Useful information for gardeners: geranium diseases, their photos and treatment

Geranium, like any other indoor plant, can be exposed to various diseases. Due to its unpretentiousness, the flower is rarely sick.

In the event that he becomes ill, then with timely treatment he easily regains his strength. Geranium with sufficient lighting and regular feeding is quite quickly cured of individuals parasitizing on it. Read about the causes of flower disease and methods of dealing with them in our article.

What kind of houseplant is this?

Geranium (or pelargonium) is an herbaceous plant in the geranium family with lobed or dissected odorous leaves. Plants are bred as ornamental or as commercial for the production of essential oils. In Russia, there are up to 40 types of geraniums. Unpretentious pelargonium has bright red or pink bunches of flowers.

Common Causes of the Disease

The main factors that provoke various diseases in geraniums are:

• Irregular feeding. Pelargonium needs monthly high-calorie fertilizer, but in moderation.
• Volumetric pot. The capacity for the root system should be narrow enough, otherwise the geranium will not bloom. All nutrients will accumulate in the roots without reaching the foliage and flowers.
• Moderate watering. The plant needs a rare but plentiful watering, especially during flowering.
• Spraying plants. Pelargonium does not need to provide moisture to its foliage, so it is not recommended to spray the flower.
• Failure to trim. Every spring, the flower needs to be cut, leaving only a few shoots.
• Geraniums are too dark. Excessive shading affects the life support of the plant. If there is no way to provide him with a sufficient amount of sunlight, then it is worth using artificial lighting.
• Little oxygen. Plants constantly need an influx of fresh air, so the room where the geranium grows needs to be ventilated as often as possible. In summer, if possible, plant a flower in the open ground.

Symptoms and diagnoses

Read about why room geraniums turn red and dry, read here, and from this article you will learn about why leaves turn white and how to help the plant.

The most basic ailments

Most often, geraniums are susceptible to various ailments due to poor care. The most common pelargonium diseases are as follows:

• Etiolation. With a lack of light, the trunk of the plant is stretched and deformed, and the leaves become smaller and lose their former color. To cure a flower, it needs to be placed on the sunny side, and in winter, provide artificial light for it.
• Eden. It occurs with waterlogging of the soil. Geraniums absorb water, but do not have time to evaporate the excess. For treatment, it is recommended to dry the soil and reduce the amount of watering. For the prevention of edema should provide the plant with card drainage and regularly ventilate the room.
• Chlorosis. When the leaves change color and their growth slows down, the plant becomes infected with chlorosis. Chlorosis appears with a lack of iron. Similar symptoms can occur with a lack of manganese. Sick plants need to provide a complete complex of mineral fertilizers. To prevent the further spread of the disease, it is useful to transplant plants into fresh soil.
• Excess nutrients. An excess of nitrogen leads to yellowing of the leaves, and a supersaturation of phosphorus leads to their drying. For treatment, you need to limit the content of these substances in the soil. To prevent the development of the disease, plant transplantation helps, as well as the addition of stimulants to the soil: epin or zircon.
• Oversaturation of soil with a solution of fungicide or herbicide. Gardeners use herbicides in a plot to control weeds, fungicides are used to treat rot. Under the influence of these drugs, the plant may lose foliage. In this case, it is necessary to transplant the affected plant into fresh fertilized soil.

Geraniums are very sensitive to waterlogged or non-sterilized soil. When such adverse conditions occur, fungi, viruses and bacteria begin to parasitize on it.

When infected, the diseased flower is isolated, for healthy plants carry out prophylaxis, which includes the following steps:

1. moderate watering;
2. in cool indoor air, plants provide dry air;
3. sterilize the soil;
4. carry out pest control;
5. quarantine them.

In detail about why geraniums have leaf diseases, we talked about in this article.

Geranium can be affected by the following fungal infections:

• Gray rot. The disease affects the peduncles, leaves and stems of the plant. To cure a flower, it is necessary to remove all rotted parts of plants and temporarily stop watering and feeding it. Then treat with Fundazol or Vitaros solutions.
• Phytophthosis. For treatment, it is necessary to ensure the dryness of the soil or to update the soil, along with this geranium is processed by Ridomil, Previkur or Profit gold.
• Leaf spotting (what geranium signals with spots on the leaves, read in our material). It is necessary to remove the diseased parts and treat the flower with fungicides.
• Powdery mildew. The fungus appears in the form of a flour-like plaque on the leaves of geranium. At the first sign of disease, the plant is dusted with sulfur.
• Blackleg. Waterlogging or drainageless soil content contributes to the darkening and decay of the stem. Infected cuttings must be pinched off, and the top cut and root.
• Rust. Light green with reddish spots is formed on the leaves. At the first signs of the disease, you need to remove the infected leaves and increase the air circulation in the room, you can treat it with fungicide.
• Root rot. The disease affects the root system of the plant. It turns yellow and fades (about why the leaves of a geranium turn yellow, how to feed and water it can be found here). If the root is slightly affected by rot, it is removed from the pot and washed well. The plant is treated with Hom, Oxychom, Fundazole or Previkur.

Parasites and the fight against them

With improper care, pelargonium weakens and becomes attractive to all kinds of pests. Parasites that violate plant health can be of the following types:

• Root worm. Wind up in moist soil. It only eats plant roots. The affected areas of the root need to be cut with a knife, and healthy roots for several minutes placed in hot water, after they are dried and sprinkled with charcoal. Transplant treated root into sterile soil.
• Mealybug. Sticky lumps of white color on different parts of the plant suck out nutrients from it. If a mealybug is discovered, the diseased flower is isolated and the parasites are manually removed. Pelargonium is then sprayed with a soap - alcohol solution.IMPORTANT: With the advanced stage, it is necessary to treat the plant with insecticides (Aktara, Actellik or Fufanon).
• Whitefly. It is found on the inside of the leaves. It is removed with the help of the drug Actara.
• Aphid. Striking young stems shoots and leaves. They are twisted and deformed (about why geranium leaves twist, read here). Pests are removed manually or cut off.
• Caterpillar. Make holes in the leaves and lay the larvae. Get rid of parasites with the help of Senpai or Lipidocide.

Photo

And here you can see a photo of geranium affected by diseases:

Pelargonium resuscitation: home care

There are situations that geranium begins to fade very quickly, literally before our eyes. In this case, the plant needs immediate restoration without finding out the reasons for this wilting. There are several effective ways to resuscitate pelargonium:

1. washing and removing dry rotten roots;
2. cutting rotten and dry leaves, up to their complete removal;
3. disinfection in Epin's solution for about 1 hour;
4. soil sterilization;
5. transplantation into a warm and moist substrate;
6. moving the plant to a bright, slightly cool place without drafts;
7. exclusion of watering, in warm weather spraying with warm water;
8. Feeding with Epin (1 time per week);
9. gradual transfer of geraniums to the sunny side;
10. when new leaves appear, transfer to standard care.

Geraniums rarely get sick when they receive enough light, heat and quality care. If nevertheless pelargonium is affected by some disease, then it is not worth delaying treatment. Prevention and timely treatment of geraniums will help to completely cure it.

Watch the video: Growing Geraniums : Problems with Geraniums (May 2024).