kevin york
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Flowers falling of geraniums before opening

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Hello all,

Recently I bought 4 trailing geranium baskets that came mail order complete with plants in them. I have hung them in that garden and have been watering daily.

However, I have noted that in 2, which were shipped in the same box, the flower stems are shrivelling and the flowers drop off before opening.

I have included a photo. Can anyone help save me from this disaster please?

Kevin

kevin york
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Sorry I should add the stem colour when shrivelled is black. Also some leaves at the bottom of the plants have a yellow edge and thus I removed them yesterday, which is about a week after the flowers started shrivelling.

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GardeningCook
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While I can't definitively I.d. exactly what is happening, if I were you I'd snip off any & all flowers showing the symptoms you outline, & continue to culture the plants properly. With any luck & proper care, more - & healthy flowers - should appear with gusto. Sometimes shipping puts a blip into a plant's daily grind & it can take a little while for them to get over it.

Oh - & don't make the mistake many folks do & fertilize these plants until they start showing new healthy growth. While it's easy to think that feeding will help a stressed plant's situation, in reality it just adds to the stress.

imafan26
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You say you are watering them daily? Are you sure you are not watering too much? My pelargoniums (I don't have true geraniums) don't need a lot of water and too much rain will cause edema= black spots, yellow leaves and rotting stems.

kevin york
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Hello and thank both of you for your replies.

I have been doing exactly as you say, snipping everything that looks ill or is dead. All yellow leaves are removed and unfortunately all flowers are removed as the stems whither / shrivel.

I have fed them only once and will not do so again. The soil they were supplied with should have a sufficient amount of food in for 6 weeks or more. The only reason I fed them was, my research led me to believe yellowing leaves means they require food.

With the watering I am doing as directed on the leaflet that came with the baskets, that being water once a day. This is because baskets will dry out rapidly in full sun and wind, which is how they are hung.

However, I do understand that geraniums / perlargoniums tend to thrive on some neglect. They enjoy drying out. So I will take your advice and try watering one basket once every 2 days and the other basket once every 3 days.

If anyone else has any further advice I will happily listen and I will be reporting back what ever happens!

Thanks again

Kevin

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

What kind of situation do you have them located in? Did you gradually expose them to direct sun after they spent x number of days in the box? Especially while they are struggling, it's probably best not to put them in too much/strong sun.

I'm assuming these are Ivy geraniums? My neighbor likes those, and hers are in part (1/2 day) sun.

She does water them twice a day (I know because I plant sat for her before....) Best way to tell if they need water is to heft them with your hand on the bottom of the basket after thoroughly watering -- that's your benchmark. If they fell light and easy to heft, then they need more water.

Commercially planted hanging baskets are likely to use water retaining polymers that hold onto moisture. Your geraniums may already be suffering from root rot. Worst case, you may need to turn them out of the baskets and cut off diseased roots, and re-plant. You could try watering with 1 part hydrogen peroxide (3%) and 19 parts water. Or with chamomile tea. Or cinnamon water.

kevin york
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Hi again,

Have not been watering apart from as above and still flower stems are shrivelling and the flowers are dieing.

However I have noted leaf stems are occasionally doing the same. They also have a dark patch on!

Can anyone identify what is causing this?

Kevin
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