Kitchen Garden Forum

The leaves on my over-wintered geranium cuttings have gone very red instead of green and several of them are now in flower. They look quite seedy though. I!ve planted them out in patio pots now with some chicken manure pellets incorporated in the compost but wonder if there,s anything elseI can do to improve their health.

I think it's too cold for them, Primrose.

Hi Primrose
I think you have done the right thing. Reddening leaves on geraniums is a sure sign of a lack of feeding particularly a shortage of nitrogen. Feeding with poultry pellets was a good idea.
I would keep removing any early flowers/buds until the plants have made more leaf growth. Also don't over water - geraniums do best when allowed to get a little dry at the roots and then having a really good watering.

John

PS Pinch out the tips to encourage bushy growth

Thanks. The cuttings were over wintered in a rather leaky plastic mini greenhouse and didn,t get much attention so were probably lucky to have survived at all. Will hope to see a gradual improvement as the weather warms up. At least they were free so no money wasted!

hi primrose, yes, they are just hungry! I potted mine on in march, as it was dry and warmish, they stayed in the greenhouse until mid April. I was surprised, I only lost one, as they do usually go mouldy if you are not extremely careful with the moisture levels. I admit, I basically ignored them all winter. they had 2 choices!

Over-wintered geraniums do tend to start the season let's say, not necessarily on the right foot. It's not unusual for them to look rather ropey by the time it comes to plant them out for the summer. They're quick to recover, so given a bit of summer sun they soon get a wiggle on and any discolouration disappears as your plants regain their vigour. I don't agree, though, that adding chicken manure pellets is such a good move — I think the nitrogen hit that will give will be rather too great, with more leaf than flower and sappy growth with little resilience. The discolouration you're seeing now is more likely due to stress (fluctuating temperatures, sudden exposure to bright light — many factors). Maybe a little shortage of nitrogen, yes, but the nitrogen levels in fresh potting compost should be of the right balance as they are. If, after a few weeks, they are still not making a convincing effort greening up, then you can always liquid feed. I recommend removing the flowers that are present now, to encourage new growth. New, robust flowers will quickly follow when they regain health.