Taking good care of geraniums

Geraniums are the kings of the balcony. Let's see how to take care of them.

To take care of these plants, let's start by making an important distinction: in everyday language, the name "geraniums" often refers to plants that actually belong to the Pelargonium genus. Used on balconies in pots or window boxes, they are not very hardy and need to be kept frost-free during the winter.

Geraniums are perennial plants, their aerial part fades and disappears in winter; most of the real geraniums resist to -15°C, they are hardy, solid, very easy to maintain and allow the creation of imposing massifs over the years.

These two very distinct species belong to the Geraniaceae family. 

Pelargoniums

They are the kings of balconies: used in window boxes, the ivy varieties with beautifully cut foliage offer cascades of flowers that are constantly renewed throughout the summer. The zonal pelargoniums will be used in pots for their upright habit and their wide and rounded foliage often marked with a very characteristic dark zone. Many hybrids with white, cream, pink or yellow variegated foliage will bring a touch of originality to your pots. Fragrance lovers will not be left out thanks to the varieties with fragrant foliage that can be crumpled to give off surprising notes of mint, lemon grass, pine or even rose. Pelargoniums with large flowers are more fragile but nevertheless spectacular, forming magnificent bushy plants especially adapted to the culture in jars.

The growing conditions for Pelargoniums differ little: the soil must be very rich and well drained to avoid water stagnation at the roots which would rot the plant. A mixture of good potting soil enriched with fertilizing materials and light sand will suit them perfectly. The exposure should be very sunny and warm in a well ventilated space. The secret to obtain an abundant bloom lies in a very regular contribution of "special geranium" fertilizer (once a week) on a wet substrate so as not to burn the roots. The soil should only dry on the surface between two waterings and the faded flowers as well as the damaged leaves should be removed progressively.

You can easily take cuttings from your Pelargoniums in the spring by taking 10 cm long stems and rooting them in the shade in a mixture of sand and potting soil in equal parts. Never let this mixture dry.

As soon as the first cold weather arrives, put them in a ventilated and not very heated room, protected from frost. Reduce the watering to induce a resting period, and take them out only when the weather is fine and there is no risk of frost.

Geraniums

Geraniums are excellent bedding plants, and they thrive at the foot of shrubs, which provide them with soft, subdued light, good air humidity and the temperate temperatures they need. Plant them in rich soil to which you have added a nice amount of Brown Gold® at planting time. The soil should not dry out in summer, but should never be soggy. Contrary to pelargoniums, geraniums do not require any particular care and can even become invasive because they reseed themselves abundantly. Your only work will be to cut the faded foliage in early spring to allow the new shoots to develop well.

Feeding potted plants well

Plants grown in pots quickly use up the reserves that the substrate can offer them. This results in deficiencies and the plants are more prone to diseases and parasites. To avoid these problems, it is important to know how to feed them well.

A substrate always at the top

The root system of the plant lives in a restricted substrate when it is cultivated in pot. Contrary to a plant in the ground which can 'send' its roots deeper or spread them out at will, a potted plant can quickly be in pain and lacking in nutrients.

To overcome this problem, you must first make sure that the chosen substrate is of very good quality and corresponds to the real needs of the plant.

After a while, despite everything, the roots end up occupying the whole pot, it is then time to repot in a larger container, ideally in early spring. When repotting, add slow-release fertilizer balls to the substrate, or even crushed horn to facilitate the restart.

If the pot is too heavy or too large, you can consider a topdressing with good potting soil and compost to feed your plant.

Natural fertilizers

Throughout its growth, the plant needs to be accompanied. Natural amendments such as compost, coffee grounds or tea leaves will bring nutrients to your plants.

Purins are also very effective, especially nettle purin which really boosts vegetation.

Keep also the water of cooking of your vegetables which abounds in nutrients for your plants.

Finally, think of organic fertilizers to scratch every two months during the growth period, such as ground horn powder or dried blood, which work wonders without ever risking burning the roots or weakening your plants.

Chemical fertilizers

Chemical fertilizers have a 'kick-start' action because they bring nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in rapidly assimilable quantities.

These fertilizers are divided into several families.

The best known are liquid fertilizers that are added to the water regularly (always after a very abundant watering to avoid burning the roots and respecting the doses). These fertilizers are dosed in a very specific way according to the targeted plants. The N/P/K dosage varies: for example, for green plants, the proportion of nitrogen will be more important to promote the development of foliage, while for flowering plants, phosphorus and potassium will be preferred. Fortunately, manufacturers have thought of everything and package their fertilizers under meaningful names such as 'Special fertilizer for indoor plants', 'Special fertilizer for geraniums' etc...

