My geranium situation has gone from sad to worse. Two of them are still fine, one is looking a little shabby, but the worst one is this guy:
I know overwatering is a problem with geraniums, so first I tried giving less water and moved him into the sun. Then when there was no improvement, I tried giving more water. Now it's just a mess. I don't know if there's any hope. I have a suspicion that it's a result of the clay soil (supposedly poor drainage leads to yellowing of leaves). Googling the problem has led me to the following (unsubstantiated) tips:
My current plan is to repot this one mixing in more compost with the soil, and also to deadhead it and pull off the brown parts. Then we'll see. But reading about geraniums has also lead me to find out some interesting things about their history. Most of what are called geraniums are actually pelargoniums, a plant from southern Africa that was introduced to England in the mid seventeenth century. Pelargonium means stork, and it is called that because of the long, pointy fruits thought to look like a stork's bill. Their leaves kill Japanese beetles, and apparently pelargonium oil can be used to treat respiratory infections. All I really want is for it to not die, anything else is a bonus.
I know overwatering is a problem with geraniums, so first I tried giving less water and moved him into the sun. Then when there was no improvement, I tried giving more water. Now it's just a mess. I don't know if there's any hope. I have a suspicion that it's a result of the clay soil (supposedly poor drainage leads to yellowing of leaves). Googling the problem has led me to the following (unsubstantiated) tips:
- they don't like to have wet leaves even
- the soil should be perfectly dry in between waterings
- deadheading is key
- they need full sun (which mine already have)
My current plan is to repot this one mixing in more compost with the soil, and also to deadhead it and pull off the brown parts. Then we'll see. But reading about geraniums has also lead me to find out some interesting things about their history. Most of what are called geraniums are actually pelargoniums, a plant from southern Africa that was introduced to England in the mid seventeenth century. Pelargonium means stork, and it is called that because of the long, pointy fruits thought to look like a stork's bill. Their leaves kill Japanese beetles, and apparently pelargonium oil can be used to treat respiratory infections. All I really want is for it to not die, anything else is a bonus.
C.W. Ward in the 1900 "Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture" describes my problem perfectly: "While the general florist may consider geranium- culture the easiest of all gardening, the fact remains that it is as necessary to observe the requirements of the geranium as it is to observe the requirements of any other plant; in order to succeed and produce the best effects attainable. While it is true that the geranium will grow and make a good showing with comparatively little care, there is as much difference between a skilfully grown geranium plant and one carelessly grown as there is between a fancy and a common rose or carnation." (sic)
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