Friday, January 27, 2012

I have a trumpet vine(hummingbird vine) that I planted several years ago. Why doesn't it flower?

I have cut it back in the fall and it grows beautifully. It covers my porch every summer. Last summer for the first time I had 2 flowers on it. I water it and feed it regularly. My brother-in-law who lives down the road from me has one identical and it has lots of flowers on it. Mine gets sun and shade both throughout the day. Can anyone help?

I have a trumpet vine(hummingbird vine) that I planted several years ago. Why doesn't it flower?
Trumpet vine is a curious plant. It is barely civilized, in fact, many people consider it a nasty weed. That being said, if you want a vigorous climbing and spreading vine you couldn't ask for a better plant. Here are a few notes that might be helpful:



Trumpet vine normally takes 5-7 years to begin fully flowering. My plants started to bloom heavily the fifth year, but I have heard of longer timeframes being needed. The light blooming you are seeing could very well be caused by the age of the plant.



Trumpet vines flower primarily off of the previous season's growth. Therefore if you cut it back too severely in the spring you will minimize the blooming. The best time to do any drastic cutting is right as the flowers finish for the season. This gives the plant time to generate some buds before the end of the growing season.



If you supply high levels of nitrogen foliage growth will be encouraged instead of flowering. This applies to most plants, but it is exceptionally true with trumpet vines. I wouldn't bother fertilizing the plant unless the leaves are discolored (yellow).



Good Luck!
Reply:I also have a trumpet vine. It is on one side of an archway %26amp; a wisteria is on the other. Both took a few years of growing before blooming. The trumpet vine flowered for the first time last year %26amp; after the flowers drop off they are replaced with these long pea pod looking things, which I assume are seed pods. I dont do anything special for mine. It gets watered when it rains but it is somewhat shaded in the late afternoon %26amp; evenings. I may trim mine a little in the fall but not much. It is slowly growing everywhere now. lol Maybe another year or two you will see blooms. I don't know why they take so long but they do. Good Luck %26amp; God Bless!
Reply:Unfortunatly it sounds like you are preening off the new growth where your flowers would be. Trumpet vine flowers best when it is left alone, and not pruned to new growth. It is rare that old growth will produce flowers so that could be your issue.



Also, Trumpet vine is one of those plants where if you over fertilize, it will only get green growth and not many flowers.



So I would suggest only preening it when it is thick and the sun cant go through the growth, but don't cut off the new tips. I'd only lightly fertilize in the early spring before the green leaves come back, and then don't give it anymore fertilizer.

Good luck!


No comments:

Post a Comment