Pelargonium: Grow it yourself from seed

Pelargonium or geranium is a perennial plant that has long and firmly established itself on our windowsills. Geranium is beautiful, blooms for a long time, is extremely undemanding to care for and is easily propagated by cuttings. Its leaves and flowers have healing properties (they can be used to treat otitis media, runny nose, insomnia), and the phytoncides secreted by the plant purify and disinfect the air. But not everyone knows that geraniums can be grown from seeds, that's what we'll talk about.

Pelargonium: sowing dates

Since we do not need to transplant geraniums into open ground, then we are not tied to weather conditions. This means there are no specific deadlines when you need to plant seeds. But since in the spring all living things wake up and grow actively, there is more light and heat, nevertheless, early spring is considered the optimal time for planting seeds. Over the summer, your pelargonium will get stronger and in August it may already bloom.

Pelargonium: selection and preparation of seeds

When choosing seeds, remember that there are about 250 types of geraniums, they are all beautiful, but it is impossible to plant and grow everything at once. Carefully study the information on the package with seeds - how much light, heat and moisture the plant will need, what size it will grow. Healthy pelargonium seeds are brown, oblong and firm to the touch. As a rule, they are all already prepared for planting, but additional disinfection can be carried out by holding them for 20 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. After that, you can either immediately plant or soak the seeds for several hours in warm water - this will speed up germination. Planting and caring for seedlings. For planting, you can buy special soil for geraniums, this is the ideal ratio of the necessary components. But in the absence of such soil, ordinary soil for flowers is also suitable. Spill the earth with a solution of potassium permanganate or steam. You can plant seeds in a common container with subsequent picking, or immediately in separate pots. When planting in a common container, place drainage on the bottom, then soil and distribute geranium seeds at a distance of about 6 cm from each other. This distance can be considered sufficient so that the roots of small pelargoniums do not have time to intertwine before picking. Sprinkle the seeds with a layer of earth (no more than one and a half centimeters) and moisten well with a spray bottle. It is better not to use a watering can for now, as the jet can wash the seeds to the surface, and in the future damage fragile sprouts. We cover the container with crops with foil or glass and put our greenhouse closer to the light - on the windowsill, the air temperature should be about +23 degrees. Open the greenhouse briefly daily to ventilate and remove condensation. The first shoots may appear in 7-10 days, but then the rest will catch up within another 1-2 weeks. Geranium seeds are distinguished by good germination, but they do not always do it together. From the moment the first shoots appear, the shelter can be removed, but do not forget that the shoots are still very weak and tender, do not allow drafts, provide them with a sufficient amount of diffused light. Water gently, you can daily, but little by little, spraying the ground (only the ground, not seedlings!) Or from a syringe.

When geraniums acquire two or three true leaves, the plants can be cut into separate pots, 8-10 cm in diameter. While these can be plastic pots, but always with drainage holes, a layer of expanded clay and fresh soil.At the time of transplantation, you can feed pelargonium with fertilizer for indoor flowers, so that it can endure the process better and adapt faster in a new place. Before transplanting, water the plants in a common container in a couple of hours, this will help keep a clod of earth around the roots and not damage them. Further care for young geraniums is no different from caring for other indoor plants. If by this moment warm weather has already been established, you can allocate a place for it on the balcony or in the garden, so it will receive more light and heat and will get stronger faster.

Further transplantation and flowering

All young plants need replanting as the root system grows, usually once a year in spring. At this time, the flowers come out of dormancy, wake up after winter and it's time to transplant them into a larger pot and into new soil. Our young geranium is no exception - after some time it will grow up, and I highly recommend transplanting it from plastic pots into ceramics. This material breathes, has the ability to absorb excess moisture, the likelihood of diseases and decay of the root system for plants in ceramic pots is minimized. Therefore, when the time comes, carefully transplant the geranium into a clay pot, it will be very grateful to you. Experts promise that the geranium, the seeds of which you sowed in early spring, will bloom in five to six months, that is, by about the end of summer. If you planted the seeds later, you may have to wait until next spring to bloom. My next experiment on growing geraniums is still going well: out of nine seeds planted at the end of March, eight have emerged, this is a very good result. The two month old bushes all look healthy, have about eight true leaves each, and by September I hope to see a variety of colorful blooms (a mix of colors was purchased, so the color of each pelargonium's inflorescence will be a surprise to me).

Growing geraniums or pelargoniums does not require superfluous efforts or secret knowledge from you, everything is very simple. But in the end you get a wonderful plant that takes care of your health and pleases with long abundant flowering, responding to your attention and care.