- Geraniums should be hidden in wintering before the first frosts, usually at the turn of October and November, placing them in a bright room at a temperature of 5-10 degrees Celsius.
- Before wintering, geranium must be cut by about 15 cm, remove the withered leaves and flowers, and reduce watering to a minimum (once every three weeks), taking care of a slightly moist, almost dry soil.
- Wintering from winter sleep begins at the end of January or at the beginning of February, transferring them to a warmer place (about 15 degrees Celsius), increasing the watering frequency and starting fertilization in March.
- To strengthen geraniums and stimulate them to flowering, you can use homemade conditioners, e.g. from apple cords (diluted with water in a 1: 1 ratio) or mixed potato with water, watering plants once a week or once a month.
You can divide into several groups: discount, large -flowered or flowers with fragrant leaves. Although geraniums come from North Africa, they find themselves in Polish conditions. They are easy to care for and bloom beautifully – only a few conditions need to be met. If we want to enjoy flowers for several years in a row, we must also remember about the proper wintering of geraniums.
Wintering geraniums. When to hide flowers from the balcony?
Storing geranium in winter in a warmer place we start before the first frosts. When the nights become cooler and the temperature drops to the zero. Usually the best moment is the turn of October and November. If the flowers grow in pots, all you have to do is move them to a bright room with a temperature of 5 to 10 Celsius. Geraniums that grow at discounts must be dug and put in a pot filled with drainage, and then cover with fresh soil. It is important to do it carefully and do not damage the shoots and roots. It is best to dig flowers with a large shape of the soil and put them in a pot. Regardless of whether geraniums bloomed in pots or directly in the soil, before wintering, shoots need to be cut by about 15 cm, and removed dry leaves and flowers.
How to protect geraniums against winter?
Storing geraniums through the winter does not require much effort. It is important to remember to keep the right temperature in the room to which we moved the flowers. As we wrote above, this one cannot be lower than 5 degrees C and higher than 10. For the low temperature, it will make the flowers freeze, and too high will stimulate the plant to re -vegetation. Flowers should also have access to natural light. We avoid abundant watering when wintering geraniums. Excessive moisture can lead to crushing plants. However, you must not forget about irrigation of flowers at all. The soil should be slightly moist, almost dry. If geraniums winter in a cool room, just water them once every three weeks. The stems should be strong and green throughout the winter. When wintering geraniums, we care about soil humidity, but we do not fertilize flowers.
Wintering of geraniums in January and February
At the end of January or at the beginning of February, we begin to wake up plants from winter sleep (when we do it later, you have to reckon with the fact that geraniums will bloom later). If we want them to bloom beautifully in spring, let us move the flowers to a warmer room or turn up the temperature in the place where they are. The best is about 15 degrees C. At the same time, we can also increase the watering frequency. In March, it is worth fertilizing geraniums and cutting the tips of the shoots. Thanks to this, the plant will spread and bloom abundantly. In May, we can overdo the flowers to larger pots and take it outside.
Pruning geraniums
Geraniums are best cut in late autumn, just before wintering. Regardless of whether geraniums bloomed in pots or directly in the soil, cut shoots by about 15 cm, and remove dry leaves and flowers. Optionally, flowers can also be cut in early spring, but then we shorten much less, the plant will have less time for regeneration before the flowering season.
Homemade geranium conditioner
To strengthen the flowers and mobilize them to flowering, you can make apple peel fertilizer. Peelings are a valuable source of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, i.e. ingredients necessary for flowering plants. Such a conditioner is easy to do. People with two apples and half a liter of water are enough. Put the skin in a jar, pour it, lightly cover and set aside in shaded places for 3-4 days. After this time, strain the fertilizer. Throw the peels, dilute the conditioner with water in a 1: 1 ratio. We water the soil around geraniums once a week with such a mixture. Another much simpler way is to prepare a potato conditioner. You will need one medium -sized potato, it must be mixed together with two liters of water. Then pour the liquid through the sieve and water it with geraniums. We apply such conditioner to plants once a month.
Watering geraniums
Geraniums like abundant watering. To make them bloom beautifully, you have to do it regularly, and in the heat twice a day – in the morning and evening. However, too high humidity will hurt the plant. Therefore, excess water must have an outlet so that the roots do not rotate. If the flowers on the terrace or balcony are directly exposed to rain, which falls for several days, it is worth considering temporarily transferring plants to a more sheltered place.
How to save the transferred geraniums?
The poured geraniums wither, the leaves become yellow and fall. This is a sign that the rotting process begins, but if we work quickly, we can save flowers. First of all, you need to remove the plant from the pot and view the roots thoroughly. If rot has already appeared on their surface, you should scrape dead parts from the roots, and then overdo the geraniums to a pot filled with a new ground. This is important because the soil from the shed plant is completely devoid of minerals. It is also important to provide flowers with adequate drainage.
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