Mushroom geranium: photo, instructions for propagation by cuttings, cultivation and care

In southern countries, it is customary to decorate houses and summer terraces with various hanging planters, from which long shoots adorned with lush, vibrant flowers descend from the waterfall.

Now this fashion has come to us, albeit only for a short summer period.

The most popular "living decorations" are ampelous, hanging geraniums with carved ivy leaves.

So, consider the most popular varieties. And also, how to properly care, what are the requirements for the soil. Let's talk about the methods of reproduction and diseases of this plant.

Origin and description

Pelargonium peltatum geraniums or thyroids come from the Cape Province of South Africa, with a mild and very subtle tropical climate. The vast majority of species (96%) of all geraniums were exported from South Africa.

In the Royal Gardens of Great Britain, along with other species, ivy geraniums fell at the end of the 16th century. The ivy geranium belongs to ampelous plants and can either hang its shoots down (up to 90-100 cm) or climb up, clinging to the support with leaf petioles.

In countries with mild and warm climates, terracotta, patios, gazebos and balconies adorn ivy geraniums. A cache-pot with beautifully hanging structural leaves and bright flowers is hung at the front door and in the garden. Ampel geranium cultivation is suitable for hanging indoor gardens.

On a note. Leaves of ivy geranium do not look like soft and pubescent leaves of most species, they are dense and smooth, as if covered with wax and very hard.

Quite often, because of the leaves, this plant is even mistaken for artificial.

The leaf shape of the plant resembles ivy, but despite the fact that the leaf plates also have a five-blade structure, they are not so clearly divided and look more like a pentagon with slightly pointed corners. The length of the leaves is from 3 to 6 cm.

The petals of the flowers of the ivy geranium are distinguished by an asymmetric arrangement: the two upper ones stand apart. Themselves flowers are collected in lush (up to 8 cm in diameter) umbrella inflorescences of 10-18 pieces. The color of the petals is from white to dark purple, varieties with pink, raspberry or purple inflorescences are often found.

You can find out why ampelian geranium is called ivy geranium, how to take care of the plant properly, and also see the photo of varieties here.

Photo

Check out the photo of geranium ivy:

Popular varieties

Dense, glossy leaves of ivy geraniums are dark and light green, plain or with a light border at the edges, as well as mottled with silver spots.

Geranium flowers, depending on the variety, are monophonic and two-tone, with a pattern in the form of spots (fantasy), dashes (rays) and with a border. Are divided into:

Terry (more than 8 petals).
Half-terry (6-8 petals).
Simple (5 petals).

Flower shape: stellate (angular) or cactus-like (with long twisted petals).

Popular varieties of ivy geranium

Grade	Description
Amethyst	The flowers are lush purple-raspberry double and semi-double. Shiny green leaves with a waxy coating. Highly branched shoots.
Bernardo	Bright scarlet pink flowers. Light green leaves.
Cascade pink	Dark emerald shiny leaves. The flowers are bright pink with highly separated petals, similar to butterflies.
Crocodile	The leaves are dark green with a mesh of lemon yellow veins. Half-double pink-coral star-shaped flowers.
Decora pink	Light green leaves are bordered by a dark green stripe around the perimeter. The sheet plate is slightly wavy, curly. The flowers are pale pink, airy.
Drezden apricot	Large semi-double pale pink flowers inside have purple tabs. The leaves are saturated green.
Evka	On the edges of medium-sized green leaves is a golden-white edging. The flowers are fiery red non-double.
Rouletta	Unusual two-tone color of the petals: a red-purple border stands out against a mostly white background.

Lighting and place, how and where to plant it?

The ivy geranium comes from South Africa, it is accustomed to the high temperature and arid climate of the south. Her smooth tight leaves easily withstand direct sunlight, but do not tolerate spraying.

When water gets on the leaves, brown spots of rot form, the plant weakens and can die. The ivy geranium is a room heat-loving plant that adores the sun. At home, its long shoots spread out on the sunny slopes of the hills. If possible, give her a seat at the south or southwest windows.

