features of growing Gerniums

November 22, 2023November 21, 2023 Farmer authors 0 Comments

How to Grow Geraniums?

The beauty of each place relies on the plants growing there to high extents; it could be a country, city, neighborhood, or even your house.

Are you looking for some flowering plants to make it beautiful in your window box all summer? Well, geraniums are what you should try, my friend!

But how to grow geraniums? How long are those going to stay on their feet? Is it hard to take care of them? What is the biggest challenge in the way of geranium keepers?

In case you want to know the answer, follow the essay!

Something about Geraniums

Being informed about the plant you are trying to grow is one of the most important things you should consider; the more you know about it, the better you can grow geraniums later.
Geraniums, also known as pelargoniums, are breathtaking plants in the beauty and scent of summer. Rise quickly and show a pack of colorful flowers right below your windows.
Depending on their species, they can grow almost everywhere, including terracotta pots, traditional bedding displays, and even hanging baskets, so space cannot be an issue.
Some special geraniums, called scented-leaf geraniums, are sold as herbs since the leaves are edible and benefit customers.
Knowing how to grow geraniums might look scary, but once you know how, you have beautiful, scented, and stunning flowering plants all over your property.
Note that they’re annual and primarily found in small to average sizes in northern America, which means after a year, they’re done, but that should satisfy you as long as it’s pretty.
Red, orange, pink, and white are only a few colors you can see; of course, sometimes you can see their colors combined, making them look more mature and exciting than before.
In the way of growing geraniums process, there is even a kind that once you start rubbing the leaves, it will be scented; however, doing it less is not recommended by experts.

Geranium or Pelargonium? Which one is better?

Now, there is a widespread, old mistake you must know about to avoid; back then, at the beginning of the 18th century, Dutch traders brought some geraniums from South Africa.
That was introduced to Europe and became the popular geranium we know today; however, they look the same as the hardy wild geraniums of Europe, and botanists consider them the same thing.
But later on, in 1753, it came to the attention that these new African geraniums were technically different from those already existing in Europe, and so was the growing geranium process.
However, the name remains, which is why many people, including you, might say geranium while he means pelargonium! It’s pretty untreatable, but it matters when you buy it.
So, before everything, you must ensure it’s the geraniums you are trying to know about, not the pelargonium. Do not worry; they are relatively easy to distinguish from each other.
The shape of their petals, the number of stamens, and other factors are all you can pay attention to make sure what you are looking at right now, but guess what? That is not all!
You can still ask the seller to give you more information about how to grow geraniums, their origins, or even the fact that you are buying geranium in the first place!

What are Some advice on buying geraniums?

Purchasing a healthy, affordable, and green geranium is always the first step in growing geraniums in summer; you should be wise when buying it to prevent any regret.
Plant centers and nurseries are two of the most reliable options you have as usual, so you should get in one of those and buy one; however, note that some specialist nurseries are better.
They might give you more buying options! On the other hand, if you want to buy it online, ensure you are receiving the plant healthy and without any problem.

How to Plant Geraniums?

Now, please note that planting and growing geraniums are two of the most difficult challenges you must overcome, but how many things does it depend on? Let’s embark and find out!

Now, three factors define the planting: its timing, location, and how it’s done; these all should be based correctly in the first place to have a successful planting.

Each of these can be important somehow, so knowing how to do it the way they are meant to be done is what you need to learn in this part of the essay:

When to plant Geraniums?

The most critical parameter in the timing of the planting geraniums successfully is the temperature, so you should know they are very sun-lovers and cannot stand low heat weather.
That means they need to be sun-exposed enough daily, and again, that requires a lovely hot summer, but note that in some regions, even the summer has cool nights!
If you notice that it’s lower than 13 degrees out there, you should bring it back home or somewhere warmer; in the winter, things get even more challenging!

Where to plant Geraniums?

Geraniums are flexible to grow when it comes to planting location; since they are not very gigantic, wherever you grow them, they can still be transferred regarding situations.
That does not mean you are allowed to leave it in the glass, under direct sun exposure, in the summer, so it’s still a good idea to keep an eye on its conditions and change it if necessary.
It should not be acidic soil, which is fine; a little alkaline soil does not make it unstable and rugged to grow!

How to plant Geraniums?

In case you want to know how to plant and grow geraniums, the first thing you need to do is to provide a suitable foundation for that; what we suggest is a partly large vase.
Because the large vase will have enough space for the root, it won’t deal with any rotting later on, so by using it, you are avoiding big and common trouble.
In addition, you also need to use compost to boost your plant, so you should spend some time looking for compost or organic matter to help your plant grow properly.
Geraniums are not good with heavy or moist soil, so you can check on the ground occasionally to ensure roots are refined, growing, and absorbing minerals.
Do not plant them compactly; they need some air streaming through them. The same thing would go for the root, which means the basis would also need more space to grow under the ground.
A great point in planting and growing geraniums is that you should change its place yearly, making it less likely to deal with pests or practice crop rotation!

How to care for geraniums?

The more you know about how to care for and grow geraniums, the more you can help your plant look better, so that is why you will see some related points in this section.
Note that if you plan on planting your geranium in the ground, it’s essential to keep it cool, so here is what you can do: leave a layout of mulch on the soil, and it will work.
Give it some time between watering so that the soil has enough time to get dry to some extent, and then you can go for the next watering, but take your time.
However, soil with too much moisture will damage your plant way more than dry soil; that is all you need to know about geranium growth and planting watering.
There is a helpful tip here to determine whether your plant needs to be watered; you can shave the end of your finger in the soil, and if up to 1 inch is dry, it needs watering.
How you water the water also matters so much; note that you should not let the leaves and other organs of the plant get wet; just the soil around it is enough for disease prevention.
Deadheading is the next thing you should be watchful for blossoming all summer; you can do it more often after heavy rain or strong blossoming to encourage the plant.
You need to fertilize the soil all along with the growth-activated months regularly. Do it at least once every two weeks so that it will be strong enough to grow the geraniums better.
You need to avoid fertilizing in the winter since the plant is resting, and that would be pointless; on the other hand, the best months for doing that are undoubtedly summers, the activating time.
One more thing about winter you need to pay attention to: your beloved plant might need less watering. However, you can always ensure the roots are not all dried, which is terrible.
Winter can prepare your geranium fully for some long and beautiful months ahead, with less watering and no root raising.

How do you take care of geraniums overwintering?

Since the geranium is a summer-lover plant, knowing how to take care of it during the cold months of the year is as important as the warm months; that’s why we bring up this part.
Let’s start with the geraniums that have spent the summer outside of the house; these can remain outdoors, providing you sunlight all day; this way, they can stand the coolness.
Overwintering in the geranium growth has always been challenging depending on the climate since, in some regions, sunlight might not be strong enough to stimulate buds for blossoming.
What you do before the first fall frost matters so much; you can cut the stems using a knife up to 6 to 8 inches because they cannot support the bushy leaves with the bit of weak sunlight they receive.
You can also save a few stems as cutting to root here; in addition, note that you need to move the mother plant to the minimum size pot, as big as to fit all roots, with no further space for growing them.
You can keep the plants in the shadow for a week in a row, then let them receive some sunlight, as they need that even in the winter; it matters in geraniums growing during the winter season.
During the winter, you can keep their temperature somewhere between 10 to 16 degrees, because they would reais the best in this temperature in the winter, so keep it in mind.
However, they can still survive in the lower down to 0 or maximum up to 27 degrees, providing you keep them dry well, even though their growth would not be perfect.
Once spring arrives, you should chop off all the old leaves, then the plant will be encouraged even more to produce new buds, which will blossom.
Remember, fertilizing the geraniums during winter growth is a mortal mistake and over-watering since you must let it take its time and rest to prepare for the following year.
After you finish the overwintering, it’s a great time to move them back to the open environments and let them enjoy the fresh air and the pleasant temperature.
It’s also recommended to start fertilizing and switch the soil and vase; they are about to restart growth again.

How to harvest geraniums?

The good news is that in most cases, geraniums root easily from stem cuttings in many places, including water, soil, perlite, and even other rooting material, so it’s not such a big deal to do.

Alright, guys, it matters so much to use a clean and sharp knife, then make four slices in the buddy of the stem, or you can also use the ones you have kept from the winter and then use it.

Use a vase made of plastic, and add some compost to the soil so you can start watering the cuts; this makes them more prepared for the bugging of their exciting journey.

When it comes to planting them, you can go only 1 centimeter deep in the compost and do it; if case you go any deeper, there is a slight possibility of failure, which is why you should be accurate.

Finally, leave the vases in a warm place but away from sunlight for a while.

How to protect geraniums?

As it’s referred to before, these are good enough to be considered as some herbals; that is why you can put them in some gentle bleeding of any part of your body to see if it’s helping to stop that.
In case you are worrying about bugs, the good news is that it’s toxic for Japanese beetles, so that is why geranium growth and pesky pests are not good with each other at all costs.
These are mostly not edible because they cause pain, indigestion, or vomiting! That is why you must keep it away from any curious pet, kid, or anyone wanting to eat it.
However, in case you are wondering to taste it, there are plenty of them out there you can provide, and have some that are good for the body in general; it’s interesting, isn’t it?!

Diseases & pests

What are the pests and diseases in the geranium growth? Well, as long as you do not overwater it, or there is not any heavy rain pouring on it, there must not be any serious problem.

However, there are some signs to find out whether you are watering too much or too low, and that is the brown spots that appear on the leaves during the warm seasons off and on; watch for it.

Some common pests that might damage your plant are mealybugs, whiteflies, and spider mites! But do not worry about that; all you need is a spray.

Generally speaking, geranium is one of the best flowering plants with the highest consistency, making it an ideal choice for novices.

Final words

Incredible colors, average size, and beautiful blossoms are only three reasons people might want to grow these flowering plants in various parts of their house; what are your reasons?

Now that you know how to grow geraniums, what is essential in this process? What is the biggest challenge you need to try to deal with? Are you ready for that?

What makes you think geraniums are the best option for designing your house or kitchen?

Seeing people sharing your ideas in the comment section would be amazing.