The tradition of keeping geraniums in the house came from our mothers and grandmothers. The plant is not exotic, but quite beautiful, blooms several times throughout the year, smells good and has medicinal properties.
Many housewives try to breed geraniums on their own, but do not know how to do it correctly. The plant reproduces both by seed and vegetatively. Vegetative propagation is carried out either by dividing the bush, or by rooting cuttings.
Breeding geranium by cuttings
Before grafting on an old plant, you need to remove the peduncles, not allowing it to bloom for a month. It is best to do this between April and July.
Then you can start harvesting planting material. Cuttings for planting should be strong and healthy, and are best cut from the tops of the stems. Depending on the size of the mother plant, their length can vary from 7 to 15 centimeters.
Use a sharp knife or scissors to cut the stem just below the knot at a right angle. Remove the lower leaves from it, leaving only two or three upper ones. If the leaves are large, cut them in half. This is done so that the plant spends energy on the formation of the root system, and not on feeding the leaves.
Then keep it outdoors for several hours. You can also immerse the cutting in a phytohormone solution for a couple of minutes. After that, plant it in the ground about three centimeters deep.
As a soil, it is permissible to use a mixture of turf, soil from the garden, humus and sand. Or a soil mixture purchased in a specialized store.
The container with the planted cuttings should be in a well-lit place, but away from direct sunlight. For the first ten days, water and spray the shoots daily. Further – less often. After twenty days, you can transplant the rooted stalk to a permanent place.
Some housewives, before propagating geraniums at home by cuttings, put the cut stems in water for several days. But experienced gardeners say that geraniums have a high survival rate of cuttings. Therefore, you can safely skip this stage and not do the double work.
Dividing a geranium bush
This is the most traumatic plant propagation method in existence. But sometimes it is admissible: when geranium grows too much and it is cramped in one pot or requires transplanting after 6-8 years of flowering in one place in the same soil.
A day before transplanting, the geranium bush is abundantly filled with water. During transplantation, remove it from the ground, trying not to injure the roots. Then they were divided into the required number of shoots. And immediately, without leaving them in the air, plant them in a new place and new soil.
Geranium propagation by seeds
This breeding method is relevant for those who are engaged in gardening and want to get many young plants at once. Much more than can be obtained by cuttings.
The soil was well calcined and the seeds were sown into it to a shallow depth of 1.5 centimeters. While they will rise, do not let the soil dry out. About a month after sowing, transplant the shoots to a permanent place. You will understand that it is time to replant when about three leaves appear on each.
Of all three options, propagation of geranium by cuttings at home is the most optimal, effective, frequently used and simplest. If you are breeding geraniums just for yourself, and not for sale, we advise you to use it.