Liquid fertilizers also exist in foliar form, which means that they are sprayed directly on the foliage for an even faster action.

Another possibility is powder fertilizers, which will be diluted in the water or granulated fertilizers. These last ones exist in 'whiplash' version or in slow release in the form of balls or dice which are added to the substrate and which allow to be quiet during several months.

10 tips for creating a vegetable garden on the balcony

Creating a vegetable garden on your balcony is not always as easy as you might think in magazines, especially when you are a beginner. Here are 10 tips that will make it easier for you!

1- Take into account the exposure of the balcony

Before you start, take a good look at your balcony, what is its exposure? Is it in full sun? If so, you're in luck because you can grow most vegetable plants there. If it is in the shade and exposed to the North, forget tomatoes, eggplants and melons!

2- Be well informed

If you are a real novice, read up on gardening in books or on websites dedicated to gardening, this will help you avoid making many mistakes later on.

3- Get the right equipment

To grow vegetable plants on a balcony, you need containers that are large enough for the roots to develop properly. Forget about small individual pots and invest in large, deep containers. There are also growing tables specially adapted to growing on a balcony.

4- Drainage

Drainage is an important concept! Containers should be pierced at the bottom and a layer of gravel or clay balls should be left in place to allow water to drain away to avoid root rot and the failures that go with it.

5- Choose the best potting soil possible

Choose a very good commercial potting soil. Avoid the cheap ones, and prefer a brand name potting soil that already contains a slow release fertilizer, because the nutrients will be in less quantity and more quickly depleted than in open ground. This parameter is very important to ensure a good success. Add a fertilizer base for greedy plants.

6-Use the verticality

Sometimes there is not enough space on a balcony. Get around this problem by placing large containers at the foot of the side walls. You can use them to grow string beans, peas, cucumbers or even melons on a solidly attached trellis. At the foot of these climbers, in the foreground of the planter, strawberries, aromatic herbs, lettuce and radishes will find their place.

7- Grow early seedlings under cover

Invest in a mini heating greenhouse to sow tomatoes, peppers, melons, zucchini and eggplant in the warmth of March. This method allows you to obtain varieties that cannot be found in pots in the shops, to grow old or forgotten varieties and also to save money.

8- Wait for the right moment

Don't rush! Even if some vegetable plants are on sale very early in the garden centers, wait until all risk of frost is gone to install the most frigid ones.

8- Watering

Watering must be even more regular than for plants in the ground because evaporation in pots is much more important. Be very careful and never let the mixture dry out completely between two waterings.

9- Mulch

To reduce watering operations by limiting evaporation, mulch the base of your plants with a layer of at least 15 cm of straw, grass clippings, RCW, or flax chaff.

10- Fertilize

Fertilize regularly during the season with a complete organic fertilizer in granules.

10 tips for successful planters

With the arrival of summer, the desire to plant flowers on your balcony becomes more pressing. Here are a few tips to make your window boxes a success and turn your balcony into a cascade of flowers.

1- Choose the right plants

Given the vast choice offered in garden centers, it is very important to know how to select plants that will be happy on your balcony. Choose plants that are adapted to the exposure of your balcony, for example petunias if it is sunny and fuchsias if it is shady.

2- Choose plants that meet the same needs

If you want to create a composition in a planter, the plants installed must have the same cultural needs. Never plant a water-hungry species with plants that enjoy dry soil! Failure is guaranteed.

3- Choose the right planter

Choose a deep planter that is wide enough for the roots to develop well. Vary the pleasures or adapt your planters to the style of your balcony: flashy, wooden, metal, there is something for every taste and every setting.

4- Drain

The bottom of the planter should be perforated so that water does not stagnate at the roots. Remember to add a layer of at least 1 cm of clay balls or gravel at the bottom of the container, always with the same purpose of drainage.

5- Choose the right soil

In containers, the choice of substrate is of crucial importance to ensure good success. Always choose a brand name, quality potting soil rather than cheap potting soil.

6- Respect the planting distances

In order for plants to grow without competing with each other, and therefore remain healthy, it is imperative to respect a certain distance between them. 3 cups are enough to fill a 30 cm long planter. If at the beginning, your planter seems bare, don't panic! The plants will soon fill it.

7- Wait before planting

In the spring, wait until all risk of frost has been eliminated before planting cold-weather plants in your window boxes. For certain plants such as begonias, petunias or New Guinea impatiens, be patient.

