Geranium in winter: care at home. How to care for geraniums on your windowsill

Who among us does not remember the grandmother's geranium? This flower is the embodiment of home warmth and coziness, he decorated the apartment for many generations. Among the ornamental flowers there are very few representatives, so unpretentious as geraniums.

In the winter, home care becomes a little more difficult, but you do not need to be an expert in the field of floriculture to grow a beautiful plant. By the way, if you do not already know, it's called pelargonium correctly. And if to be extremely precise, then this is a genus of pelargonium, which unites about 250 species of plants of the Geranium family.

Geranium - home healer

This beautiful flower used to be on the windowsill in every house, today it is quite difficult to meet it. Many do not like its specific smell, others prefer ornamental-deciduous plants. In fact, having a pot of geraniums at home is very useful. The essential oils emitted by the leaves can create a natural barrier to pathogens and viruses. But that's not all, flower growers know how hard it is to treat your home garden when it is attacked by aphids. Especially often these parasites are raging during the cold season. Therefore, the real salvation is geranium in winter. Care at home is minimal, and set next to other colors (such as fuchsia, which is often affected by aphids), it protects them.

Conditions of geranium content, temperature regime

Almost the whole year the flower feels fine at the most usual room temperature. It does not require hothouse conditions and is generally surprisingly unpretentious. A little more attention is required by geraniums in winter. Care at home for her requires a cooler regime of maintenance, about +10 degrees. Optimal to take a pot of plant in a cool room, if this is not possible, then you can safely do and the window sill, from the glass always pulls cold. The main thing - make sure that the leaves do not touch the window.

It is especially important to observe this condition if you are growing a royal geranium, known for its beautiful flowers. It is very demanding for winter conditions, at a high temperature (+20 and above), the plant can discard all the buds. Therefore, +10 degrees is the maximum (you can lower the temperature to +4), which accepts geranium in winter. Care at home also involves ensuring good lighting, so the basement is not suitable. If you have pots at the north window, then additional artificial lighting is required. A separate issue is watering the plant in winter, but we'll talk about this a little later.

An alternative way of keeping

For residents of the apartment is often an insoluble problem providing a cool room for your beloved Pelargonium. Another method was invented by experience. The plant hibernates in the room, as close as possible to the windows, and with the onset of spring, as soon as the air temperature rises to +2, start putting the pots on the balcony. First take out for 2 hours, and then gradually increase the residence time in the cold. This option will ensure a beautiful flowering geranium. In principle, the plant is unpretentious, which means it can blossom without such tweaks, but no one will give you a 100% guarantee.

Lighting conditions

Quite few houseplants are so fond of sunlight, like geraniums. How to care for geraniums at home, you can understand intuitively by observing the state of the flower. In many sources, information is given that it normally tolerates a shadow. Indeed, the plant will not die, but it will look very bad, and flowering will stop. Even the leaves in the shade become shallow, unlike the luxurious water lilies of a healthy flower. By rearranging the pots in the bright sunlight, you can see that pelargonium turns into a luxurious, abundantly flowering plant.

This plant is not afraid of direct sunlight, so you can safely put it on the balcony for the summer or drop it into the open ground. In the autumn, you can dig a grown up bush and put it back in the pot. Only ivelistnaya pelargoniya does not like direct sunlight, so it's better to pritenyat. But the beautifully blossoming royal geranium will be grateful for sunbathing.

Watering plants

Now we'll talk about how to water geranium. How to care for geraniums at home, you probably already know in practice, because this plant is so unpretentious that you need to try very hard to ruin it. But to ensure rapid growth and flowering is impossible without observing a number of rules.

Pelargonium is very fond of sunlight and regular watering, while ensuring that there is no excessive waterlogging of the soil. The easiest way to adjust this mechanism is by selecting a good light soil and drainage system. Stagnation of water at the roots leads to the death of plants, especially this process takes place in miniature forms.

Caring for geraniums in winter requires restrictions in watering. It is necessary to ensure minimum soil moisture and prevent drying out of the roots. Spray geranium should not even in the height of summer. She loves the dry air.

