IVY GERANIUMS, PLANTS FOR HANGING BASKETS
Travelers to Europe often admire the colorful hanging baskets
adorning homes. These baskets 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 if the proper growing conditions
are provided.
Plant your hanging basket 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 of geraniums where it will receive sunlight
for best flower production. Again to avoid cold damage hang your basket
after all risk of frost is past.
Problems:
Pest problems are minimal with geraniums. 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.
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.
Ivy 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.
Fertilize ivy geraniums with a soluble plant food applied with the
watering about once every other week.
|
