Morning Glories, no flowers

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by Rosslyn, Sep 14, 2009.

  1. Rosslyn

    Rosslyn Member

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    Location:
    Southern Ontario, Canada
    I bought a couple of morning glory vines from a nursery in spring. They already got buds and flowers. Once in my garden they bloomed for a little while then stopped. As a matter of fact the plants lost much of their leaves after a month or so of transplanting. However, it grew back vigorously and by now [end of summer], the supports are all covered with luscious green leaves, but there are no flowers in sight. Are there anything wrong? I don't think they are short day plants such as mums. I have grown morning glories before in a different location but same zone (southern Ontario) and had no luck also with the flowers.

    Corrections: Today, a day after my initial message, I found them blooming and I discovered more flower buds. It is going to be a good sight up till the frost. This makes me believe that morning glories do respond to light exposure and/or duration. A less light exposure coupled with shorter daylight as autumn is nearing encourages the development of flowers. Anybody has experienced this phenomenon at all?
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2009
  2. Dana09

    Dana09 Active Member

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    Location:
    Vancouver Island BC
    It has been my experience with morning glories,
    that they need to be hungry
    to bloom.
    Sounds as if you fed them well and they are just now feeling like they might need to think about making a few seeds.
    Perhaps a little of something like morebloom might help them bloom sooner next year.
    Last year I had a Heavenly Blue that looked virused and it bloomed first, twisted runt that it was! And they all bloomed when the light was increasing, I had started them early.
    Perhaps nite temps also played a role with yours, kicking in that survival seeding thing.

    D
     
  3. Rosslyn

    Rosslyn Member

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    Location:
    Southern Ontario, Canada
    Yes, I did more research on morning glories. It turns out the plant needs shorter day to bloom. The plant bought from the nursery in spring has blooms because the seedling has been subject to short spring days under artificial light. Once planted in the garden, the increasingly long daylight discourages the development of flowering buds. Until such time when sufficient darkness sets in, the plant remains flowerless. When exactly this happens may depend on how far away the planting is away from the equator. Probably once it receives less than 12 hours daylight, the flowering induction begins. The higher the lattitudes, the later in the season it blooms, which makes it unsuitable for most of Canada as frost sets in within weeks of blooming. I am not sure if planting on a east wall or a west wall would make any difference. However, I did see flourishing morning glories in full bloom in BC once, that was probably late in summer.
    I invite successful morning glory growers to reply this thread.
     

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