with transplants ... patience is the key ...

do not compare the timing of bloom with other plants that might have been nursery grown ... and sold 27 minutes before the first bloom ...

again... they look fine by these pics ...

i dont know why they would need that much fert .. that often .... do you happen to know if the media had any fert in it to start with???

ken

the ones in the ProMix BX I don't fertilize at all....the ones in the ground I do because I have no idea how fertile the soil is.

Patience - the top plant is loaded with buds.

What is the ratio of nutrients of MG liquid concentrate. Some miracle grow products are high in nitrogen. That makes for lush green foliage and sacrifices flowers. I found this out very early in my gardening experience. I planted nasturtiums and gave them high nitrogen fertilizer. I grew lush dark green foliage with not 1 flower.

Even if your fertilizer isn't high nitrogen you don't need to fertilize as often. Geraniums don't need that much fertilizer.

there is no way.. your soil is so deficient in nutrients.. that you would need to fert that often ...

but to check.. have a soil test done..

call your county extension or Ag office... and they can tell you how to do it ... thru them ...

dont get me wrong.. a little of this or that rarely hurts ... but they simply do not need to be fed like children ...

and as dowl notes.. if you are using the wrong stuff.. it can be detrimental ....

regardless.. these look pretty fat and happy ... relax ... report back when they pop

ken

Patience paid off and it turns out the soil is just fine.

These photos below (taken yesterday) are almost 7 weeks apart from those taken above. Considering how long it took these plants to get here, does anyone have any suggestions for speeding up the process for next year? I don't want to wait until mid-August to have what I have now.

Should I.....

- Start the Ivy Geraniums from seed even sooner so that they are more mature at transplant time? I started mine Feb 13.

- Feed them at all before transplanting them (which I did not)?

- Plant more of them and tighten the spacing? I planted 4 seedlings in each of the large containers. Of the ones that when directly into the ground I planted about a dozen spaced apart more of less in a bowling pins configuration.

I noticed that the container on the left side of my steps always has more blooms so I periodically rotate them. The azalea bush to the right of the steps probably shades it too much. BTW....neither of these containered plants get sun until 100pm usually but then they are in total sun until sunset. The plants that are in the ground get sun all morning and some of the afternoon (up until 2pm or so) before a large tree shelters them with shade the rest of the day.

When I had hanging pots of ivy geraniums I found they needed fertilizing at least weekly to get continuous bloom. If you are using a diluted fertilizer you might need to fertilize more often. Also, if your mix does not contain fertilizer add some slow release fertilizer when potting. Remember each time you water or it rains some of the fertilizer is leaching out and despite what the bag says it rarely lasts 3 months.