Geranium

Geranium family. Homeland South Africa. The genus has about 200 species, among them herbaceous or shrub plants, as well as succulents - caudex pelargoniums. Pelargonia is often popularly called geranium, but in fact Geranium Geranium or Crane is another plant in the Geranium family. This happened because Linnaeus initially attributed both genera to one - Geranium. The separation occurred much later, in 1789, by the French botanist Charles Louis Leritier de Brutel. Although the plant was first introduced to Europe (to the Leiden Botanical Garden) in 1600, and the name pelargonia, from the Greek pelargos (stork) was introduced by Johannes Boorman in 1738.

Pelargonia is one of the most common plants, and, as a rule, pelargonia can be found not in the collection of an experienced amateur florist, but on the windowsill of any grandmother who, not particularly understanding what to plant and how to water correctly, nevertheless, always rejoices in annual fragrant flowers.

Types of pelargonia

• Pelargonium zonal Pelargonium zonale is a shrub with erect, gradually lignified stems, reaches a height of 1 m or more. Leaves are round-heart-shaped, with a wavy edge, green in color with a characteristic dark green wavy pattern in the form of a horseshoe. The stems and leaves are covered with fine pubescence. Inflorescence is an umbrella with simple or double flowers in color from white, pink, to dark red. The original species - a tall plant with simple flowers, but beautiful leaves, immediately aroused the interest of breeders. The result of their several centuries of activity (breeders have been working since the 17th century), there were about 70 thousand varieties to the world. Among them, there are classifications by growth (dwarf, medium-sized, tall), and the shape and color of leaves and flowers. Among them there are even lines exclusively decorative-deciduous with a variegated (several colors) color of leaves. Based on Pelargonia zonal, many hybrids have been bred.

• Pelargonium domestic Pelargonium x domesticum, synonyms: Pelargonium royal Pelargonium grandiflorum - this species is bred specifically, as a houseplant, an interspecific hybrid. Up to about 50 cm high, with rounded large leaves, 7-9 cm in diameter, with a serrated edge. Inflorescence umbrella, on a long peduncle. Flowers are about 5-6 cm in diameter, a variety of colors - lilac, pink, white, purple, etc. Different varieties can be with double and simple flowers, from white to maroon, with and without spots. A characteristic feature for most varieties of this species is the presence of a dark spot or dark stripes along the veins on the lower petals. It blooms from March to July. Pelargonia domestic loves a cool winter, if in winter it was kept in a too warm room, it blooms poorly or does not bloom at all.

• Pelargonium fragrant or strongly smelling Pelargonium graveolens is a shrub-like plant about 70-100 cm high, with pubescent leaves cut into 5-7 parts, having a noticeable aroma of lemon. Each lobe of the leaf, in turn, is strongly cut, from which the leaves seem terry. There are usually many flowers in the umbrella inflorescence, they are not large, pink in color, generally quite nondescript, compared to other pelargonium species.

• Pelargonium curly Pelargonium crispum is a bush about 50-60 cm high, leaves 3-4-lobed, deeply dissected, with a finely toothed white edge, pubescent, green. The flowers are pale pink, with bright pink stripes on the two upper petals, about 2.5 cm in diameter. This pelargonia also has a strong lemon-like smell. Curly is due to the fact that the leaves between the blades break, fold like a fan, and thanks to the serrated edge they also seem curly. By the way, rod trees can be grown from this type of pelargonia. A single trunk at a height of about 15-20 cm is pinched, when lateral shoots appear, they are pinched again after 10-15 cm, etc.
• Pelargonium capitate Pelargonium capitatum - about 80-100 cm, with pubescent leaves, having 3-5 shallow cut lobes with a serrated edge. The flowers are not large, about 2.5 cm in diameter, pink. This type of pelargonia has a rose aroma.
• Pelargonium thyroid or ivy Pelargonium peltatum - ampel pelargonium, hanging stems up to 80 cm long. The leaves are small rounded, pentagonal, almost star-shaped (similar to cuff leaves), green or with a reddish border. Flowers are collected in umbrellas on short peduncles simple or double, depending on the variety white, pink, lilac, red, etc.

Pelargonia care

Temperature: In summer, the usual indoor, in winter cool, optimal about 14-16 ° C, but not lower than 10 ° C. At higher temperatures, pelargoniums grow quickly, but the bushes are elongated, the lower leaves often dry out and die, the stems are exposed from below. Pelargonias need fresh air, so in the summer you will take them out to the garden or to the balcony. In general, almost all pelargoniums are grown everywhere in the summer on balconies. they calmly tolerate temperature fluctuations, even up to 8-10 ° C, love a lot of sun, and are tolerant of blowing the breeze.

Lighting: Pelargonia is light-loving, responding well to direct sunlight. At home, south or west windows suit her. With a lack of light, pelargoniums grow small and bloom not so abundantly, but still grow well in light partial shade. Sometimes the pelargonium leaves turn red from the bright sun, even taking on an almost purple hue. If you rearrange the plant in a less illuminated place, the leaves take on a green color.

