With their deep light-green foliage and turgid bunch of showy blossom , potted geraniumsadd splashes of colour whoever they are placed . works exist in a wide kitchen stove of salad days color from white to orange , reddish and violet . Two geranium specie dominate commercial-grade sales event : the common geranium ( Pelargonium x hortorum ) with rounded , velvety leaves , and the ivy geranium ( genus Pelargonium peltatum ) , which produces glossy , pointed leave . Common geraniums uprise vertical in pots while ivy geraniums cascade from hanging hoop or planter .
Plant in Full Sun
Grow geranium in fertile , well - debilitate potting soil that has plenty of organic matter . They are grown as annuals in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness geographical zone 3 through 9 and can be grown as perennial in USDA zone above 9 . check that the drain holes in the containers are not block . Keep plant in an area where they get full Sunday in the dayspring and scant shade in the afternoon . Geraniums generally grow to about 15 inch tall . Once the plant go blooming , pinch off pass prime to advance the flora to keep bring about blush .
Avoid Overfertilizing
Fertilize with a slow - acquittance 20 - 20 - 20 granular fertiliser once in the bound . instead , apply a fluid 20 - 20 - 20 fertiliser in the spring , midsummer and belated summertime . Avoid overfertilizing . Water the plants when the potting soil feels slightly dry to the touch . head off getting urine on the leaves ; apply urine directly to the soil alternatively . Be careful not to overwater geranium .
Hot Weather Problems
Geraniums do best at temperature below 70 degrees Fahrenheit . geranium that are being spring up outdoors stop blooming during intense heat waves , a condition called " heat check . " They normally will sum up blossom once temperatures go back down . Plant breeders volunteer heat - tolerant geranium varieties in an effort to combat this issue . Geraniums are very resistant to insect pest and disease , so pesticides , fungicides and exchangeable merchandise normally are not need .
Prune Plants
Where geraniums are uprise as annual , pruning is simply a matter of trimming dead and brown leaves and trimming away insalubrious halt that do n’t experience steady when gently squeeze . Before pruning , always desexualise pruning tools by dipping them in germicide . If you will be keep geranium through the wintertime , snip them in recent drop or just before you bring them indoors . Prune the plant back by one - third to one - one-half , pore on snipping off woody or leggy stems .
Pinching
Pinching is a pruning technique that creates summary , bushy plant and works on raw plants or overwintered plant . Pinch geraniums in spring once the plant ’s ontogeny start taking off . Pinch 1/4 column inch to 1/2 in off the last of each prow with your fingertip or snips . The plant will maturate two newfangled arm off the end of each stem .
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