Pruning And Feeding Geraniums In Spring For Lush Flowering

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

How to prune geraniums in spring and how to feed them for lush bloom

Most flower growers refuse to grow geraniums for one reason - within 1-2 years after planting with a cuttings, the stems are stretched, woody and bare. The plant does not decorate the room, but spoils its appearance, so it goes to the landfill. But you just needed to cut it off.

Timing of spring pruning of geraniums, instructions

Start pruning in late February - early March. At this time, the day lengthens to 10-12 hours, which becomes a signal for plants to grow actively. Of course, the geranium on the window grew in winter, but in the warmth in low light it stretched out and became unsightly. And at the very end of winter there is already enough light for proper development. The sooner you prune, the faster the bush will recover and bloom.

Such geranium, with bare stems, of course, must be cut

Use a utility knife or a sharp, thin kitchen knife to trim. Scissors do not fit, they first pinch the branch and only then cut off, the wound will be large and heal for a long time. It would be nice to pre-lubricate the tool with alcohol or vodka.

Scissors or pruning shears leave large and long-lasting wounds

Pruning steps:

1. Cut off old, thick and even more lignified elongated shoots, leaving only hemp with 2-3 internodes, this is about 10 cm above the ground.

   

   This is what a geranium bush looks like after pruning.

2. Shorten young shoots with still juicy and green stems to 4–5 leaves.

   

   Young and not yet very long shoots also need to be shortened for branching

3. If your geranium bush is too thick, then remove all thin, weak, crooked shoots growing inside the bush.

   

   From a heavily overgrown bush, remove shoots growing to the center of the pot, weak, crooked, interfering with others

Powder the sections for disinfection with crushed charcoal, grease with brilliant green or a strong solution of potassium permanganate. Soon after trimming, additional buds will wake up on the remaining stumps. Your geranium will begin to overgrow with young shoots and bloom in about a month.

Geranium, after pruning, overgrows with new shoots, in spring and summer they will not stretch

Top dressing after pruning, including folk remedies

Immediately after pruning, geraniums need to be supported by feeding. But during this period, fertilizers for flowering indoor plants are not suitable for her. Their composition stimulates budding and flowering, and our bush first needs to grow green mass. The first feeding in the spring should contain more nitrogen. This element is a building block for leaves and shoots.

Nitrogen-containing feed options from the store:

• The simplest solution is to buy ready-made fertilizer for decorative leafy flowers and even for seedlings. They contain more nitrogen in the composition than other elements and are sold under well-known brands: Agricola, Forte, Gera, etc.

  

  Pay attention to the formula above the label: NPK + Mg is nitrogen, phosphorus potassium + magnesium in a ratio of 5: 3: 4 + 1

• Today the universal concentrate - Biohumus is very popular. It is produced by almost all fertilizer manufacturers. Other fertilizing products containing the word "humus" or "humate" in the name are also suitable, for example, FlorHumate. But when choosing, be careful, sometimes manufacturers enrich the composition with potassium, as a result, there may be less nitrogen, but we do not need it yet.

  

  A fashionable drug today - Biohumus based on organic matter, if it is signed: "for flowers", it is possible that the composition contains more potassium - check

• Horse manure extract is sold in liquid form and absolutely does not smell. Has the composition we need - a lot of nitrogen.

  

  Despite the name, this fertilizer does not have an unpleasant odor

• Urea and ammonium nitrate are simple mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen. The solution is prepared from 1 tbsp. l. granules and 10 liters of water.

  

  Even urea was modernized by adding humate

Folk recipes:

• Yeast infusion: dissolve 10 g of raw yeast and 2 tablespoons of water in 1 liter of warm water. l. Sahara. After 2 hours of fermentation, dilute 1 to 5 with water and pour over the geranium. The yeast will feed on sugar from the solution and on organic matter in the soil, releasing the necessary nitrogen.
• Humus and compost are decomposed organic matter and contain a lot of nitrogen. Take a handful of this fertilizer (about 100 g), shake it in 1 liter of water and water. Can be poured into a pot on top of the ground with a layer of 2-3 cm and watered.
• The aquarium water is rich in waste products of fish, snails and other inhabitants; they also contain a lot of nitrogen.

There are also fertilizers that are not very suitable for the conditions of the apartment: infusions of nettle, dung, mullein, as well as a solution of ammonia. These products, indeed, contain a lot of nitrogen, but because of the strong and unpleasant odor, it is better to refuse them. I would not recommend listening to advice, making such fertilizers under the flowers on the windowsill.

You can also find recipes with banana skins, oranges, onion peels, iodine, aloe juice, etc. How much and what geranium will receive is unknown. If you really want to try such fertilizing, it is better to bring in when the flower has already grown, gained strength and is ready to forgive the grower for his small experiments and mistakes. After pruning, when we only have hemp left, we need to act carefully, so use fertilizers that are rich in nitrogen.

In the future, for abundant flowering, when the bush grows and the first buds appear, you need to feed fertilizers for flowering plants, special for pelargoniums and any complex fertilizers in which there is more potassium and phosphorus than nitrogen. That is, we feed nitrogen only once after pruning.

From the beginning of budding, switch to complex fertilizers for flowering plants

The best natural fertilizer for flowering is wood ash, there are several ways to apply it:

• Powder the ground, loosen and water.
• Shake a tablespoon of ash in 1 liter of water and pour until the suspensions have settled.
• Pour 1 tbsp. l. ash 1 liter of water, leave for 24 hours. Drain and water.

Ash can be applied once a month until autumn, and fertilize with store-bought preparations according to the instructions.

For a lush geranium bloom in the spring, trim the overgrown bush to hemp. Only in this case you will receive a luxurious cap of flowering shoots. The first top dressing after pruning should be nitrogen. At the beginning of budding, switch to special for flowering plants and pelargoniums, rich in potassium.