When flowers grow in suspended pots, this gives a unique charm to any room or gazebo. Especially for these purposes, ampel or ivy-leaved geranium is suitable. The plant is also called pelargonium. Many gardeners like to decorate their plots, balconies and loggias with flowerpots with delicately hanging flexible shoots, sprinkled with umbrella flowers of various colors: bright pink, white, purple, red, purple. Geranium ampelic ivy leaves is distinguished by leaves that resemble the green ivy in shape, they are dense, fleshy, usually without pubescence, with a wax coating. By the way, the plant is rather unpretentious, nevertheless there are some peculiarities about caring for ampel geraniums.
Care for ampel geraniums
First of all, when cultivating pelargonium, the necessary parameters for optimal growth conditions should be taken into account. These elegant plants are photophilous, and therefore it is best to place a pot of ivy geranium on the southern sills or walls of the house. In the event that you can not place a flower on this side of the world, the western wing of the building will fit the american geranium. But the other side of the placement window has a negative effect on the flowering of pelargonium .
As for the temperature regime, a flower with an origin from African regions is suitable for a warm microclimate. However, in hot days, the pot with the plant is best transferred to a room with a temperature of up to 25 ° C. Well, in winter, ampel geraniums are suitable conditions from 13-15 ⁰С.
It is equally important to properly water the plant, which is the fundamental factor in the flowering of geraniums. In summer, watering should be abundant, make sure that the earthen does not dry out. However, you should try not to overdo it, so as not to cause stagnation of moisture, which is detrimental to the flower. Spray the flowers and leaves of pelargonium should not be, otherwise rotting can not be avoided. In winter, geranium is recommended to water less often: every two weeks.
During the active flowering of ivy geraniums, a complex fertilizer is required once every ten days from March to September.
Planting an ampel geranium
Plant an ampel geranium in a light fertile soil with excellent drainage properties. The plant grows well on neutral, acidic and slightly acidic soils. And for planting as a room plant geranium ampel needs a mixture of turf, leaf land, peat, humus and sand in equal parts. At the bottom of the tank should be laid with expanded clay to quickly remove excess moisture. Plant a flower closely, it grows so much better. However, between the roots of pelargonium and the walls of the pot should remain a distance of one and a half centimeters. When growing in a pot, transplantation is performed every two years in spring. In addition, the transplant should be carried out if the geranium becomes too tight in the container.
As for the reproduction of geranium ampel, in general this procedure is possible in a vegetative way. The fact is that growing seedlings from seeds is extremely difficult.