How to properly grow geraniums at home from seeds?

Pelargonium (aka geranium) is an unpretentious plant native to South Africa, it serves as a wonderful decoration for a garden, balcony, room. Many people practice growing geraniums at home from seeds, but it should be noted that only zonal pelargonium reproduces in this way. What soil does a flower like, when to plant it and how to properly care for it?

Sowing preparation

Pelargonium loves loose, sufficiently air and moisture permeable, neutral, slightly alkaline soil. Therefore, before starting cultivation, it is necessary to properly prepare the earthen mixture. Several options can be used:

• peat, compost, humus, sand (proportions 1: 1: 1: 1);
• peat, sand, garden soil (proportions 1: 1: 2);
• peat, perlite (proportions 1: 1).

The most favorable time for sowing is late winter-early spring (February, March). But when using the backlight, planting geranium seeds can be carried out in October, November, December, January. Such terms are due to the fact that, starting in January, daylight hours increase, respectively, geranium develops well, grows compactly, blooms already in late spring or early summer.

If sowed later, the plants are likely to stretch out strongly and only bloom after 9 months.

Advice! Before sowing seeds, do not forget to disinfect the soil, because pelargonium seedlings often suffer from black leg disease. This can be done with a weak pale pink solution of manganese, a biological fungicide (for example, "Fitosporin").

Planting seeds

Before proceeding with the propagation of geraniums by seeds, they need to be scarified (cleaned of the hard shell). Use fine-grained sandpaper. It is necessary to rub until the hardened leathery layer is disturbed or completely removed. Then the seeds will sprout together, after about a week (the cultivation of uncalified seeds can take several months). Purchased geraniums are usually already processed.

Next, the seeds must be soaked in warm water for 3 hours. After this period, they must be laid out in pots at a distance of 5 cm from each other and sprinkled on top with 0.5 cm layer of earth. Don't forget to water your seeds. It is best to spray them from a spray bottle with settled water at room temperature. After that, over the seeds, you should stretch a dense plastic wrap or put glass, and then put in a well-lit, warm place (at least 22 degrees).

Council. Approximately 1-2 weeks after sowing the seeds, when friendly shoots appear, the film or glass will need to be removed.

Pelargonium care

It is important to understand that the rapid growth of geraniums at home is possible only with careful quality care. In order for the plants to grow strong and healthy, you need to water them in a timely manner, maintain the optimal air temperature in the room, fertilize, and when they are strong enough, make a pick.

• Watering. The frequency of soil moistening depends on the time of year; in winter, pelargonium should be watered after about 7-10 days, in summer - every 3 days. It is good if drainage is installed at the bottom of the pot, the flower does not like excess moisture and tolerates drought more easily. You can find out when a plant needs watering by the dryness of the soil, it should dry out to a depth of 2 cm.
• Lighting. Pelargonium grows well if there is enough light in the room. However, it is better to avoid direct sunlight, this can lead to fading of the flower, leaf fall. It is optimal if geranium is grown in bright diffused light for at least 16 hours a day.In summer, it is good to take plants out into the garden or on the balcony, loggia, there is more not only light, but also air.
• Temperature. Pelargonium does not like sudden changes in temperature, especially when the sprouts are just about to hatch from the seeds. It is best if the air temperature in the room fluctuates between 20-25 degrees. For adult plants, a cold snap should not be allowed below 7 degrees Celsius.

• Picking. Approximately 2 weeks after germination of the seeds, when 2 true leaves appear on the plants, they will need to be transplanted into separate containers about 10 cm in diameter. If the seedlings have managed to stretch out by this time, then when planting them it is better to bury them in the soil by 1-2 cm.
• Top dressing. 2 weeks after the dive, a special complex fertilizer with a high content of potassium and phosphorus should be applied to the ground. Can be used according to the instructions "Agricola" or "Effecton" (for flowers). You need to feed geraniums every 2-3 weeks from March to October, in winter they should be stopped.
• Topping. To prevent the plant from growing in height, pinch it over 6 or 7 leaves. In addition, already mature plants need well pruned autumn and spring. Especially weak shoots must be carefully cut to ensure good bushiness and abundant flowering. You should also remember to remove old flowers in a timely manner. About 1-1.5 months before the planned flowering, pinching should be stopped.

Council. It is very important to be able to identify the negative states of geraniums. So, when the leaves turn red, the temperature in the room should be increased, when the leaves turn yellow, increase watering, when darkening or mold, reduce it, and when the lower leaves fall off, the lighting must be improved.

Transfer to a garden plot

Plants are transplanted to a flower bed or street flower beds in the spring at the end of May (when the threat of frost has passed). Beforehand, in a few days, the soil and soil in the pots are moistened so as not to injure the roots when digging. It is important to take into account that pelargonium loves space, so the seedlings are placed according to the 20x20 cm scheme. Growing on the street can be continued until the first frost. In order for the geranium to continue to delight with its flowering at home, it must be dug up, and put in a pot together with an earthen clod.

Advice! It is important to take into account that only pelargonium with simple flowers of 5 petals propagates by seeds. Terry varieties, geraniums with a chocolate leaf, butterflies and tricolors cannot be grown from seeds.

Growing geraniums at home is not difficult, this unpretentious flower grows quickly. With proper care for the year, it reaches a height of 40-50 cm, and blooms about 3 months after the first shoots appear. The color of flowers can be very diverse - pink, white, red, salmon, carmine. A combination of several shades looks especially beautiful, for example, white-pink or white-red geranium.

Plus, pelargonium is also very useful. Its juice has excellent disinfecting properties, slightly crushed leaves are used for ear inflammation, osteochondrosis, radiculitis. Geranium leaves are also used as a remedy for ear mites in pets. And growing a flower in a garden area allows you to scare off various pests from neighboring plants.