8- Composing with balance

To achieve a beautiful composition, remember to vary the shapes and volumes. Compact plants in the center, more vertical plants in the background and drooping plants in the foreground.

9- Think about foliage

Plants with decorative foliage are very useful to provide a 'link' or create a contrast in the compositions. Coleus, variegated ivy, mint, plectranthus, heuchers will be introduced in small touches in the planters.

10- Harmonize colors

Beware of errors of taste! To avoid a "carnival" effect on your balcony, mix similar colors to create an elegant monochrome or play with contrasts with opposite colors but only in two shades so that it remains pleasant to look at. Finally, use and abuse the white that blends with all colors and softens the compositions. 

Buried watering ? Before digging....

You have decided to install an underground watering system for your lawn? Before starting the work, it is essential to have a technical study carried out by a professional.

There is no need to rush into buying pipes, fittings, sprinklers... 90% of the success of your installation depends on the quality of a preliminary study on plan; this will allow you :

1. To know if, technically, you can make such an installation. Depending on the flow rate and pressure available in your home, this is not always the case!
2. To obtain a list of all the necessary supplies, without forgetting anything.
3. To be sure that the underground installation will work (maximum number of sprinklers per pipe, location of solenoid valves, installation of the programmer, diameters of the pipes to be used,...).
4. Most importantly, it will allow you to know exactly where to place the sprinklers.

You may think that this last point seems simple to address, and yet it is one of the most difficult parts to design in an optimized way.

Only a specialist, who is familiar with the technical characteristics of the various existing sprinklers, will be able to advise you on the locations that will be definitive once the trenches have been filled in.

A wrong location, and you risk to be disappointed with what you have installed by yourself.

The main risk is that the coverage (...rainfall) is not balanced. In this case, you will have to water longer than expected certain areas of the garden that are not properly covered, in order to "wet" everything.

This will result in a very high (too high!) water consumption.

In short, the correct crossing of sprinklers offers the guarantee of a uniform watering quickly, thus saving water.

This is why, once the technical study on the plan is in your hands, it is imperative not to modify what has been done, especially in terms of the quantity of sprinklers planned, and the crossing of the watering zones. As always, a sprinkler must cover a large part of the surface of its neighbor, this is the first principle to respect.

Some DIY superstores will provide you with a free technical study through their supplier.

You can also ask a professional, but the service will probably be invoiced in this case.

Once you have the technical study on plan in your hands, you can get the useful material, and start digging...

Rather than with your arms, I can only encourage you to use a rental machine : excavator, trencher...

Underground watering of a lawn from a tank

Buried watering from a tank is a recurrent question on our forum, and Nicolas, our watering specialist, brings us his analysis of the question.

"Automatic watering of a lawn from a rainwater collection tank is more of a philosophical choice than an economic one."

Example:

• You install a 6500 liters tank (2000 Euros or the equivalent of 500 000 liters of "drinking" water)
• You install an automatic watering pump, thus automated with its various safeties (500 Euros, i.e. 125 000 litres of water)

=> You must therefore consume 625 000 litres of water before you can amortize the installation (we'll skip the "various and sundry" costs that come on top of this, including the earthwork and the masonry installation for a tank, the overflow drain, the supply through the gutters, the installation and the wiring of the pump... )

After 625 000 liters of water, we begin to earn money (once again, I pass the maintenance of the installation, wear of the pump, or simply the electric consumption of a pump which must function 250 hours at best for this flow, for a motor of 1000 Watt).

325,000 liters = 156,000 m² of lawn for information.

=> Assuming that you have 1000 m² of land, you need -only- 150 days of watering to amortize the installation. But the problem is that during these 150 days of watering, there is no water in the tank. A (full!) tank of 6500 liters can automatically water 1500 m² of lawn, but the next day the tank is empty...

The use of a tank with its pump, its installation and its maintenance is rather expensive and it takes years before it is amortized, it can't be a financial choice (to save money), it's much cheaper to pay city water, especially in the short and medium term. Especially since it is possible for large plots of land to have water half as expensive by the water company (that's another subject).

A tank, even a big one, does not allow to do the underground watering of an automatic installation. A tank allows you to water your vegetable garden, to water your window boxes, to let your children play with water, to wash your car (a little), from time to time. It is a product that is often empty when you need it, and that overflows when it is winter...

The tank filled with rainwater is not a product suitable for automatic in-ground watering of the lawn unless you have a tank with a much larger reserve.