Geraniums on the balcony

Plant and care for geraniums correctly

Garden centers and florists often claim that geraniums don't need a lot of care: The opposite is the case. So that the plants bloom profusely throughout the summer and become an eye-catcher, you have to water them regularly, fertilize and also cleaning up what has faded and dried up. Geraniums need a lot of moisture and are heavy eaters, but at the same time you should not flood or flood them. overfertilize - this only leads to various unsightly diseases. Even when planting, you can directly influence the well-being of the plants.

Choice of location

First of all, this includes the Choosing the right location. Balconies facing south, south-west or south-east are ideal for geraniums and therefore lie in the sun all day. In addition, the sun-hungry plants need as much warmth as possible and good protection in persistent rainy weather.

Geraniums prefer a nutrient-rich substrate

As a substrate, geraniums prefer a nutrient-rich and well-drained soil. In stores you can purchase special geranium soil that is directly tailored to the needs of the flowers. You can also mix the soil you need yourself, whatever you want

• 1 part compost soil
• 1 part potting soil
• as well as 1 part Perlite(€ 35.50 at Amazon *) (or another clay granulate)

require.

Don't put it on the balcony too early

It is also necessary not to put geraniums on the balcony too early in the year. The plants are very sensitive to the cold and should therefore not go outside before the ice saints (around mid-May). Also, geraniums tend to contribute Temperatures below 10 ° C just stop growing.

Combine geraniums with other flowers

Some balcony gardeners like it pure and plant geraniums alone - often in one color or a mixture of different colors. The combination of red and white geraniums is very popular, as is also known from the lush geranium plantations in Bavaria and Tyrol. The flowers can, however with numerous other flowering plants combine wonderfully:

• Verbenas
• Magic bells
• Petunias
• Vanilla flowers
• Elven mirror
• Loyal to men
• Gypsophila
• Daisies / Bornholm daisies
• Campanula

You can mix strongly hanging and standing varieties together. It is only important that the plant neighbors have the same needs in terms of location, substrate and care.