Geranium tulip: description of varieties, planting, care and reproduction

Geranium tulip has gained popularity among gardeners due to its unusual appearance. Its flowers look like not fully opened buds of miniature tulips.

Geranium tulip, it is also pelargonium, differs from other varieties of geranium with their unusual colors... The length of the buds, similar to small unopened tulips, is about a centimeter. One semi-double flower consists of 8 petals. Each stem contains one inflorescence, made up of 50 flowers. The color varies from light pink to wine. The inside of the petals, as a rule, looks darker than the outside, but the second is covered with veins.

Glossy leaves are tough to the touch. The cultivation of pelargonium is not particularly difficult. Some varieties can reach a height of 30 centimeters, and some grow up to 70 centimeters.

Geranium tulip is rather difficult to select because of complex flowers, so there are quite a few varieties of it. Their common characteristic is the inability to tolerate low temperatures, therefore, in winter, the pots must be transferred to a well-heated room.

• Patricia andrea can be called the ancestor of this variety of flowers. A sturdy, small shrub that grows to a medium size. In the case of landing in open ground, its height is 50 centimeters. The inflorescences of such a geranium are very lush, with the classic shape of unopened tulips.

• Red pandora is considered a rather whimsical culture. The bush grows smaller and rather weak. The inflorescences are the same lush as those of the ancestor, but painted in much brighter shades. Sometimes the buds open, which greatly simplifies the breeding process.

• Conny is a dwarf representative of the tulip geranium. A small bush is covered with carved leaves and oblong flowers that form inflorescences. The flowers grow to a beautiful red hue.

• Emma fran bengtsbo characterized by the presence of glossy leaves, painted in a beautiful shade of green and slightly curling upward. Elongated flowers have pale pink petals. The bush of the "Emma" variety itself grows in height up to 80 centimeters.

• Herma refers to dwarf varieties. The bush is covered with lush inflorescences, painted in a bright red-orange tone. Light green leaves have a carved edge.

• Marbacka Tulpan possesses flowers of a beautiful shade of cream with pink. The buds resemble a rose, as the double inner petals curl strongly. At "Marbaska Tulip" the leaves are slightly curled, with a small fluff and a carved plate. This variety is whimsical: it does not tolerate being in the fresh air, even during warm months.

When choosing a place for planting pelargonium, it is important to make sure that there are no drafts there.

Besides, the place should be slightly shady so that geraniums stay in direct sunlight for no more than two hours... In general, the daylight hours of a flower should be 10 hours, therefore, in the northern regions, additional lighting will be required, carried out using fluorescent lamps.

The optimum temperature for pelargonium is in the range from 22 to 26 degrees Celsius in the summer. Beginning in September, the plant should be gradually prepared for winter temperatures so that it does not suffer from sudden surges and as a result does not get sick. In winter, the border of optimal temperatures shifts to 13-17 degrees.

You can buy soil mixture for pelargonium at the store or you can make it yourself. In the first case, 2 parts of garden land account for 2 parts of peat and part of coarse sand. In the second case, 2 parts of peat are mixed with 2 parts of humus, 2 parts of turf and part of sand.

The main component of caring for tulip geraniums at home is timely protection in the cold season.

While vegetation and geranium flowering take place, irrigation is required frequent and abundant. The need for watering is best determined by the state of the topsoil - as soon as it dries up, liquid is immediately required. Lack of watering is determined by the appearance of brown spots on the lower leaves.

Usually, from spring to late summer, pelargonium needs irrigation every two or three days. In the case when the container is small, watering is carried out even more often.

By organizing the irrigation system, it is important not to forget about the tray into which excess liquid will be drained. Spraying tulip geraniums is not pleasant - they are allowed to be carried out only in case of emergency, for example, an illness.

Among fertilizers, experts recommend giving preference to formulations containing potassium and phosphorus. In small quantities, nitrogen-containing complexes can also be used during the growing season. In this case, one should not be zealous, otherwise all the forces of the plant will go to building up green mass, and not to flowering. The same applies to the application of organic fertilizers.

Tulip geranium does not tolerate transplantation quite well, therefore, this procedure is allowed only in emergency situations.... This is done in the case when the size of the pot does not accommodate the overgrown flower, the plant is sick with mold, it was struck by pests, as well as in case of force majeure.

Pinching is carried out over the eighth leaf of the shoot. It is worth pruning geraniums so that about five buds remain from the root to the cut. All instruments must be pre-treated with an antiseptic solution, for example, potassium permanganate or alcohol. After carrying out the procedure, all wounds should be smeared with brilliant green or crushed coal. It is also advisable to remove all dried inflorescences.

There are several ways to propagate tulip geraniums.

• When using seeds, you should be prepared that young plants will not completely repeat the varietal qualities of adults. Even the color of the petals may turn out to be less bright and beautiful. Seed planting takes place in winter. It is not necessary to deepen the seed - it is enough just to lightly sprinkle it with earth.

Further development should continue in greenhouse conditions, which can be recreated using glass or plastic wrap. As soon as the seedlings are covered with a couple of three leaves, it's time to make a dive. A couple of months later, the tulip geranium is transferred to its permanent habitat.

• In the case when cuttings are selected, the material will have to be harvested in the fall. The stalk is taken from the top, and such that there are already two or three leaves on it and at least one internode at the bottom of the stalk, and the inflorescences are removed. The most convenient way to get cuttings is when cutting the kuta. The finished cutting is placed in water until the roots appear. A special stimulant can be added to the liquid. After that, the geranium should be rooted in moist soil containing sand, and then, after waiting for the appearance of new leaves, pinch.

• There is an opportunity to propagate pelargonium using division, especially when it grows for a long time in the same place, and as a result, children are formed. The shoots are detached from the mother plant during transplantation. The division is carried out so that the young plant has healthy, full-fledged roots. Separation is carried out using a processed knife, and the wounds are disinfected with crushed coal upon completion. The resulting plants can be immediately planted in separate pots.

Both diseases and pests from which tulip geranium suffers are characteristic of any other members of the geranium family. We are talking about spider mites, gray rot, mealybug, rust and whitefly.

The fact that the plant is sick can be determined by the condition of the leaves and stem. If white circles appear on the plates, we are talking about rust. Gray formations on the underside of the leaf are characteristic of gray mold. In the case when the color of the leaves and stems changes to reddish, most likely, the geranium is simply frozen.

Whitefly attack is accompanied by yellowing and falling of leaves. It will be possible to fight it with the help of insecticides, for example, the drug Fitoverm or Aktara. The same means will help fight the spider mite, the effect of which is accompanied by the appearance of a thin cobweb on the leaves. White bloom and sugary discharge are characteristic of mealybugs. You can get rid of it if you just wipe the geranium leaves with a cotton pad soaked in soapy water.

It is also important not to create additional stress for pelargonium by transplanting from a pot to a flower bed. Of course, regular inspection of the bush, as well as the use of a sterilized substrate, will help. The latter can be ensured by calcining the earth in the oven, pouring it over with boiling water, or treating it with a solution of potassium permanganate. We must not forget about the creation of a drainage layer, for example, from expanded clay or pieces of a ceramic container.

The results of cuttings of geraniums, the rules of transplantation and care, see below.