How to have lush geraniums for a long time?Mathieu Dupont by Mathieu Dupont
Geranium is a perennial plant with evergreen foliage. Appreciated for its colorful and spectacular flowering, which adorns balconies, terraces and windowsills, this flowering plant is botanically called pelargonium. To make your geraniums last a long time and enjoy beautiful flowering, discover this simple gesture that you must do after purchasing this decorative plant.
Called balcony, garden or florist geranium, pelargonium is a flowering plant native to South Africa. This perennial plant is appreciated for its colorful flowers that dress balconies and windowsills.
What should be done after purchasing geraniums to make them last a long time and encourage their flowering?
Potted Pelargonium
After purchasing geraniums, it is important to repot them, and for good reason, the pots they are in are generally narrow and do not contain enough potting soil. Wait a few days before repotting, so that your plant does not suffer thermal shock.
Before repotting your geraniums, it is important to choose the new pot carefully. Its diameter must be at least 5 cm larger than that of the old pot. Choose a terracotta pot, in order to provide good stability to your plant, even in windy conditions. As for the potting soil, it must be adapted to the needs of your geranium. This flowering plant appreciates a drained and rich potting soil, particularly in humus.
To repot your geraniums, start by placing a layer of gravel at the bottom of the pot and then add a layer of clay balls to promote drainage. Water stagnation could indeed cause the roots to rot. Then, fill the pot with special geranium soil.
After preparing your new pot, it is time to remove your geranium from its old pot. To do this, hold the base of the stems and gradually remove your plant to free the root ball. Using a claw, remove the rest of the soil attached to the roots and replant your pelargonium in its new pot. All you have to do then is pack down the soil and water. Repotting allows the roots to renew themselves and therefore stimulate the flowering of the geraniums.
Note that it is important to repot your geraniums every two years, especially if you notice that the roots are starting to exceed the pot, or that the foliage is starting to turn yellow. A narrow pot also prevents geraniums from developing properly.
The ideal time to repot geraniums is spring. Avoid repotting them during the winter, as this season corresponds to their dormant period.
How to maintain geraniums and obtain spectacular flowering?
Balcony geraniums
To encourage the flowering of your pelargoniums and make them last a long time, good maintenance is essential. Florists’ geraniums appreciate the sun. It is advisable to keep the pot in a place exposed to the sun. Geraniums can withstand high temperatures, provided they are watered regularly. However, be careful not to overwater. Watering geraniums abundantly could drown them. Hence the need to let the soil dry out between two waterings.
To improve the flowering of your plants, remember to fertilize them with a special geranium fertilizer. It is also important to protect them from parasites and pests that ravage them, such as whiteflies, green aphids or thrips. This allows you to promote healthy growth of your geraniums and also make them last a long time. Also, don’t forget to prune your geraniums regularly. Indeed, pruning a plant makes it more vigorous, protects it from diseases, and allows it to obtain abundant flowering. Pruning geraniums is done to remove long etiolated branches. Your geraniums will then be ready to flower when the temperatures are milder.
That said, this step of repotting geraniums after their purchase allows you to make these flowering plants last a long time and also promote their flowering.