this is royal geranium... But she is quite whimsical in her care. And if you want the geranium to look like in the photo, you must strictly adhere to the rules for caring for it.

King geranium cannot stand the heat at all. Under the influence of high temperatures, the beautiful geranium stops growing and does not bloom. In winter, the temperature should not be higher than fifteen degrees.

At the same time, it must be borne in mind that this plant still loves the sun's rays. Only they should not be straight, otherwise the geranium will get burns. Also, royal pelargonium does not tolerate rainy and windy weather, so growing it in a garden in summer is problematic. Better to just carry her out of the house in good weather.

In order for geraniums to bloom well, it is necessary to observe the temperature regime in the winter, provide it with additional lighting and rare watering. If these conditions are met, a huge number of flower buds will form on your geranium.

Royal geraniums differ from their relatives even in structure. It is characterized by a wide bush, and the peduncles are located at the same level with the shoots. The flowers are very large - up to 15 cm in diameter. When the royal geranium blooms, the entire bush consists of solid open buds, which gives the impression of a lush blooming ball.

Thanks to the hard work of breeders, Pelargonium royal comes in all shades, from white to dark purple. The shape of the flowers is usually terry; the petals can be wavy or corrugated. The leaves of the royal geranium are also quite large and rough.

Unfortunately, this magnificent flower does not bloom for long. Its flowering period is April-August.

Geranium care

All geranium species love well-drained soil. The soil should be light, loose and slightly acidic. It will be better if geraniums are planted in a mixture of turf and leafy soil with the addition of sand and peat. Drainage must be present so that water does not stagnate.

Geranium needs abundant watering in summer. If geranium leaves turn yellow or wither, then watering is insufficient. This plant loves moist air.Gardeners recommend spraying it in the morning and evening, especially on hot summer days, to keep its leaves beautiful and fresh.

Pelargonium is absolutely not afraid of a change of place, it can be safely transferred, turned, taken out into the street.

Like all flowering plants, pelargonium loves fertilizer. As feeding use liquid mineral fertilizers. Geranium is fed every two weeks. You can also feed it more often if the flower has grown a lot.

Experienced gardeners know to prune geraniums. It is more correct to do this in early spring before the beginning of the growing season. This is necessary in order for the geranium bush to be more lush and have more flowers. Cut shoots can be dried within 1-2 hours and planted in the ground. Do not put them in water and wait for the shoot to take root, so it will rather rot. Beautiful flowers will grow from the new cuttings. This is exactly the way geranium breeds.

There is no point in replanting geraniums, since this plant lives for only 2-3 years. Old plants can no longer produce large flowers, so to continue the life of your geranium, use its cuttings to grow new young plants.

Possible problems

Geranium is practically not susceptible to diseases and pests. Although sometimes it is affected by aphids. If brown spots appear on the leaves, it means that you are waterlogging the plant. Such leaves should be removed and stagnant water should be avoided in the future.

Sometimes dry spots may appear on the leaves. This is due to the dry air in the apartment. Just humidify the air and spray the geranium.

If the leaves wither from the summer heat, it doesn't matter, just remove the plant from the sunny window and water it. But it's worth worrying if the leaves wilt in winter. This means that the problem is in the roots, either they rotted from stagnant water, or there are pests in the roots. Such a plant is needed transplant.

Correct geranium care will provide amazing bloom on your windowsill. In addition to all this, geranium is an excellent medicine for many diseases. Traditional healers do not stop using it for medicinal purposes.