Top dressing of plants

Like all ornamental plants, it needs regular soil enrichment and geranium room. Care at home involves the introduction of fertilizers from March to August. It should be remembered that a large amount of potassium and phosphorus is required for flowering, while excess nitrogen is harmful to pelargonium. From its overabundance geranium can stop growing. With a lack of nutrients, geranium will suffer from leaf chlorosis. It does not tolerate fresh fertilizers (manure), therefore, complex preparations should be used for flowering plants, which are in large quantities on sale.

Do not make fertilizing for four weeks after the transplant, as well as in the winter. Last, autumn, the introduction of fertilizers will provide the vegetative part of the plants with everything necessary for growth until the very spring.

Transplantations

It is necessary to select the optimal size of the pot, since a small amount of it stimulates flowering. But if you see the roots that protrude through the drainage holes, then it's time to pick up the pot more. If the growth of a young plant occurs very quickly, then it is necessary to transplant several times a year, but the season does not really matter. Each time you need a pot only 1.5 cm larger than the previous one. Plant the plant immediately in a large pot - doom it to illness. Clay pots are the best choice , but it should be borne in mind that the earth dries out faster.

Formation of a bush

Often people are disappointed when they grow an ugly plant with broken shapes. In fact, this is a feature of pelargonium, with which one should be reckoned. Regular pruning is necessary. If this is not done, the plant will stretch out, it will less readily bloom, in addition, uncircumcised geranium is prone to various diseases.

Zonal varieties need the most pruning, and it must be calculated that at least 3 months must pass from this procedure to flowering so that a flower bud can form. It is usually pruned in autumn using sterile tools. Do not forget to ask your friends who need a room geranium. Care at home, reproduction is not difficult or burdensome, and just at the time of pruning you will be able to share cuttings.

Reproduction of a plant

As already mentioned, cuttings are used for this. Some growers recommend choosing the time for planting, namely August-September, but in fact, the procedure is timed to plant young plants. In general, it is possible to make planting throughout the year, this possibility is provided by unpretentious geraniums. Requires a minimum for a plant such as geranium, care. At home, reproduction, flowering will pass without problems, if you pay enough attention to your green friend. No special skills from you will not be required.

In order to grow a new flower, you need to take a fresh stem 10-15 cm long. In the most miniature varieties, a stem about 2 cm in length can be used. It leaves no more than 4 leaves and is allowed to lie down in the open air for a couple of hours to dry. After that, he is put in a small glass and placed in a warm and bright place for rooting. After about three weeks, the first roots will appear, after which it will be possible to transplant the young geranium into a more spacious pot.

Home geranium care , illness and treatment

Many diseases and parasites bypass the geranium side, but there are pests that do not smell its peculiar smell. Most often on the pelargonium settles a whitefly. If there are few parasites, then the plant is treated with a soap solution and covered with a film, but if the lesion is serious, then you will have to resort to chemicals that are on sale a lot. Appear on geraniums and spider mites. Fighting them is possible only with the use of special preparations.

The fungal disease that is very common on this plant is the so-called black leg. It affects both young and adult plants, and the reason for the appearance is overmoistening and poor drainage system.

The plant grows poorly - what is the reason?

In a number of cases, mistakes made by the gardener cause plant diseases. If the leaves fly from the branches, the lower part of the geranium is exposed and the flowering is delayed, then, most likely, it does not have enough light. A huge, lush shrub with a complete absence of flowering is usually obtained with an overabundance of fertilizers. If the geranium yellow leaves are lower, then you need to pay attention to watering. Surely it is irregular, or the soil is too sandy, quickly drying out. If the leaves dry, and watering is normal, then, perhaps, the air temperature is too high.

Let's sum up the results

As you can see, care of homemade geranium is quite easy. Diseases, reproduction, watering and top dressing - what causes so many difficulties for florists while breeding capricious tropical flowers, is not a problem in the cultivation of pelargonium. Care is intuitively simple, drugs for treatment are freely sold on sale. The only thing that can cause some difficulty is the pruning and formation of a beautiful bush. For the first time it is better to resort to the help of an experienced florist.