Archive for November, 2009

Big commercial growers all over the country count geraniums among their top money-makers, and the number of semi-amateurs who have found geraniums profitable is legion. The accounts that follow are typical of countless success stories.

When only thirteen years old, Elvin McDonald, then of Gray, Oklahoma, built a 6- by 9-foot lean-to at a cost of less than one hundred dollars, and it became a money-maker the first year. Young McDonald started cuttings and seedlings of rare geraniums-cactus, scented, and fancy-leaved types-in flats in his home, and as soon as the greenhouse was completed moved them in. Within two months the cuttings were ready for sale.

From one $30.00 ad in a horticultural magazine, he received more than $500.00 worth of orders-all in less than 2 weeks.

With this money to purchase additional stock, he began growing more than seventy-five varieties of geraniums, mostly fancy-leaved and scented, since they had proved to be the best sellers. Because the glass of his little greenhouse extended almost to the ground, plants thrived under the benches, affording valuable topside space for rooting cuttings.

In South Bend, Indiana, Mrs. Mabel Welborn makes a dandy profit from geraniums. She started with a little 7- by 12-foot lean-to built on the south side of an unused henhouse; now she grows in a new 14- by 20-foot greenhouse, built for $250.00. One year she advertised in the local paper for Memorial Day, but found that many of her plants were too large and expensive for this holiday trade. Since then she tops taller plants in January, and propagates the cuttings, and sells bushy topped plants to the early spring trade. She prefers a seasonal trade, running ads for Easter, Memorial Day, and Christmas. The rest of the year she runs her house as a hobby, building up her stock of fancy-leaved geraniums. One of her favorites-and well liked by her customers-is Appleblossom Rosebud.

Geranium Society

If you are concerned with geraniums, do join the International Geranium Society, 3632 Vinton Street, Los Angeles 34, California. It publishes an excellent booklet full of helpful information.

Hints on Culture

The geranium (Pelargonium) grows in any ordinary soil, provided it is not deficient in potash, and in a minimum temperature of 55 to 60 degrees with full sunlight. Contrary to popular belief, plants require constant watering. Keeping them on the dry side delays flowering. Good growth and heavy flowering depend on steady fertilizing. Give weekly doses of half strength fertilizer as the buds form.

Pythium, commonly called black leg disease, is a form of rot. To prevent it, sterilize the soil before planting and spray with 2-2-50 Bordeaux to keep older plants free of this infection. One commercial geranium saved an entire collection by repeated dosages of the tar derivative, Carco-X. Another effective fungicide is Orthocide.

Propagation

Propagate geraniums by seed or cuttings. Sow the seeds in a loose soil, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Cover lightly with soil and set in a warm greenhouse. As the seedlings grow, prick them off into 2- and finally 4-inch pots. Seeds sown in August produce spring-flowering plants.

Geraniums respond well to hand pollination; the slender seed pods ripen in about 6 weeks. Do not depend on these homemade hybrids for your first salable crop, however. Seeds sold by specialists are gathered from selected varieties and will give you just the type of plant you want to sell.

Cuttings strike root easily when taken in September. Insert them in a flat of moist vermiculite, spacing them so that leaves do not touch. They will be ready for sale within 4 months. These plants need not be shifted from small to large pots; instead pot them directly into 2- and 3-inchers.

The fancy-leaved geraniums are prized by collectors and find favor, too, with the gardener who wants a “different” pot or bedding plant. Although the leaf colors are varied, they do not clash when planted together. Grow them in strong sunshine to bring out their full beauty. One profit-gardener makes a specialty of these. She grows masses of them outside on a sunny slope and sells cuttings directly from the bed.

Popular among the fancy types are Happy Thought, Marshall MacMahon, Bronze Beauty, Skies of Italy, and Mrs. Pollock. Beckwith Pride, Hills of Snow, and Attraction are among the silver- and green-leaved; Gold Leaf, Verona, Cloth of Gold, and tiny Dwarf Gold Leaf have gold leaves.

Unusual and Fine-Flowering Types

These fascinating varieties have sales appeal for the collector as well as those who want unusual house or garden plants. In this group are the Bird’s Egg pelargoniums with the lower petals of the flower touched and splashed with darker color. There are few of these listed by dealers. If you can secure plants to propagate, you will be assured of a stock item with exceptional sales value.

Less rare but popular is the notched-petal group listed as Jeanne, Carnation, or Sweet William. These flowers have “pinked” petals-like a carnation. The Rosebud geraniums have very double flowers like tiny partially opened rosebuds. Favorite varieties are Apple Blossom, Magenta, and Scarlet Rosebud, whose flowers open wider than the others. Then there is the Poinsettia group with narrow, uneven petals of varying size. Red Poinsettia has short petals of lavender pink. The pure white one, Noel, may be listed under Cactus-flowered.

Another group is called Phlox because its eyed-florets resemble the garden phlox. Both Phlox and its variety, New Phlox, are popular.