Ok, so I'm a newbie...................

and I need your help! I've looked in the wisteria threads and I can't find the answer to my question so I think I'll try this. I have just planted a Chinese Wisteria (not sure if it's a seed start or a cutting). I bought it at Home Depot and it was obviously a dormant vine with some new growth and some healthy roots. I've planted it in a large pot outside. Here's my question...how big do you think I can expect it to get this growing season? From what I've read, I think I can expect about 7 or 8 feet out of it this year. Is that about right? And I've missed flowering, right? (if it was going to flower at all, considering I don't know the age of the plant) Oh, and since I'm asking........the same question applies to the trumpet vine I just planted. Whew! I can certainly talk!!!

I can't answer your questions about the Wisteria because I'm still waiting on mine to do some growing. I've had it for over two years now and it doesn't appear to grow fast here, but I also don't know what I'm doing with it, so it is basically surviving on its own. Welcome to Daves. Hope someone will come here and answer your questions so I can benefit from their knowledge also. Thanks for posting your questions.

Most Wisteria vines take a few years to bloom, sometimes as much as 5 years depending on the soil and type of vine planted. If you planted it in a pot, it will take awhile for it to bloom but it should grow very fast for you. Make sure that you have a good support for your vine as they get very big and heavy. The Trumpet vine should bloom for you this year but not very much, like with most perinnials, it takes 3 years to bring them to their full maturityl. Good luck with your vines Alym and keep planting! p.s. Home depot has a 1 year return policy on plants for exchange or credit slip but no refund, just keep your receipt.

Snipper, do Wisteria need regular fertilizing? I have done nothing to mine and would like to treat it right. Curious mind here. Thanks.

Hi Brugie. I use a name brand time release fertilizer as well as a lot of compost in the fall and again in the spring. Also it being a vine, don't be stingy with the water. The thing with Wisteria vines, you cann't rush them at first and later on, you cann't slow them down. But , boy do they look good!

Thanks a bunch. I'll work some Osmocote into the soil around it and since it is close to the hose, I can water it often. Maybe that is my problem. No fertilizer and I didn't want to have it soaking in moisture. I appreciate the help.

Thanks so much for your help. I feel a little better now that I may know what to expect. Thanks for the welcome brugie! I have found a lot of great information on this site! Hopefully my wisteria will do well, I did add a generous amount of organic matter to the soil when I planted, now I'll be sure to fertilize as well!

I planted a wisteria vine about six or more years ago. It grew rapidly, but never bloomed. I have tried getting ride of it, but just keeps coming back from the root stem. If I let it grow back, is there a chance it will bloom afer being cut to the ground?

i have a chinese wisteria that i got last year. it was dormant and this year it is finally growing. it started out about a foot and a half tall and is about two and half now with a long runner vine which if i include it is 3-4 ft tall in all. mine is taking its time right now to grow. as for flowers yes i dont think to look for any this year.

i havent fertilized mine at all. maybe i better get it some. its doing good though. well cant wait for mine to take off . i want to see it flower. maybe next season.

Purplepetunia, there is no chance that your wisteria will bloom after being cut to the ground -- at least not for two or three years. It would need at least two years to recover. Wisterias bloom on old wood so you would have to have nodes from the year before.

I too bought some bareroot wisterias from Home Depot a year or two ago. It was an unusually warm winter here so only one or two of my wisterias bloomed, and those only put out one bloom each. The wisterias that Home Depot sells are usually a few years old and should bloom right away. Additionally, they sell Cooke's Purple, which is an early bloomer and which will bloom when quite young.

Wisterias have nitrogen nodules attached to their roots so they don't need fertilizer. In Peter Vader's book "Wisterias, A Comprehensive Guide," he talks about full sun being a requirement for abundant development of flower buds. Also, he says, "Thirdly, if they are given lots of water and fertilizer, they may devote their energy to growth rather than to the development of flower buds so, as mentioned before, once a plant is established, it is best to do nothing to it unless it shows signs of distress. Finally, it is most important to prune correctly...as heavy pruning, particularly late in the growing season or in winter, is likely to remove those parts of the plant which would produce the next season's flowers."

I would highly recommend Peter Valder's book to anyone who is interested in growing wisterias. The pictures alone are worth the price of the book. I got mine from Amazon.com.

Also, if you have your wisterias growing in containers, then they do require more water during the growing season than ones planted in the ground, but they need to be kept dry during the dormant season.

Edited to fix spelling.

This message was edited May 3, 2004 4:56 PM

;-)

What wonderful advice Clare, it took me forever but I finally just read your post! My wisteria as I've already said is planted in a large pot and the growth has been minimal. I put plenty of organic matter in the soil when I planted it and it gets planty of water but no big boom of growth yet. I think I might move it to a place a little more sunny as it only gets direct sun for about 2 hours of the day although I hope that once it starts to take off I can move it back to that spot as I chose the wisteria for there because I was told it can do well in partial shade. Oh well we shall see! It's still green so I guess that's a positive sign! lol I think that next year is when I'm going to see better results! At least that is how it has workd in all of my gardening experiences so far! Thanks so much for your help!

I've heard alot about wisterias being trained to grow as trees with no support at all. Anybody with info on this?

AlyM, why are you keeping it in a pot unless you want to grow it as bonsai? P.S. Wisteria and trumpet vine (trumpet vine especially) are very invasive.

AlyM, Good luck with yours and let us know how it is doing.

CaptMicha, I am currently growing 12 wisterias -- all in containers, and they are doing just fine. Wisterias lend themselves very well to container culture, which is why they make such good Bonsai specimens. As I said above, I do have several trained as standards (trees), but they need one straight support to support them even though the trunk is thick. I grow both Japanese and Chinese wisteria, and none of them are what I would call invasive. I've never had a sucker come up from the roots or come out the drainage holes. Wisterias are extremely good growers, if that is what you mean by invasive, and they do require that their owners prune them once or twice a year after they have established themselves. Also, there are many trumpet vines which are not considered aggressive or invasive. If you are referring to Campsis radicans, I've heard that to be true of that one, but I am growing that one in a container and can see no problem with it. On the other hand, my Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica, and my Ipomoea indica, perennial Morning Glory, are extremely invasive.

8yrs and not a flower yet! sigh

Thank for your well wishing Clara! I will keep my fingers crossed and see how things go this summer.

CaptMicha-I'm growing in a pot because a lot of the research I did before I planted the Wisteria stated that they can do very well in a pot-who knows-we'll see!

Now to point out what a novice I am.............I had no idea there was any such thing as Perennial Morning Glories! Is that based on zone? I keep buying seeds every year and starting from scratch........right now all my morning glories are only about 8-10 inches high! Can't wait for later this summer when they are everywhere and blooming!
Thank you so much to everyone for all your help and support!

Sure, AlyM. The perennial Morning Glory is called Ipomoea indica. I ripped mine out because it was so aggressive, and I couldn't control it any longer. It sends out vines from the base that root anywhere where the ground is moist. You wouldn't have a problem growing it in your zone though because frost would kill it to the ground every year. I don't know if it would return or not, but you could give it a try. This is what it looked like when I had it:

Absolutely Beautiful Clare!!! Unlike most people, I love invasive!! Before I moved here, there was nothing but a yard full of trees, an overgrown-uncared for Lilac, and an abused rose bush. So, I'm happy to be planting things that will grow, take over and add character to our place! I can deal with invasive and in fact I can't wait until THAT is my problem!! And I have to say that for all I know, I may have already planted the perennial variety already as this year I went insane and bought about 15 different varieties of Morning Glories and planted them everywhere! I'll have to check the packets when I get home! Luckily I saved them..........I think!