Geranium Seeds
How to Grow Zonal Geraniums from Geranium Seeds
Zonal geraniums can be grown from geranium seeds. They are also known as pelargoniums and are one of two types of geranium plants--the other bring true or hardy geraniums. Zonal geraniums are easily propagated from geranium seeds. They have scalloped leaves with darker margins and the flowers are very round. Some are grown outside and others are grown as houseplants.
It wasn’t that long ago that most people grew geraniums from cuttings, but today there are many series of geraniums that grow equally well from seeds. Geranium seeds are oval and have a hard surface. The seeds need to be scarified before planting--meaning the seed coating must be penetrated to let in water for germination. This is done before you buy them at the nursery, but if you are using geranium seeds from your own plants, you will need to do it yourself. It’s very easy--just take a nail file and nick the coating of the seed or let it lie in a wet paper towel overnight before planting.
Start your geranium seeds in a good growing mix with a pH of around 6.0. If you are planting a bunch of geraniums in flats, they should be an inch apart. Make sure they are well covered with the germinating mixture. Keep the pot or flat moist and at a temperature of around seventy degrees. Some seeds will germinate quickly, in around five days but some may take double that amount of time.
Once your geraniums have started to grow, they will need an abundance of light. In fact, the more light you give them, the faster they will grow. If you can, keep lights on the plants twenty-four hours a day for the first month of growth. Often growing mixes contain fertilizer so it is usually not necessary to fertilize your little shoots until they develop one or two leaves. At this stage, choose a fertilizer that is high in both nitrogen and calcium. If you use a general fertilizer equivalent to Miracle Grow, you will probably need to add more calcium nitrate to the soil.
If you planted your geraniums in a flat, you will need to transplant into pots once the leaves have grown enough to touch one another. You can put them into three-inch pots or wait a month and replant them in a four-inch pot. Plants grown from geranium seeds will flower in approximately twelve to sixteen weeks. During this time the soil should be kept moist but not wet.
Geranium seeds started in February inside can be planted outside in May, after all possibility of frost has passed. Harden them off by taking them outside for 4-6 hours during the day and bringing them in at night for a week before setting them in the ground. Plant your geraniums where they will get at least six hours of sun each day. Geraniums grow quickly and when you break off the dead flowers, they will continue to flower over and over again until fall.