Sorry people, random slip of the keyboard: I didn't really want to send
you all my IE shortcut! (suspect most people already have their own ;-))

Victoria

Victoria Clare wrote in
.207:

" Emrys Davies" wrote in news:bcqir6$lmrsd$1@ID-
108842.news.dfncis.de:

'Joe',

The idea is not to overpot the geranium family in order to ensure
that they do not produce too much foliage at the expense of flowers.

Best to treat them as recommended by the supplier(s), but you may
consider leaving one in a bigger pot to test the over-potting theory.


As a sort of case study, here is the tale of my pelargonium rooty
cuttings this year. They are an ivy-leaved pelargonium, 'Barbe Bleu'.

As I had no small pots free when they arrived (damn! too many seeds
again!) I ignored the instructions, and potted five of them straight
into their large 'final' terracotta pots.

I did have 2 small pots, so I potted the other two plants into those
then potted them again later when I'd decided where to put them.

The two that were in small pots are now about the size of the smallest
of the 5, (that one got greenfly which stunted its growth a bit).

The other 4 (large pots, no greenfly) are definitely larger, and just
about to flower now. They have at least as many flower buds as the
ones that got the small pot treatment, and the 'small-potters' do not
seem to have come into bloom any earlier, despite having stayed in the
greenhouse a bit longer.

Oh, I also disobeyed the instructions by using a peat-free bark-based
compost rather than a peat-based one, thus, according to the
instructions, invalidating my warranty! But the plants are large,
heathy, and are just about to look fantastic, so I have no plans to
invoke the guarantee anyway.

I also got a scented geranium at the same time. That came with
particularly fearful warnings that over-potting would lead to
disaster, so, I did actually pot tha t one into a smaller pot, and I
think it even got John Innes compost too. It is now a smaller plant
than the ivy- leavers, but is in full bloom: I put that down to it
being a different variety rather than necessarily being the potting
regime though.

I bought both from Vernons - http://www.geraniumsuk.com/ - not cheap,
but they do have an amazing range and lots of varieties that don't
seem to be available elsewhere.

HTH
Victoria