black-eyed susan vine

I wonder if any of you have any thoughts as to why my black-eyed susan vine hasn't bloomed yet this year. I purchased a small, healthy plant at a local nursery in mid-May and planted it against a trellis in a spot that gets sun from about 11:00 o'clock on. The plant took off, growing up the trellis like a champ, and I expected to see it blooming within a couple of weeks (this has always been my experience in the past--I usually have one of these every year on my patio). But here it is late July and it still hasn't bloomed! It's nice and healthy, covering the trellis and even grasping onto a hanging basket nearby. Any idea of what is going on? I did fertilize it a couple of times early in the season, but I haven't given it anything recently because I thought maybe I'd over done it.

try giving it bloom booster

For some reason mine was slow to bloom this year too. Like yours, it put on lots of growth and climbed the trellis great but didn't act like it was going to give me more than a handful of flowers. In the last couple of weeks it has finally started putting on lots of flowers and looks like it should. Maybe all this strange weather we've been having?

jordankittyjo, thanks for the advice. Others have written about this product, too, so I'll need to do some research and pick some up.

NatureLover1950, I'm glad to hear that your vine is acting more like you expected now. Keep your fingers crossed that mine will be covered with flowers soon!

chonkiewoo, you're welcome. hope it blooms for you soon.

Got my fingers crossed, chonkiewoo!

Sounds to me like over nitration. Stop all fertilizer applications. Next spring give it a light hand full of organic low number ferts like 4-2-4 and nothing else unless it needs water or spraying for whatever. If only you had said it is also really nice and dark green I would be even more sure of my response.

I've been using Bloom Booster for the last 12 weeks and the majority of what I feed is NOT producing blooms .. just foliage. The hibiscus society is no longer recommending BB because it seems to inhibit flowering. I quit feeding my hibiscus with it and they started blooming.

BB may work on some plants but certainly not on all. Here is a short list of plants that do not seem to benefit from BB

Morning Glory
Brugmansia
Hibiscus
Datura
Ginger (hedychium)
Corkscrew (caracalla) and Snail vine (phaseolus)

Here is the list that seems to benefit

Marigold
Bush Sunflowers
Geraniums
Blackberry Lily
Mandevilla

The odd thing is that others have had fantastic success with it.

X

This message was edited Jul 24, 2008 11:52 AM

thanks for the info X

In my humble opinion bloom booster is just another hoax the chemical boys and girls try to get us all hooked on. Bottom line is most all flowers need very little if any fertilization to live and produce their best beauty. If you are growing competitively rest assured that the big fat flowers and dark leaves are indeed chemically pushed or even suplimented with purchased blooms. That is what wins the prizes. That is not what grows the strong healthy plants and develops strong biologically healthy soil. One must know the game and choose the growing method to support those choices.

Years ago I found that the winners were growing soft stemmed big bloom flowers that were more or less sick babies that required constant care and tweekng with all kinds of chemicals. I backed out of that practice fifty years ago and have used very little if any man made harsh chemicals since that time period.

docgipe, I think you're probably right--it is nice and green, and I'm realizing that the fertilizer that I was using is heavier on nitrogen than I need it to be. I haven't fertilized in a while, so I'm hoping it will come around.

Thanks to everyone for the good information. This has been helpful.

There are simply only two ways to go with fertilization. One use man made chemicals which harm and kill the very biology we need to have healthy soil. This can be done with various degrees of success depending on the skill and luck of the user. It initially produces nice plants and blooms. Then the situation turns, requires more and more harsh chemicals leading you into the major chemical company traps set back in about 1930. Your soil will be ruined and your plants will be sugar soft and flabby to paint a picture.

The only other way is to get serious about soil building using organic principles. As the soil improves and heals by discharging and throwing off the man made chemicals the biological community will gradually start blooming first. Then you may have your slightly smaller, slightly less dark green , stronger stem, more insect and pathegon resistant and just flat out better healthier plants.

There is literally no reason for back yard gardeners and small acreage farms to not turn away from the harsh chemical use corner. Many many have already done this and more are learning as we speak.

Now stand by. Your attention will be directed to a world that will starve and thousands who died when DDT was taken off the market. This is pretty much a standard harsh chemical supported comment to scare people. In fact just the opposite has been proven over and over agiain.

There is no arguement these are the two choices.

I'll share my experience, and see if you can pick out any tidbits that might help figure this out.
I have several of them, one in the ground and a couple in pots. The one in the ground, slows bloom production when the temperatures become 85F plus on a sustained basis. The vine is year around here, and it really blooms alot early spring through early summer then slows down on the blooming, then picks back up again in fall. I'm sure the heat, sun exposure and amount of water probably influence it one way or the other.
Having said that, I do have one in a pot that is completely root bound, and blooms non stop, but like the one in the ground, slows down when it's hotter. This one has the most sun exposure of the 3- it has sun from 8:30pm to 6pm, and is bone dry at the end of every day. .
The vine that blooms the most, is located near alot of my Hibiscus on the deck and so it often gets left over fertilzer analysis 18-8-28 soluable Hibiscus fertilzer.
I've noticed that quite a few vine varieties seem to do well in root bound pots. They are high maintenance like that though.
Good luck !
Rj