Watering: In spring - in summer, plentiful, but by the next watering, the soil should have time to dry in the upper half of the pot. Pelargonias do not tolerate a strong excess of water, and often from this begins a disease called the black leg. To avoid stagnation of water in the roots, good drainage is made in the pot, and loosening components are added to the soil so that it does not stick together and cake (fine expanded clay (2-3 mm), vermiculite). Watering is rare in winter, depending on the temperature, but the soil should dry up to the next watering in the upper 2/3 of the pot. It can be once every 7-10 days. And if pelargonia stands on the balcony throughout September and October, then they water it rarely and little by little, about once every 3 weeks.

Pelargonium feeding: In the period of active growth from March to August in two weeks, liquid fertilizer for flowering houseplants (fertica luxa or agricola for flowering). If there is a lack of nutrients in the soil, then young leaves grind, chlorosis may be observed. The dose of fertilizer is taken as recommended in the instructions. At the very beginning of growth in spring, the first two feeding can be carried out with organic matter (for example, based on horse manure), but large doses of nitrogenous fertilizers can cause rooting and a tendency to bacteriosis or spotting. Therefore, you should not be zealous with top dressing.

Humidity: Pelargonia do not need spraying, they calmly tolerate dry air.

Flight connections

Transplantation is carried out as needed in the spring, young plants annually. In old large bushes that are transplanted every two years, it is possible to replace the upper layer of the earth without transplanting the plant itself, especially if a white-red salt coating appears on it. The pelargonium pot should not be too large, as pelargonium blooms better if the pot is slightly cramped. Pelargonia grows on almost any fertile soil. One of the options for the soil mixture is the 1 part of the turf, the 1 part of the leaf, the 1 part of the humus, the 1 part of the sand and the 1/2 of vermiculite. The soil from the store usually contains one peat and mineral additives - it is too poorly nutritious for pelargonium, in which a huge amount of energy goes into abundant flowering. Therefore, it is necessary to add compost soil (well-rotted compost) and baking powder to the purchased soil. If there is no place to get compost, then at least in the universal soil from the store it is necessary to add 1/5 part of vermiculite, 1/5 sand and 15 granules of "giant-universal" fertilizer per pot with the plant. Care after transplantation consists in shading for the first 3-4 days, watering the same as usual. Feeding is resumed only 1.5 months after transplantation.

Pelargonia propagation by cuttings

In late winter or late summer, cuttings root better.

Propagation of pelargonia by seeds, advice from professionals, fraoola:

The soil for sowing should be loose, moisture and breathable, disinfected. Seedlings and seedlings are very susceptible to black leg disease, so all precautions should be taken in the first stages of plant development. It is recommended to use loose top peat or a mixture of peat with perlite (can be replaced with sand), sheet earth with humus, peat and sand. A good, fairly sterile substrate is pure perlite, which is poured in a thin layer over the soil mixture or it is used to cover crops. It is possible to treat the prepared substrate with fungicidal drugs.

Freshly harvested seeds have the best germination. At the same time, their hard shell greatly complicates germination, shoots are often sparse, the germination period is extended. To avoid such troubles, it is necessary to scarify the seeds. To do this, seeds cleaned from bats are mashed with fine-grained sandpaper, while not only the cover scales are removed, but also the dense covers of the seed are partially damaged.

Scarified seeds are sown dry (you can pre-powder them with fundazole powder) in boxes, on racks or in pots. Sprinkle with a thin layer of substrate. At a temperature of 18-22 ° C and regular spraying of the soil, mass shoots are observed after 7-10 days. Without pre-sowing treatment, seed germination stretches for up to three months. After emergence, the soil is maintained in a moderately wet state. For prophylaxis, once every 7-10 days, seedlings are treated with 0.2% fundazole solution.

The seedlings are usually dived after 1-1.5 months. On the eve of the dive, the substrate is again poured with 0.2% fundazole. With the help of a peg, seedlings are removed from the substrate and placed in boxes or in the ground of the rack, with a small amount, each seedling is placed in a separate pot, plastic glasses can be used. The composition of the land mixture can be the same as for sowing seeds.

Seedling care consists in careful watering, loosening, airing and preventive treatment with pesticides in the indicated doses. The temperature must be maintained in the range from 18 ° C to 22 ° C. 1-1.5 months after picking seedlings, they are planted in pots with a diameter of 10-14 cm, depending on the habitus of the plants. At the same time, it makes sure that the plants are at the same depth as before, seedlings should in no case be buried .

Transplants are better tolerated by larger plants. After transplantation, heavy watering is carried out, later its intensity is reduced. Health-improving watering is carried out periodically using weak solutions of fungicides. The soil in the pots is regularly loosened. Pelargonium grows very quickly. To prevent its bushes from stretching and having a more correct shape, pots with plants must be regularly turned to the light source.