What is the care for Pelargonium grandiflorum?

The pansy geranium is a showy flowering plant

The Pelargonium grandiflorum It is a perfect plant to grow on balconies, patios, terraces, and even in gardens. It produces large flowers of very showy colors, and its maintenance is not complicated. In fact, it is highly recommended if you don’t have much – or no – experience caring for plants.

Would you like to know how you can have it very healthy and beautiful all year long?

Origin and characteristics

Geranium flowers are small

The Pelargonium grandiflorumwhose scientific name is Pelargonium x domesticum, is a type of geranium perennial native to South Africa known as pansy geranium, royal geranium or pansy mallow. It reaches a height of between 0,50 and 1,50 metersand develops stems with reniform leaves, rounded on the upper edge, and with a diameter of 5 to 8 centimeters.

The flowers are 4-6cm in diameterand the petals are of various colors, from white to almost black. It blooms during spring and summer, the two seasons of joy and color.

What are the cares of the thought geranium plant?

If you want to have a copy of Pelargonium grandiflorumwe recommend that you provide the following care so that it can grow and flourish without problems:

Location

  • Outdoor: it must be in full sun or in semi-shade.
  • Interior: it can be indoors as long as it is in a room with plenty of natural light. In addition, it must be away from drafts.

Earth

  • Flower pot: can be universal growing substrate (for sale here!) mixed with 30% perlite.
  • the garden: it is indifferent as long as it has good drainage.

Irrigation

The Pelargonium grandiflorum it is a plant that does not withstand drought. Thus, during the summer you have to water 3-4 times a weekand the rest of the year a little less. It does not tolerate waterlogging, so if it is grown in a pot it is not good to have a plate under it, unless it runs off after each watering.

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The Pelargonium grandiflorum is a herbaceous plant

Image – Wikimedia Commons / Velq1

In order for it to flourish properly it needs nutrients, for this reason, must be paid from early spring to late summer. They can be specific fertilizers for flowering plants (for sale here!) for example, but we recommend choosing fertilizers, which are natural ones; that is, those that come from some type of organic matter, such as guano, cow manure, earthworm humus (for sale here!), or the extract of algae.

But, regardless of which one you are going to use, it is important that you keep several things in mind:

  • Take the dose indicated by the manufacturer. If you add more, the roots will be damaged and could actually die from too much compost / fertilizer.
  • Fertilize or fertilize whenever indicated by the manufacturer. In this way, you will achieve the best results without the plant having problems.
  • Use compost or liquid fertilizers if it is potted. This is important, because if manures or fertilizers that are powders or granules are used, the substrate would have more difficulty in filtering the water, so it would be more humid and, consequently, the roots could rot.

How to reproduce the thought geranium?

The Pelargonium grandiflorum multiplies very easily by cuttings taken after flowering. We will cut a stem with anvil scissors (for sale here!) that we will have disinfected with soap and water, and then we will impregnate the base with rooting hormones (for sale here!).

Then we fill a pot with coconut fiber (on sale here!) or vermiculite (on sale here!) that we will have previously wateredand we plant the cutting in the center. Be careful, it is important that we plant it, and not nail it. If we do the latter, the rooting hormones that we have put in it could become detached and / or move out of place, so we risk it taking longer to take root.

To plant it, we make a hole with our fingers or a cylindrical stick for example, we place the cutting, and finally we flatten the substrate so that it is well attached.

At the end, we will put the pot in a place with light. It can be sunny, or one where it will be in semi-shade. In this way, if we water from time to time so that the substrate does not dry out, the thought geranium will take root in about two weeks.

Pruning pansy geraniums

In spring, stems that look bad should be removedthat is, they are broken, weak or sick. In addition, the rest have to be trimmed so that the plant has a more compact shape.

Pests

The pests you may have are:

  • Red spider: it is a mite that sucks the sap from the leaves, thus weakening the plant. Can be removed with diatomaceous earth (on sale here!).
  • Mealybugs: there are several types, but the one that damages the thought geranium the most is the cottony mealybug. It also feeds on the sap of the leaves. It is fought with soap and water, and if it does not work, diatomaceous earth or potassium soap (for sale No products found.) are going very well.
  • Geranium Butterfly: the geranium butterfly it is the most dangerous plague. Their larvae excavate galleries in the stems, destroying them. It can be controlled with sticky traps, but if it has already spread insecticides such as this.
  • White fly: they are small white flies that adhere to the underside of the leaves, where they feed. It is controlled with yellow sticky traps (for sale here!).
  • Nematodes: similar to worms but much smaller in size, since they do not usually exceed a millimeter in length, they damage the roots. Symptoms are yellowing of the leaves, and bumps on the roots. It is possible to repel them by fertilizing the plants with manure or humus, or with repellent plants such as calendula or rue.
  • Aphids: like many pests, aphids They are insects found on leaves. From them they suck the sap, and consequently the thought geranium is weakened. They can be removed with diatomaceous earth or neem oil (on sale here!).

Diseases

Among the diseases, it can affect you:

  • Anthracnose: the anthracnose It is a fungal disease that can dry out the leaves and flower buds, since at first some brown spots appear, but over time more appear and end up coming together, thus ending up with the leaf and / or flower bud. It is treated with fungicides containing copper (for sale here!).
  • alternariasis: they are fungi that cause the appearance of small brown spots on the leaves. It can be fought with copper.
  • bacteriosis: Xanthosoma are bacteria that attack geraniums, causing black spots on the leaves. There is no cure.
  • Botrytis: the botrytis it is a disease that is also transmitted by fungi. What they do is cover the leaves and flowers with gray mold, but luckily it is eliminated with fungicides that contain copper, such as this.
  • Powdery mildew: it is a fungus that, when it appears, produces white or grayish spots on the upper part of the leaves. The treatment consists of applying fungicides like this one from Horse tail, and remove the affected parts.
  • Roya: the roya It is a fungal disease that is manifested by the appearance of orange spots on the underside of the leaves. It is fought with fungicides that carry copper.
  • Virus: The virus they cause the leaves to deform, have chlorotic spots and mosaics. Unfortunately, there is no treatment.

Rusticity

Pansy geraniums are herbaceous plants

Image – Wikimedia Commons / Gothic

The pansy geranium is a frost-resistant plant. If that withstands the cold, but if the temperature drops below -2ºC, it will have to be protected for example taking it indoors or putting it in a greenhouse.

When the climate is tropical, subtropical or even warm-temperate like the one we have in the lower areas of the Mediterranean region, it can be grown on the terrace or in the garden throughout the year.

This is possible because, although frosts do occur on the Mediterranean coasts, they are usually very mild and of very short duration; furthermore, during the colder season the maximum temperature is high enough to keep the pansy geranium alive and green.

What did you think of the Pelargonium grandiflorum? Do you dare to have a copy?

What is the care for Pelargonium grandiflorum?

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