How to care for geraniums: characteristics, watering and care

Muscat has always decorated our balconies and terraces, more precisely since this outdoor plant arrived in our country from South Africa in the 18th century. Its colorful flowers are very cheerful and it is a plant with many species.

How to care for geraniums?

Common geranium, ivy geranium, geranium, house geranium (or pansy geranium) or aromatic geranium… They are all easy to care for and can provide a colorful and cheerful image. They convey elegance, joy and lots of colour, being one of the most resistant indoor plants.

Few species require such simple care as this plant. It is not capricious, does not require excessive quantities of water and loves the sun. It adapts easily to any environment and blooms almost continuously if it finds the right climatic conditions from spring to autumn.

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When to water geraniums?

Geranium care is simple, because it is a somewhat capricious plant. Keep in mind that flowering reaches its peak in more specific conditions: austere watering except in summer when, if completely exposed, it requires more abundant watering.

Looking to the summer season, it is strongly recommended to cut geraniums at the end of winter, so that their shoots grow more vigorously. During its maintenance, control geranium moth parasites (its main enemy) with synthetic insecticides. Pay attention to the appearance of red spider mites, favored by dryness and excess heat.

To have a broader vision of the needs of this outdoor plant, we show you some more precise details to discover how to take care of your plants, especially when spring arrives:

• I’m calling. They like it. In order for these plants to flower abundantly and constantly, they need at least six hours of light a day.
• Vase of flowers. They grow especially well when given plenty of space. If they are planted too close to other varieties or if the pot is small, they will not reach their full flowering potential. We recommend that the vase has a minimum depth of 18 cm and position it 20 cm from the rest.
• Irrigation. As temperatures and geraniums grow, so do their water needs. It is good to water them regularly, without exaggerating; the guide would be: half a liter of water per plant, in a 20 cm pot.
• Fertilizers. Slow release ones are recommended, as they provide nutrients to the plant in a controlled and prolonged manner. Fertilizer can be finished earlier in warm weather; If the leaves turn yellow, it is advisable to add standard fertilizer for geraniums or other flowering plants once a week.

How to buy geraniums?

The pots must always be bushy and have many branches with leaves. You also need to make sure that the outdoor plant has lots of shoots, because shoots mean that the shoots will bear fruit.

The best time to get geranium pots is April, so they will be well cared for and flowered in summer and you will avoid winter frost so you can place the pots on your terrace or balcony. In order for the flowering to be abundant, it is necessary to prevent its roots from drying out, so pots with a water tank are the most suitable.

How often do geraniums flower?

Geranium flowers appear between May and September, although they require the ideal vase. Unlike what usually happens with the rest of plants, with geraniums, the narrower their container, the more abundant the flowering will be. Before choosing the best pots for your plants, think about their size.

This colorful flower can also become one of 30 beautiful indoor plants to decorate the living room, as geraniums are perfect for rooms not exposed to direct sunlight 24 hours a day.

If what you want is to brighten up a wall made of ivy or hanging plants to decorate the house, one of the geranium variants allows you to do this too. Furthermore, you can also decorate a small balcony or terrace with hanging geraniums. This variant is Gitanilla, a species of geranium with many branches, early and easy to maintain.

Don’t forget to fertilize them while they are in flower with a fertilizer rich in potassium and phosphorus, every 15 days.

And one last tip: if you want the flowers to become larger, remove the lateral stems, leaving only the central flowers. The plant will focus all its energy on those buds and, although the number of flowers will be fewer, they will be much larger.