As a neighbor, she listened not to me, but to the People's Council. And her geranium was gone. I wanted the best

Fiery fireworks, fellow flower growers!

We all know where the road is paved with good intentions. The desire to "help the flower" sometimes turns into the opposite effect: the flower begins to suffer and even disappears.

How a neighbor decided to help her pelargonium, finding advice on the Internet

Such a story happened to my neighbor, Lyubov. She read some useful advice on the Internet that promises to help with geraniums. During the first half of winter, Lyubino's plant lost half of its leaves and looked ugly.

And the post on the social network promised: the flower will truly transform, you just have to pour it with ammonia. Lyuba's faith was supported by comments in which flower growers confirmed the benefits of a strange remedy.

Why I was skeptical about this idea

I immediately told Lyuba that I did not support her decision to feed the geraniums with ammonia. In response, a neighbor sent me a "recipe" in which it was written in black and white: "There is nitrogen in the ammonia, which the pelargonium needs to maintain the leaves."

When asked why not just use nitrogen fertilizer - it is on the shelf in Luba's closet - she could not answer. "Well, people write!" - here's your argument.

I had other arguments:

• Stimulating the growth of greenery in geraniums in winter is a lost cause. She is now shedding leaves not because of a lack of nitrogen. She has little light. Because of this, nitrogen fertilizing will have a different effect: they will make the plant stretch and grow bald even more.
• Even in spring, applying large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer can play a cruel joke. An excess of a macronutrient is no less harmful than a deficiency.

• Anyone can understand that ammonia is a caustic substance. In addition, indicating the amount of an ingredient in "drops" is not the most accurate and dangerous point in the instructions. After all, exceeding the dosage can cause a root burn, from which all geraniums will suffer. And it will certainly spoil all the microflora in the pot, which it is better not to touch.
• The fact that the advice worked for others does not mean anything. We all have different plants, soil characteristics and conditions. In addition, people like to wishful thinking and attribute positive properties to "miracle remedies." The benefits of which have not been proven by science. This is true, by the way.

But Lyuba was not convinced by my arguments. She wanted her geranium to turn into a lush ball now. It's so long to wait until spring, right?

What came out of this whole thing

A week later, Love came to me joyful. She was impatient to tell that "the ammonia worked!" Dormant buds began to wake up at the base of the stems.

But a week later, the situation changed dramatically: the leaves began to dry one by one, turning into a translucent rag. Now from the geranium there are stems with a "palm" of 2-3 small leaves on the tops.

I would venture to suggest that Lyuba did harm her houseplant with "people's advice". Therefore, I urge you, comrades, to think with your head before pouring an untested solution into a pot with your favorite flower.