Why are my red zonal geraniums not producing any flowers?

help me! i have 4 big window boxes full of red geraniums. unfortunately they are starting to look really bad. the first plant i will discuss- there are about 5 budding heads, which havent actually bloomed yet, and im beginning to think they wont. the plant hardly has any leaves! #2 a couple of the other plants only have leaves and no buds. i have tried coffee grounds, fertilizer..etc. please help me revive these geraniums!

Why are my red zonal geraniums not producing any flowers?
Too much love is a bad thing, It sounds like you are KILLING them with Kindness.


Let me explain, Fertilizers are ALL most ALL WAYS SALT BASED. SO too much salt build up in the planter will burn and kill the roots.


Coffee grounds are ACIDIC, so to put coffee grounds in planters will add to the roots burning. With out roots, the plants cannot take up nutrition, so the leaves yellow and the flowers cannot bloom.


Everything you have described will add to root burn and death.





I do not think the geraniums will come back until August now. But this is how to do it.


Get New Potting soil,no fertilizer added. Replant the geraniums after washing off their roots.


Then plain water for a couple of weeks, no HOT SUN for a while.


When you start to see new growth, add only 1/3 the recommended feed from the package directions. Slowly increase it to the full amount over a couple of weeks of watering. Add nothing else! Except the one fertilizer that you have chosen!!! Or you will burn the new roots ALL OVER AGAIN!





My thought is give it up, put then in the back of the house and start over, potting soil and all in the window boxes.


JUST do not over LOVE your plants again. Geraniums do not like ALL DAY SUN either, no matter what the stupid label said! For all day sun, get Scavolia, or Petunia.
Reply:The biggest cause of reduced or non-flowering zonal geraniums is them having too much root growing space. If they are over-potted, into large areas, they will flourish in their leafy fashion. This seems to cover the issue that some of your plants have, in these 'big window boxes' - perhaps the word 'big' is the giveaway.





Otherwise, as they're window boxes, they may not be getting sufficient light, due to restrictions of light, due to the walls.





I'd remove the non budding plants, and place into smaller growing pots - these could even be sunk back into the boxes again.





Be wary of over-watering, as well as over-feeding. I apply Sulphate of Potash (Potassium Sulphate) which provides Potassium, to many of my plants that are reluctant to flower. Potassium is the K, in the N:P:K ratio, found on fertilizers. Whichever fertilizer you use, ensure that the K has a high value, compared to the others. (N is Nitrogen, which will make plants leafy). Chemistry lesson over, but such things are good to know for gardeners.





If you go to Italy, you'll see masses of blooms on zonal geraniums grown in small window pots and boxes. I don't know which area that you live in, and whether your sunlight is as strong as that in Italy, but for most flowering issues, it's the root space and potentially over fertilizing, especially with less appropriate feeds.
Reply:I agree . Geraniums do like some afternoon shade and have much more color in their leaves with this. Also, you may be over watering. Geraniums like to dry out a little between waterings. I usually use a nice potting soil like miracle grow and then after they start growing throw on a little miracle grow liquid fertilizer every two weeks to give them a boost. Think you tried to hard! Too many fertilizers. You may need to start over....try until you succeed.