Geranium Plant, The Pelargonium citrosum (Citronella Plants)
Geranium plants are very popular and favourite among gardeners. They are very easy & fast to grow also are extremely colourful. Moreover, these flowers emit a lovely fragrance making them very pleasant. and they brighten up space and level up the ambience with their fragrance.
The leaves of these plants rot quite quickly and thus while buying these plants make sure that you pay close attention to their leaves.
Geraniums are popular outdoor bedding plants, but they’re also popular indoors and in hanging baskets. Geranium plants are simple to grow as long as you provide them with what they require. Geraniums require a lot of light to bloom inside, although they may take moderate light.
About Geranium Plant
Geranium is a genus of 422 species of flowering annual, biennial, and perennial. All geranium plants make excellent ground cover and space filler in your garden & landscape also. A pelargonium is a hybrid species of the geranium plant. The difference between geranium and pelargonium is in how they flower. The noticeable differences are that geranium has a flat-like saucer shape while a pelargonium has a trumpet-like shape of a flower that faces upward from the stem, rather than a flat five-petal flower head.
Geranium Care
Full sun to Partial Shade. They will bloom best in full sun.
Allow soil to dry to some extent between waterings, then water thoroughly.
During the winter, water much less, but do not let the roots dry out entirely. Geraniums do best when given a period of dormancy through the winter months, during which they use less water and do not grow much. See below for more overwintering instructions.
To encourage blooming, deadhead spent flowers regularly.
To promote business and curtail legginess, pinch back the stems.
During active growing months, fertilize every 2 weeks or so. Use a water-soluble fertilizer at half strength. But don’t fertilize in winter, when the plant should be dormant.
Geranium Features
Difficulty Level: Easy to grow.
Life-Cycle: Annual, biennial, and perennial.
Height: 6 inches to 3 feet
Width/Spread: Up to 2 feet
Flowering season: Year-around flowering, Flowers in flushes throughout the year.
Uses in the landscape: Geraniums play plenty of garden roles beyond being accents in the perennial border, where they provide soft colour for many weeks. Geraniums are an excellent choice for containers, hanging baskets, and rock-garden.
Diseases
Common problems can be low light or over-or underwatering. The leaves will turn yellow as an indication you are watering too little or too much. And in this case, try to even the watering out and move the geraniums to a brighter place.
Geranium uses
Ornamental Use:
These are used for ornamental purposes & also an excellent choice for containers, hanging baskets, and rock-garden for their beautiful colours.
Medicinal Use:
The oil of the Geranium makes a good astringent and can be diluted with water and used topically to help clean the face or in a bath.
It also has great antiseptic properties and is said to help restore the balance to dry or oily skin and hair.
The Pelargonium citrosum, also known as the mosquito geranium, is the citronella plant that’s believed to have a repellent effect on mosquitoes.
