Geraniums for 10 yuan a pot, flower balls blooming for 2 months straight, even the balcony is bursting at the seams

May is right in the middle of geranium blooming season, and lots of flower lovers are already chomping at the bit. Are your geraniums blooming yet? Don't just sit there celebrating, you need to know at least a little about caring for geraniums during their blooming period, to make sure your geraniums bloom better than big peonies!

Geranium blooming season

Grow Flowers Complete Guide

Thanks to modern growing techniques, many geraniums don't bloom according to the usual schedule. Although the blooming season is stated as May to June, the actual conditions vary quite a bit from north to south.

Below are the blooming times of geraniums from several flower lovers in different regions, for your reference:

1. Northeast: In February (with heating), geraniums begin to bloom

2. Shanghai: In March, geraniums (Royal variety) bloom

3. Guangdong: Geraniums bloom from the end of March all the way to the end of May

4. Zhenjiang, Jiangsu: Geraniums begin to bloom in mid-April

5. Huangshan, Anhui: Cuttings taken in October of the previous year bloom at the end of April the following year

Not blooming yet, or blooming sparsely

Grow Flowers Complete Guide

Some flower lovers' geraniums are slow to bloom, or only put out a few flowers and stop. In that case, you can give them a little push to bloom:

1. Give them plenty of sun

Geraniums love light. Sometimes leaves cover the buds and growing points, causing no blooms or few blooms. In that case, just go ahead and give them full sun from all directions.

2. Vernalization

In the south, the day-night temperature difference is small, making vernalization hard to complete. My suggestion: put the geraniums outside at night to "freeze" a bit, then let them bask in the sun during the day. The cold-hot cycle completes vernalization and they'll bloom right away.

3. Regular watering

Irregular watering, too little water, or too much water can all prevent blooming. Water once every 3-5 days before the blooming period, and keep it regular - don't slack off one day and overdo it the next.

4. Maintain fertility

Not enough nutrients will definitely affect blooming, while over-fertilizing, especially too much nitrogen fertilizer, causes leggy branches and leaves, no blooms or few blooms, and poor flower quality.

If nutrients are insufficient, add some phosphorus and potassium fertilizer - either buy phosphorus-potassium fertilizer directly or mix in bone meal or dried soybean residue. If there's too much fertilizer, you can just change the soil.

During the blooming period

Grow Flowers Complete Guide

For flower lovers whose geraniums are currently blooming, besides taking pretty photos, pay attention to the following points so the flowers stay healthy and vigorous:

1. Shade in high heat, shelter from rain

The weather has been changeable lately, and geraniums are fragile during their blooming period. When temperatures are high (above 30°C), provide shade so they don't wilt from the sun.

When it rains, try to shelter them from it. Getting rained on affects the blooming period - not only does it shorten the blooming period, but accumulated moisture makes things even worse.

2. Remove spent flowers and yellow leaves

Promptly remove spent flowers, yellow leaves, and weak branches. Cut 3-4 cm below the first leaf beneath the flower stalk. This preserves nutrients and helps new flowers grow.

Try not to leave the removed dead branches and leaves in the pot - they reduce air permeability of the potting soil and breed small insects.

3. Bud blast, yellow leaves, dry leaves

There are 5 situations that cause geranium bud blast, yellow leaves, and dry leaves. They're all easy to solve, so don't panic:

a. Yellow leaves, white leaves from high heat:

When temperatures are too high, the roots' absorption of iron from the soil is affected. New buds and leaves develop iron-deficiency yellow leaves and white leaves. At this point, provide shade right away.

b. Environmental change, adjustment period:

New seedlings you buy and bring home will mostly develop yellow leaves. At this point, place them on a semi-shaded, ventilated balcony or windowsill, control watering, and wait 3-5 days and they'll be fine.

c. Lack of water, too much water

When you notice the potting soil is dry, water it. During the blooming period they need more water but are afraid of waterlogging, so watering once every 3-4 days is enough.

Getting rained on or overwatering easily rots the leaves and roots. At this point, control watering right away, otherwise root rot from accumulated moisture will be disastrous.

d. Pests and diseases

Geraniums are generally easy to grow and rarely suffer from pests and diseases. You can watch out for the following three: gray mold, rust disease, and bacterial leaf spot.

After discovering disease, remove the bad leaves. When watering, avoid spraying, so bacteria don't spread to other leaves via water droplets. You can use a carbendazim solution (1:1000) to wipe the leaves and sterilize them.

Normally, it's best to keep geraniums in a dry, ventilated place to prevent bacteria from breeding. That's how they stay healthy.

After all that

Did you flower lovers learn something

When the day comes that your flowers bloom

Don't forget to send a photo to me