GERANIMUMS - great for hanging baskets and window boxes
Tips in a nut shell
* Select your plant and plant your planter after all risk of frost has passed - usually late May. Cold damaged plants do not preform well
* For a trailing plants that will spill over the sides of your planters choose Ivy Geraniums, for plants with a more upright habit choose the Pelargonium Geraniums
* Geraniums love a sunny warm spot to do their best
* Geraniums require moderate soil moisture levels - not too much and not too little, so check your basket or planter every other day.
Travelers to Europe often admire the colorful hanging baskets, planters and window boxes adorning homes. These planters are filled with mounds of cascading ivy geraniums.
Coming in a range of colors from cherry to pink, salmon, scarlet, white and red geraniums do very well in hanging baskets and planters if the proper growing conditions are provided.
Plant your hanging basket or planter from late May onwards. They flower mid June to mid October. If you plant too early you may end up with geranium plants that have been or get injured by colder temperatures. Cold injured plants don’t recover well, grow poorly with few flowers. A tell tale sign of cold damage is that foliage will often be red.
Position your hanging basket or planter of geraniums where they will receive sunlight for best flower production. Again to avoid cold damage hang your basket after all risk of frost is past.
Always keep fading flower stalks removed to reduce botrytis, which can be a problem if there is too much rain.
There are two main types of geraniums
Ivy geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum) and Zonal geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum),
Ivy geraniums but are becoming increasingly popular for hanging basket or window box planters due to their trailing nature.
Pelargonium Geraniums are more upright in their habit and show off best in window boxes, wall baskets or if you hang your hanging baskets at eye level or lower and mix in other trailing plants like in the photo below.
Ivy geraniums prefer moderate temperatures. If the temperatures are between 65 and 80 degrees F, place the plant in full-sun a location. When the temperatures are above 85 degrees F, hang the plant in a location that receives partial sun. Varieties also differ in their response to light levels.
Ivy geraniums however do not tolerate temperatures above 85 degrees F for long periods.
Pelargonium Geraniums prefer cooler temperatures - especially at night. If temperatures climb above the 60s at night flowering often diminishes.
Geraniums require moderate soil moisture levels - not too much and not too little and are relatively pest-free. They will not tolerate wet feet for too long so make sure the water drains freely out of the bottom of your hanging basket or planter. For this reason they will even thrive even in terracotta pots (which dry out quickly) as seen her in this window box.
Fertilize your Geraniums as you would other container gardens or hanging baskets. A soluble plant food applied with the watering about once every other week.
Garden Squirrel.com
