Oh, the pressure! We have no direct experience with this kind of timing and can not find it elsewhere, but we learned the following and pass it on in hope that it helps:
• When any given stem is as tall as you`d like or you wish to encourage branching or new basal shoots, pinch out its growing tip but not the flower bud forming alongside. In this way, you allow the terminal bloom cluster to mature and give pleasure while the removal of the growing tip has set into motion the desired activity below. By the time top blooms fade, new growth will be budding.
• If you want a miniature or dwarf geranium to go all to bloom, try potting in a 5- or 6-inch bulb pan or azalea pot (both types are more shallow than the standard, which is as wide across the top as it is tall). This practice allows the little geranium to develop many branches, and when the roots are sufficiently cramped, there will be a profusion of flowers.
• Give the roots a soaking when the surface soil is approaching dryness. If you wait until there is a slight wilting of the leaves, flower buds on the way will wither and die. But never leave a geranium sitting in water.
• Commercial growers have a variety (it seems) of techniques that seem complicated for home growers but you might glean some secrets by reading about this report from Michigan State: http://flor.hrt.msu.edu/assets/PdfAttachments/7Geranium-and-Zinnia.pdf
Oh, the pressure! We have no direct experience with this kind of timing and can not find it elsewhere, but we learned the following and pass it on in hope that it helps:
• When any given stem is as tall as you`d like or you wish to encourage branching or new basal shoots, pinch out its growing tip but not the flower bud forming alongside. In this way, you allow the terminal bloom cluster to mature and give pleasure while the removal of the growing tip has set into motion the desired activity below. By the time top blooms fade, new growth will be budding.
• If you want a miniature or dwarf geranium to go all to bloom, try potting in a 5- or 6-inch bulb pan or azalea pot (both types are more shallow than the standard, which is as wide across the top as it is tall). This practice allows the little geranium to develop many branches, and when the roots are sufficiently cramped, there will be a profusion of flowers.
• Give the roots a soaking when the surface soil is approaching dryness. If you wait until there is a slight wilting of the leaves, flower buds on the way will wither and die. But never leave a geranium sitting in water.
• Commercial growers have a variety (it seems) of techniques that seem complicated for home growers but you might glean some secrets by reading about this report from Michigan State: http://flor.hrt.msu.edu/assets/PdfAttachments/7Geranium-and-Zinnia.pdf
Good luck in at the Fair!