How to grow geranium at home from seeds: photo of the plant, reproduction, how and when to plant, care for it, the main problems and diseases

Growing your own geranium from seeds will give you a pleasure! Despite the majority opinion that geranium is a house flower, nevertheless, it grows beautifully and blooms in the street clubs of garden plots. It can be planted as in a cache-pot, and on a balcony or a verandah.

Before telling you how to grow geranium at home from seeds, let's get to know this plant more closely. A little proper care and your beauty will decorate your window.

Plant features

The flower known as "geranium" is a plant that many people have on the windowsill. Homeland of this beautifully flowering plant South Africa, it came to Europe in the 17th century and since then, it has pleased many gardeners.

The advantages of geraniums are that it easily propagates in several ways and blooms for a long time, without causing much trouble to the owners. And most importantly, it’s easy and simple to take care of. That is why it is popular with many gardeners.

Photo

Further you can familiarize with a photo of the geranium received from seeds.

Propagation at home

Geranium is propagated in 2 ways:

Cuttings. This method virtually eliminates failure. When propagated by cuttings, usually in late summer or early fall, cuttings are cut from the mother plant. The cutlery must be taken from the top of the shoot and it should have about 4-5 leaves (more about the propagation of geranium leaf can be found here). Then it can be put in any container with water and wait until the roots appear. Next, you can plant the stalk in a pot of earth. You can find out more about how to properly propagate geranium cuttings at home here, and more about how to easily root geraniums can be found here.
The seeds. It will allow you to grow a more compact plant with abundant flowering. However, seed propagation is a much more troublesome process.

Which way to choose is up to you.

Getting the seed of a plant

The seeds of the plant are hard, large and have an elongated brown shape. Now the abundance of the assortment of varieties of room geranium in specialized stores is amazing. You can choose your favorite shape and color. Many seeds are already prepared for planting.

However, collecting seeds from your own plant is not at all difficult. You need to choose a beautiful, abundantly flowering plant. Offspring do not always look like a parent.

Reference. The flower is pollinated with gametes of another flower. If pollination was successful, then after 3-4 days, the column begins to grow slowly and lengthen. The built-up fruit box is gradually formed.

Therefore, sometimes the people call geranium "crane nose". When the seeds ripen, the fruit will burst. You end up with 6 pea seeds.

You can find out more about how geranium seeds look and how to collect them at home here.

How to grow geranium at home from seeds?

When to plant?

Experienced breeders say that for geraniums there is no specific time for sowing, if you give the necessary illumination to the sprouts in autumn and winter. However the best time for growing is considered to be the period from mid-November to mid-Aprilwhen, along with growing seedlings, the duration of daylight increases.

Pot selection

Geranium does not tolerate much space for roots. It certainly won’t bloom until the roots “absorb” all the soil.

therefore it’s better to plant the flower seeds in a small container first, and after a year, change it to a large one.

The material of which the pot is made, whether it is plastic or ceramic, does not matter.

But the presence of drainage holes in the tank is required! After all, geranium does not like moisture, originally from South Africa, it loves arid soil.

The soil

When starting planting, you need to prepare the soil and take care of it. You can use several options for mixtures:

turf, sand and peat in a ratio of 2: 1: 1;
peat with perlite in the proportions 1: 1;
more rarely, the combination of peat with sand in fractions of 1: 1.

Preparatory measures

Before planting, be sure to disinfect the soil. The methods can be different, for example, steaming, calcining in an oven or microwave oven or pouring with a weak solution of potassium permanganate in order to avoid the development of harmful bacteria and viruses. Before seeding, treat the seed material with special preparations: epin or zircon, but it is important not to overdo it.

On a note. In order to get quick seedlings, they need to do a scarification. It consists in the processing of seeds, namely, damage to the shell, for example, sandpaper.

Each seed is individually and gently three hard shell. You can also rub the seeds on the sand or dip in hot water so that the peel bursts.

How to plant?

Before planting, it is necessary to moisten the soil profusely. Lay out the seeds at a distance of 5 cm from each other. In the end, it is necessary to cover the planting material with a thin layer of earth. In order to maintain the percentage of humidity and temperature necessary for germination of the sprouts, the pot must be covered with a film or plastic bag. Once every few days, cover should be removed and the soil in the tray should be abundantly moistened to prevent it from drying out.

In 10-14 days from the moment of sowing, seedlings will germinate. Then the need for the greenhouse effect disappears, and the shelter can be removed. After another 7 days, small plants can be dived into separate containers. At this stage, each seedling should already have at least 2-4 leaves.

Before removing seedlings, moisten the soil wellso as not to damage the fragile young roots in the process. If pelargonium seeds are planted as recommended - in February-March, then flowers with this approach can be expected by the end of summer. But then there will definitely be a lot of them.

Proper sowing of geranium seeds:

Care

The first feeding of geraniums is done no earlier than 2 weeks after the day of transplantation. Next, fertilizers should be applied regularly twice a month.

Important! Choose complex preparations with a minimum nitrogen content, otherwise the geranium will not bloom.

Watering after planting must be carried out using a small watering can with a narrow long nose or through a sprayer. On cloudy days, add artificial light, using lighting devices, if possible phyto lamps.

If the seedling lacks light, the lower leaves will begin to turn yellow and fall off. Timely removal of the yellowing leaf will prevent mold from appearing in this place of the stem. When a young plant grows 6 sheets or more, the top of the shoot needs to be pinched - this will help to form a compact flower and achieve active flowering.

Problems and diseases

Quite often, geranium leaves turn yellow. Many beginner gardeners confuse this with the disease, horrified to accept this fact. But do not worry - for geraniums this is a common occurrence. Thus, the flower discards unnecessary old leaves. Almost always, the leaves turn yellow and die, if the geranium is transferred from the street to the room.

Another thing is if the plant is affected by rust. Here it is already worth panicking and immediately begin to heal the flower. In general, if the plant is not over-moistened, then there will be no problems with geranium, but in return it will delight you with its beautiful flowers for a long time.

Final conclusions

So, we have examined in detail the method of propagation and cultivation of geranium using seeds. You will be able to grow a beautiful and healthy plant if you follow a few simple rules:

Choose a miniature pot with drainage holes.
Prepare the soil from a mixture of sand and peat. Moisturize.
Open the seed shell.
Spread the grains 5 cm apart. Sprinkle with a layer of earth.
Cover with a lid or plastic bag.
Spray the ground periodically to prevent drying out.
After the appearance of 4-5 leaflet, remove the package. Continue to care as necessary.
After waiting for the appearance of the fifth leaf in the pelargonium, the seedlings should be pinched. This will ensure the growth of the most branched bush.

Take a little care and enjoy the beauty of a bright and healthy plant on your windowsill.