Home - Gardening Tips - Citronella Plant Care – 5 crest To Keep Your Citronella Geranium Alive
Citronella is a misunderstood plant , but still a great plant to grow ! They have beautiful pink - purple flowers as well . With that in mind , it ’s cracking to know how to keep these plants alive , so here ’s 5 tips for citronella plant care .
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Citronella plants are a beautifully sweet-smelling industrial plant that may or may not repel mosquitoes . But it ’s got that distinct citronella feel , and is consummate for any terrace garden !
What is Citronella?
There ’s a big misinterpretation about the citronella plant . What ’s called citronella are actually scented geraniums or hollo mosquito plant geranium . So it ’s actually a geranium that reach off the scent of citronella ( or a light citrus tree scent ) .
But it ’s not in reality relate to the flora that the citronella crude comes from that is used to deter mosquito . That flora is part of thelemongrassfamily , and is ! The citronella geranium is not effective against keep mosquitoes at bay , but it will bring a skillful perfume to your garden and the sweetheart that come with geraniums !
The scent from the citronella geranium come from the leave-taking , so it ’s important to keep your plant tidy to ensure you have that beautiful odour for as long of the time of year as potential !
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Still reading ? Here are 5 easy tips for citronella flora care !
1. Don’t forget to water
geranium really like urine , so the most significant aspect to citronella plant care is to keep it water . This does n’t mean keep the industrial plant soaking wet all twelvemonth long , but to keep them from drying up too much . Thoroughly irrigate the soil when it is ironical , but assay to avoid have the works droop from not get enough water .
If you ’re awful about remembering to water , see how long it takes for a calendar week before you need to water , and then go down a monitor to irrigate it ! commend the amount of water your citronella needs will depend on the season and how affectionate it is outside , so this is just a evoke time to water .
check that the weewee can enfeeble through the dirt , and it ’s not sitting in it , so check that if you ’re keeping your citronella in a container that it has drainage holes as well !
Winter Watering
In the winter you ’ll need to do a lot less lachrymation , since the plant is in a mostly inactive state . Only water once every few calendar week , if even that .
As the plant is n’t maturate it does n’t require the same amount of weewee as it would when it ’s trying to arise unexampled limbs and flowers .
2. Don’t Let Your Citronella Freeze
Citronella , and geranium in universal , are fairly hardy plants . But they can not withstand freezing temperature . convey your plant inside if it ’s gestate to freeze overnight or if you subsist in a colder climate , endeavor to plan on institute it in for winter .
This is definitely easier if your geranium is in a potted plantation owner instead of grown in the grunge to move around as seasons alteration .
If there ’s only a easy Robert Frost expected , your citronella will likely be okay , but if it ’s a frigid winter all year long , design on bringing it within for the winter .
3. Give It The Right Sunlight
As a general rule , geraniums really like sun , thriving with over 6 hours of direct sun a day . This is a vulgar problem for if your citronella is n’t blooming , it could be because it ’s not bring enough sunlight .
Giving it more sun is ok as well , it just might droop some if the 24-hour interval is too hot outside .
4. Deadhead the Flowers
A way to keep your citronella geranium blooming and healthy is to deadhead the efflorescence . Remove the flowers when they are dying out to allow it to flower more in the season !
Another reasonableness to take the flowers is that some of the nutrient will continue going to those give-up the ghost share of the works , rather than going to the parts that are still healthy and alive .
To dispatch the flowers , pinch them off at the understructure of the stalk where it encounter the leaves .
5. Pruning
Separate from deadheading , your geranium can be pruned in the fall to give it a successful regrowth season the following year . This allows the citronella geranium to check growing outward as well . It can go into an almost dormant state for wintertime , and then grow healthy the following yr !
Pruning is n’t necessary for your citronella , but will help it from grow spindly legs as well as storing nutrient to get ready for the next class . While it ’s dormant and cut back , this is also a good sentence to replant or give it some new soil if necessary .
Citronella can take a portion of pruning , so it can be cut back down to about 1/3 of the plant remaining , or down to a few inch above the ground remain .
This may seem like a pile , but is actually good for the geranium .
