Tasty Geraniums

by Dylan Shweky
(New York City)

Hey, I bought some beautiful red-budded geraiums the other day. I come across them after a few days and the buds are eaten CLEAN off, and the leaves are seriously chewed. The creature left an egg on a leaf (as pictured) I was wondering if you could help me figure out what has been eating them & how to prevent that from happening again?

I live in NYC and they are potted.

Comments for Tasty Geraniums

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Jul 31, 2020

By Chance
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

By chance, did you have some hail recently? This looks more like hail damage, rather than a critter using it for lunch. There is nothing you can do about the damage, that will be permanent, hail or critter.

What I would do is inspect the entire plant, just in case, and get rid of any pests you find. The new leaves that it will grow will cover up the damaged ones, and of course, when if flowers, no-one will notice the leaves. As the leaves still have enough green to do their job (photosynthesize) you won't need to remove them, unless they start to turn colour and rot.

For what it's worth, this looks more like a Begonia than a geranium (which is called Pelargonium).

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