Troubleshooting Sickly Geraniums

These dark green drooping leaves say that all is not well. But what?











Yellowing and drooping leaves are signs of:

cold
lack of water
too much water
exhaustion
shock
pests
virus disease
over-feeding

These roots are fine for their age (at least 3 years old). They are not brown and rotting.
The compost is dryish, but not completely so. It is certainly not soggy.

Rules out over-watering.

No grubs among roots, nor any sign of damage (chewing). Nothing in leaves either.

Rules out pests.

Could it be the recent cold nights (down to 0 deg C)? Yes, but if it is, there is not much can be done apart from moving away from window.

However, WE CANNOT TAKE THE CHANCE THAT THE PROBLEM IS OVER-FEEDING/LACK OF WATER. DRASTIC ACTION NEEDED; ELSE IT WILL BE TOO LATE, IF IT IS NOT TOO LATE ALREADY.

The pot is not actually light enough (i.e. lighter than it normally is before watering) to signal water shortage.

So what is different? What have I done that I don't normally do?

Eight days ago, I gave it a feed with a high nitrogen feed. Not too much. But I did apply it at the maximum recommended rate; and I gave a lot more than normal. As outlined elsewhere, this plant has hardly ever been fed - and then with a high potassium feed ('Phostrogen Plant Food'). So there could be a shock effect here. The plant is asked to suddenly start soft growing, whereas it has only ever known hard growing.

However, more likely, judging from the limp dark green leaves (they are far darker than normal), is too high a concentration of feed in the compost, causing water to be drawn out of the plant roots by ex-osmosis. This is also consistent with the sudden onset of the wilting.

But whether this is a correct diagnosis or not, we must get water into the plant, if possible.

Gave it a thorough soaking and left it to drain before placing it in a light but not a sunny spot. This should take the pressure off and allow it to recuperate. Hopefully, it will now recover. And definitely no more feeding for a long time; then back to 'Phostrogen'. Time will reveal the problem. But keeping the plants alive is the essential priority.