Pelargonium graveolens - mame

[FilipMerynos]

Hi guys,
this is my little experiment with this species. It's well known in Poland and usually can be found on our grandmothers window sills I had got it from a cutting, let it grow (look how big leaves it had) and then cut short. What I'm not sure about is how to transfer it (healthy) into mame pot. Should I do it in one stage by just reducing the rootball or few stages over the course of a year or years? Thanks in advance for advice!

Regards,
Filip

 

[Cypress187]

The roots should always be 'trained' into a (smaller) pot (at repotting time), it depends on the current state of the root ball how fast you can do it.

 

[my nellie]

This makes beautiful aged looking bark on the stems really early.
To my opinion it is best to be styled in a cascade form.
I have this shrub into a jardinière on my balcony. Produces a very nice scent if you rub the leaves and we use it to give flavor to some jams and fruit conserves.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Man, you're so right about every grandmother having one. Not just in Poland, but entire Europe.

To scare away the moths, mosquitos, unwanted bugs..

I would go with a coarse soil, so that it makes a lot of feeder roots. That way the roots are easier to chop and bounce back when you repot. But then again, most grandmothers have a 20+ year specimen because they're hard to kill.

 

[my nellie]

Keep your hands away of Grandmothers' specimens!!!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Excess water will kill them, especially in winter. They are more or less a succulent, but dislike drought longer than two weeks.

The leaves reduce in size nicely. Flowers are an occasional treat.

 

[Clicio]

We call it (wrongly, I guess) "Citronella Geranium" here in Brazil, and ALL grandmas have one against the mosquitoes.
The fragrance is intense.
Mine looks like that: