When, how and under what conditions does geranium bloom? We look at the photo of the plant
Any apartment is transformed after the appearance of indoor flowers. Healthy and flowering plants are the key to comfort and a change in the situation for the better.
Why not buy geranium - the most unpretentious flower to care for? Now on sale an incredible variety of varieties of this flower.
Under favorable conditions for growth and development, flowering will be lush and plentiful. Is it hard to create them?
Pelargonium is it?
Geranium or Pelargonium is a plant that grows naturally in South Africa. In this part of the mainland, the climate is harsh. Thanks to the selection work, it was possible to develop varieties and species that are successfully grown in Russia and not only in open ground.
The main thing is to take care of her correctly, but not everyone succeeds. It seems that pelargonium is healthy in appearance, the leaves are large, green and juicy, but the desired flowers do not appear. What is the problem? So that it blooms, they take care of watering, feed with fertilizers and transplant until the ovary appears.
Reference! Among all the geraniums, the most moody is the royal one. It will not bloom when irregularly irrigated ever.For this, home pelargonium is simply put on a balcony / loggia in the spring in a darkened corner and rejoiced at the appearance of bright buds on the stems in a few days.
When and how many blooms?
Experienced flower growers say that the best time for flowering geraniums is spring-summer. In the autumn-winter period, it blooms only if they take care of the lighting.
If you grow it on the "southern" or "western" window sill, the inflorescences do not leave all year round, but at the same time they are not large, lush and soft. After rest, pelargonium blooms more abundantly!
Flowering process and features
Geranium is a houseplant, for the care of which they do not spend a lot of time and effort. She needs special care during flowering. As soon as the ovary appears, they evaluate: will anything prevent the formation of inflorescences.
Why is it important? For example, leaving the cache-pot to be "torn to pieces" by direct sunlight, the flowers will not be bright. In other words, blooming geranium will turn into a weed without taking into account the features from the list below.
- In winter, cool the plant. The main thing is to know the measure in everything: t of indoor air below 10 ° C is unlikely to be good, having contributed to its premature awakening from a state of rest.
- The "south" window is a great place to locate the pots with pelargonium. She loves the sun, but not in abundance.
- Light and nutrition are two prerequisites that flower growers must observe who want to enjoy flowering all year round.
- The more branches, the more places for flowering. Pinch shoots to enhance branching.
- Once the flowers fade, remove them.
- Pelargonium rejuvenates and gains strength for growth with regular pruning.
If geranium is grown from seeds, it will bloom 130-140 days after sowing. This will happen when the plant gains a good vegetative mass.
On a note. Many flower growers sow geraniums in pots in early February to enjoy the beauty of a flowering plant in May.How long will bloom last? How many buds will appear? If you do not follow the geranium, feed it or make fertilizers rich in nitrogen, it will not bloom for 130-140 days. Everything will happen late, and besides, there will be few flowers. This process will be affected by factors: lighting, watering, temperature conditions.
When the amount of phytohormones is sufficient, the laying of the beginnings of flowers will occur. Soon there will appear on the cone an increase in the shoot of exogenous outgrowths. Sepals will form, then the petals.
After the formation of the anther and thread, stamens develop. Carpels look like corymbose leaves on short legs. Their lower side grows more intensively than the upper, as a result of which a cavity with fused edges forms.
In the upper part of the carpel, a column and stigma are formed. These processes occur inside the kidney.
After the flower has developed, pollination must occur. For this, the parts of the plant participating in this process must become free and accessible. It happens in different ways.
If you take out a pot of geraniums in the open air, insects pollinate the flowers. Self-pollination or artificial pollination can also occur. As soon as it happens, the petals and stamens, stylodes and stigmas will fall off.
The calyx will remain, as it is needed to protect the ovary, which then turns into a fetus. The duration of flowering of one flower is 3-10 days, and in one inflorescence there are up to 50 pieces.
About what to do with faded flowers and whether to cut geraniums, read in our material.
How does this happen at home?
Geranium exudes a smell of varying intensity depending on the species. To verify this, take and rub the leaf between the fingers. Immediately the room is filled with a marvelous aroma, and with it, bactericidal substances are released that cleanse and disinfect the air in it.
Note! Pelargonium blooms year-round, the pot with which is exposed on a window facing the south.Flowers appear on the branches, delightfully looking on the background of leaves of various shapes - from solid to cut depending on its type.
More often the leaves are green, but the border is bronze, silver or white. And this beauty is enjoyed daily by 4-5, or even more than 10 years, if the care is competent.
Lemon Pelargonium
Unlike ordinary room geranium, lemon blossoms modestly and rarely, but at the same time light green or white buds are in harmony with luxurious emerald green. Novice growers correct the lack of flowering by fertilizing or rearranging it on the windowsill, drowning in bright daylight.
They do wrong. The main reasons for the lack of buds are heat and excess fertilizer. To remedy the situation, water the plant for slaughter for two days in a row, washing off the excess fertilizer from the roots. Then they return to the previous irrigation scheme.