Plushy geranium has pronounced decorative properties due to textured leaves on long shoots and lush bright inflorescences. Her flowers and carved leaves will perfectly decorate a summer arbor, balconies, trellises.

A cache-pot with a cascade of plentifully flowering long shoots can be hung at the front door or create hanging gardens on the terrace. But with the onset of a cold snap, geraniums are carried away into a warm room.

Note! This southern plant does not tolerate wintering in open ground and is sensitive to cold.

Soil requirements

Geraniums of the flattened species, like all its other relatives, prefers neutral and alkaline soils. With excessive soil acidity, it is necessary to achieve a neutral reaction with lime.

Even more heavy dense soil is detrimental to the roots of ivy geraniumcontributing to stagnation of water. In combination with cold, waterlogging can cause root rot and kill the plant.

It is possible to make the soil more loose, light and permeable by adding sand, peat and deciduous compost to the loamy soil.

How to care?

The southern origin of the ivy geranium explains the ardent love of this flower for plentiful and long-lasting lighting. In late autumn and early winter, the plant needs additional illumination phyto-lamps and fluorescent lamps.

Daylight hours for geraniums last at least 16 hours. With sufficient lighting, the shoots will actively grow and give a large number of lush, brightly colored inflorescences.

During the period of winter dormancy, the plant is taken to a cool room with a temperature of 12-18 ° C, additional lighting is removed and watering is reduced, mineral fertilizing is refused completely until spring awakening.

Read more about what care requires ivy geraniums for effective flowering at home, read in our material.

Diseases and Pests

Most dangerous for ivy geraniums, drops of water falling on leaves and stagnating water in heavy and dense soil. In combination with cold or drafts, these factors will soon destroy the plant.

When infected with aphids, spider mites or powdery mildew, the diseased plant is primarily isolated from the rest and treated in a room with good ventilation with special insecticides. A solution of fungicide, Bordeaux liquid or colloidal sulfur is well suited.

Reproduction, instruction

To obtain hybrid varieties and when breeding rare species, ivy geranium is germinated by seeds. This process is more time-consuming than with vegetative propagation, and with a lower percentage of efficiency, but geraniums grown from seeds bloom more abundantly and more magnificent than with cuttings.

Instructions for germinating ivy geranium from seeds:

Pour the mixture of leaf compost, peat and sand into the pot.
Sprinkle seeds and cover the pot with glass or a jar to maintain a humidity of 80-90%.
Within a month, maintain the temperature not lower than 23 ° С.
Do not remove the glass when sprouts appear, be sure to wait at the sprouts of the first leaves.
When the first leaves appear, the glass is removed, sprouts are dived and planted in ditches at a distance of 10 cm from each other.
After a couple of weeks, the grown sprouts can be transplanted into pots and boxes.

Important! Most often, it is planted vegetatively, by cuttings. To do this, starting in February, shoots are grown on a uterine plant, stimulating the growth of future cuttings with additional lighting and top dressing.

In late March and early April, geranium can already be cut.

Instructions for cutting geraniums:

At the bottom of the pot pour soil mixture containing equal shares of turf land, rotted compost (or peat) and clean river sand.
Pour a 4-5 centimeter layer of washed river sand on top.
Separate the cuttings from the uterine plant and treat with a growth stimulator (Kornevin).
Plant cuttings to a depth of 3-4 cm with a distance of at least 10 cm from each other.
Cover the cuttings with a jar or place in an old aquarium to provide the necessary humidity of 80-90%.
Maintain a room temperature of 20-25 ° C for a month.
After 30-35 days, the cuttings will take root and they can be planted in boxes and pots.

In detail about the reproduction and care of the popular ivy or ampelous geraniums we talked about here.

Propagation by cuttings of ampelous (ivy) geranium:

As you can see, in indoor conditions, planting geraniums is quite simple and quite possible.

The ivy geranium will serve as an excellent decoration not only for your window sills and balconies. It will look great in hanging flowerpots near your porch or go down from high flowerpots in sunny areas of the garden.

You can decorate it with gazebo patios and summer terraces. Beautiful carved leaves along with bright colors will decorate any room.