Why are my geranium flower heads dying off?

TomsMom

I bought two red upright geraniums (pelargoniums) a couple of weeks or so ago, planted them in containers with bacopa and ivy. There were already flowers on them when I bought them.

There are quite a few flower stalks and plenty of buds, and the leaves are healthy enough, but the buds are just dying off and not opening properly and flowering.

Anyone any idea what the problem is and what I can do?

Jake'sGran

Not sure what is causing this but I would reduce the length of some stems to a outward pointing joint and then leave them on the dry side. I stopped using geraniums with other plants in hanging baskets as they require different conditions. They are Mediterranean plants and like to be hot and dry. The bacopa etc might like plenty of water in which case the geraniums might be too wet although you did say they look healthy. Usually, they go a bit yellow when watered too much. I take a lot of cuttings so as to have them for the following year.

TomsMom

Thanks Jakes'sGran. I've just been and had another look and on the one plant there are about 3 leaves where just the edges have got a yellow tinge to them, none on the other one. But I think you may be right. I have given them plenty of water this last week or so because of it being so hot, as I've watered the rest of the garden I just gave those containers some as well. Didn't realist they tolerated dry conditions so well. I'll cut off the stems with the dying heads and I'll reduce the watering and see what happens.

Jake'sGran

Hi Toms Mum, I have seen geraniums in Spain which have obviously not been watered since the previous year (when we were there in May one year). One had beautiful flowers on it but looked a bit exhausted. There must have been some rain over the Winter. But they do like to be on the dryish side and the ones I have in my potting shed (lots of light) are happier than the ones in the sometimes very hot GH. One of my friends told me last week that she had a pile of geraniums in the garage in their original pots and she found they had flowered like mad. But I think they would be leggy.