Photo
Look at the photo how the geranium blooms, including lemon at home.
The necessary conditions
- Temperature. In winter, pelargonium feels good if the air t does not exceed + 13⁰С. If you do not control the temperature, it discards the foliage and exposes the stems.
In summer they obscure it and maintain t in the region of + 18 ° C. Do not place a cache-pot near heating appliances so as not to provoke drying of the soil. In the summer months, the pot is taken out to fresh air or planted in open ground, protected from rain and wind.
- Air humidity. It is forbidden to spray leaves, it is enough just to moisten the soil on time.
- Lighting. Pelargonium prefers diffused light, otherwise the leaves turn yellow or red. If there is not enough sunlight, the long-awaited flowers will not appear.
- Fertilizers It is important to consider the time of year and the rest period. In the spring months they are paid twice a month, and in the summer - once a month. You can not use organic fertilizers for these purposes.
Fertilize the soil with potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus, mixing them in equal doses. It is undesirable to fertilize the earth on hot days and in the winter months.
- Transfer. Pelargonium is transplanted in the spring (about whether it is possible to transplant blooming geranium, when and how to do it, read here). Carefully choose a pot and soil for these purposes. The plant does not like spacious pots. Ideal soil mix: sand + sod or humus. Transfer from pot to pot is carried out carefully so as not to damage the roots and not cause their decay.
- Seed propagation. The seeds collected in the summer are sown in February-March, not forgetting to pour warm water and cover with a film to create a greenhouse effect.
- Cuttings. Cut shoots are placed in a jar of water, and as soon as the roots appear, they are planted in the ground.
- Peace. The duration of this period is 2-3 months. If you do not provide peace, abundant and lush flowering can not be seen.
What care is needed?
Sometimes, even subject to all the above conditions, flowering does not occur. Only radical measures will help, but which ones (how to care for geranium at home so that it blooms can be found here)?
- Providing light access. Rearrange the pot with pelargonium on the "southern" windowsill. With the onset of spring, excess shoots are cut off and all dried parts are removed. Pruning geraniums increases the number of planted inflorescences.
- Peace is the most important condition that is observed when growing pelargonium. By removing the plant from the sunny windowsill and ensuring the air temperature in the region of + 14⁰С, with the onset of spring, 6-10 buds are happy.
- In the spring months, pelargonium is exposed on the balcony to facilitate flowering.
- If the geranium still does not bloom, plant it on a flower bed or put a pot in the garden. Fresh air and natural light will do the job.
- The container should be tight so that unnecessary foliage does not appear.
- In spring, geranium is watered with a weak iodine solution, carefully making sure that the solution does not fall on the stem.
- The topsoil is changed by removing and adding instead a mixture of peat, humus and sand.
Read more about why geranium does not bloom, as well as what to do in this case, read here, and from this article you will learn about why there are flowers, but the leaves do not grow, as well as how to ensure proper care.
Attention! Geranium does not tolerate drying of the soil and excessive watering. She suffers from this, the roots rot.Watering while blooming
The plant loves plentiful watering. It is important to ensure that there is no excess moisture in the earthen coma. If this happens, i.e. the water will stagnate in the pan, the roots will rot. What should be the frequency of watering in the winter months? 1 time per week or even less. In summer, pelargonium is watered more often - 2-3 times a week.
In addition to watering, it is important to feed geraniums. If it grows in the garden, then for abundant flowering, water it with mullein, which contains many nutrients. They collect manure, and then wait until it "ferments".
Then you need to take 1 liter of manure and dilute it with 10 liters of water. It is undesirable to do otherwise, since non-fermented manure is a common cause of plant death.
If there is no place to take manure, they buy universal complex fertilizer in the store. A great choice is the Merry Flower Girl 2-in-1 Multiproduct for Geraniums and Balconies.
They buy it at the end of April, and from May to the end of September they bring it in as it is written in the instructions with a frequency of once every three weeks. Pelargonium is fertilized only if it is not standing in the sun. Otherwise, the nutrients will not be absorbed and pelargonium will become ill.
If the pot of geraniums is standing on an open loggia, to stimulate flowering, water it with iodine. It is advisable that the water be rainy. Two to three drops of iodine are added to it, mixing everything thoroughly.
Before applying this fertilizer, geraniums are watered abundantly with plain water. Otherwise, you can burn the roots. The frequency of irrigation with iodine mixture is once every three weeks.
Miracle fertilizer for pelargonium. Feeding with iodine:
Is it possible to spray?
If the geranium is sprayed during flowering, the buds wither and fall. It pleases flowering without spraying, subject to regular watering.
Conclusion
Care for geraniums is a prerequisite if gardeners want to enjoy beautiful pink, white buds in the spring and summer. He does not take a lot of time. 15 minutes spent on weekly maintenance, a guarantee that there will be no problems with flowering.