Autumn Tips and Advice for Pelargonium Growers

In this video our host David Taylor, aka 'Mr Pelargonium' give us a few tips to get your pelargoniums through this autumn period, including cutting back and leaf stripping.

[@ralfbuschmann1589]

Thanks David and regards from germany. Its always a interesting pleasure for me to go with your videos through my Pelargonium year and in winter i spends a lot of time to watch older ones,

[@kimwatts5750]

Thank you David😀

[@kimmybooth]

Thanks as always David …. Spend most of winter looking through your archives 👋 forever grateful 🙏

[@christownsend9550]

Hi and thanks for the guide to autumn care, I saw someone in the US, on another channel, demonstrating autumn care where he dried out the root ball and the chopped off the stems and stored the root and short stems in a brown paper bag, in a frost free garage. Is this something that would work here in England?

[@thepagsociety]

Hi Chris. This is the very old fashioned way of doing it which I doubt many people do these days. The majority are either serious growers or, like the majority, just treat them as annuals and buy new plants each year. I basically want my plants to keep growing a bit during the winter so keep them fed and watered albeit only occasionally in the winter. But yes if you can guarantee keeping the inside of your garage forest free it could work. You would need to be careful that the stems are cut very short as if too long they could dehydrate too much and not recover. D

[@christownsend9550]

@@thepagsociety Thanks so much for this response, he said say that that method was used successfully by his grandma, and he was following her example! My greenhouse isn’t heated so tender plants like pelargoniums would be at risk to severe frost and cold temperatures, I’ll follow your advice and to store some in the greenhouse and some in the garage and hope for the best. As well as continuing to follow your advice on your channel.

[@marshallwilliams2897]

David, When you take cuttings I see you many times wipe the blade with a rag that I assume has some sort of sanitizing substance...what is it?

[@thepagsociety]

Yes, I use Jeyes Fluid. D

[@convinth]

Frost in early to mid-October! In which part of the UK do you live?

[@thepagsociety]

Down south. It was an early touch of frost, nothing too bad and after that it turned mild again and has been like that ever since. This weekend are supposed to be the first hard frost’s of the season.

[@alexstools]

David, I'm experiencing some catepilars in my pelargoniums recently, I never had that before. Did you and what to do?

[@thepagsociety]

Yes we get them every year on plants outside. They are various moth larvae. Most are nocturnal so the moths fly at night, hence closing the greenhouse at night usually keeps them out so they are not a problem in the greenhouse. For plants outside just look on the underside of the leaves and you should be able to spot them and take them off and pass them to the birds. D

[@alexstools]

@@thepagsociety Thank you! I've been doing just that and will continue to do so. Luckily I see no to little signs of them anymore (getting to cold maybe).

[@Ematravestita]

Or Fragrant frosty?!😮

[@gyatirinyo1097]

Sir...which month is best for root pruning?

[@thepagsociety]

Basically in the late summer so that the roots can grow back before winter sets in. Probably too late now depending on where you are. D

[@gyatirinyo1097]

@@thepagsociety Thanks for the reply 🙏 Iam from ziro a small vill(India)

[@Ematravestita]

Lady plumoth?

[@thepagsociety]

??

[@andrew5278]

😬 "promosm"

[@thepagsociety]

?