I have a Wisteria plant that hasn't bloomed for 2 years. What is wrong?

I speak from experience.....we help our next door neighbor cut back his wisteria right after it blooms in the spring to make it bloom the following year. It works every time. We cut it back by as much as 1/3 to 1/2. It RECOVERS quickly. LOL! But it can also be cut back a couple of feet from the tip ends right after it blooms in the spring if you don't want to be so drastic. It blooms heavily every spring and is a beautiful green the rest of the summer.





One year the wisteria kept hitting our neighbor in the face while he was mowing, he got mad and cut it all the way to the ground. The next spring it was so heavy with flowers that you could not see the branches. It was absolutely beautiful! If we had one in our yard, I would cut it to the ground right after it blooms every spring. And like I said above, they recover quickly and are pretty all summer long.





If your lawn fertilizer is washing over into the soil of your wisteria, it will not bloom. Lawn fertilizer will cause pretty green leaves, but no flowers not only on the wisteria but any flower or shrub.





You can do the same with honeysuckles and trumpet vines.


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More info about wisterias:





http://www.botany.com/wisteria.html

I have a Wisteria plant that hasn't bloomed for 2 years. What is wrong?
Blooming Useless.
Reply:One of two possible causes.





1. It is yoo young. If you have a specimen grown from seed, it won't bloom for about 8 years. If it was grown vegetatively from cuttings it should be ok.





2. It's probably too happy. Do something to stress it out. Root prune, transplant, underwater, cut back on Nitrogen fertilizer, etc. A plant's natural response to stress is to produce more seeds, and flowers turn to seeds when pollinated.





I knew someone who's wife had planted wysteria along their fence. He hated it and it never bloomed. After making icecream he poured the salt water on one of the plants hoping it would kill it. The next year it bloomed better than ever. Now his wife definitely won't let him get rid of it. I don't recommend this method, but some form of stress may be in order.
Reply:Seedling plants require several years to flower. Grafted plants, should not have this problem.





"If a grafted or cutting-grown Chinese wisteria refuses to flower in three or four years after planting, or a Japanese wisteria is barren after about seven years, prune it heavily and fertilize with superphosphate."


http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plant...





Seems they bloom if they have a lot of Phosporus."In 2001, in frustration that it didn't bloom I read up on how to make it bloom...the answer - PHOSPORUS!


In late fall, dig a shallow trench around the main trunk, pour superphosphate along the trench, shovel over and water thoroughly. Next spring (unless late frost kills the buds), you should have beautiful blossoms! It worked for me and it bloomed well the first year, and less so in 2002."


This site has many who have had that same experience of Wisteria not blooming:


http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/5539...





There are several reasons why wisteria fail to bloom, lack of full sun, not enough good drainage, and light fertilization in the fall, not spring.It's necessary to prune annually... which can be done by shortening new shoots to five buds in summer.





If this fails to produce blooms root-prune by driving a spade into the soil 24 inches from the trunk around the plant.





Good luck! Hope this helps.
Reply:A. Youth could be the problem since seedling plants require several years to flower and sometimes fail to flower at all. Grafted plants, the kind purchased at nurseries and garden centers, should not have this problem.





Reluctance of wisteria to bloom abundantly is usually due to a lack of one or more of the following cultural requirements: full sun, good drainage, and light fertilization in the fall, not spring. Another essential is annual pruning, which can be done by





shortening new shoots to five buds in summer. If a grafted or cutting-grown Chinese wisteria refuses to flower in three or four years after planting, or a Japanese wisteria is barren after about seven years, prune it heavily and fertilize with superphosphate. If this fails to produce blooms root-prune by driving a spade into the soil 24 inches from the trunk around the plant.