UK How do I start or grow Wisteria so it flowers etc?

Question

UK How do I start or grow Wisteria so it flowers etc?

Answer 1

Keep pruning it ,cut back any long or unwanted `tentacles`, these take `strenght` from the plant , cutting them back will encourage flowering.

Answer 2

They like to be planted in a south facing aspect.  They are also very grateful for a few feeds of tomato food throughout the summer, especially prior to the flowering time.  You will need to be patient, however, because they usually take a few seasons before flowering.  Good luck.  Mine was lovely this year.

Answer 3

Gotcha was kind... you'll wait 'a few seasons'... fer sure... ours took seven years to get around to blooming!!.... if you're not growing it as a standard, then you can work on it's arbor while you wait... it will need a very sturdy one.... ours is supported by 4inch by four inch timbers with the same as cross bars at the top...pics here give you a hint of the size this plant will be one day...

http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=...

use the "WEB" link at the top of that page to get sites with more info....

Answer 4

Good luck we planted one at least 25 years ago it still has not flowered we have tried everything pruning it not pruning it but nothing each year i tell it that it is the last chance and I will pull it out but nothing  it has plenty of green leaves and grows really well

Answer 5

Wisteria vines climb by twining their stems either clockwise or counter-clockwise round any available support. They can climb as high as 20 m above ground and spread out 10 m laterally., spary NAA ( Napthalic Acidic Acid) @ 12 PPM .., you will get good flowering.., The flowers of some species are fragrant, most notably Chinese Wisteria., Flowering is in the spring (just before or as the leaves open) in some Asian species, and in mid to late summer in the American species and W. japonica.

Answer 6

HERE is the deal with wisteria. IF you fertilize, your plant can grow 20 feet in one season, but it WILL NOT flower. If you want flowers, do not let fertilizer get anywhere near the plant roots, once the plant is established. What I did with the chinease wisteria at my house was fertilize the first year (like crazy) and leave it alone after that, save for pruning for shape. It grew very long and sturdy that first year. The second year it had about six blooms or so, and by the third and subsequent years I had a beautiful speciment that outblooms everything in my garden. So the key is in the fertilizer: fertilization = growth with no blooms; no fertilizer for a mature plant = flowers and more modest growth.

I also talked a friend of mine (who has a massive front door at the top of stairs in the front of her house) into planting two wisteria starts taken from my chinensis on both sides of her door. We fertilized and she had two fully grown plants that met at the top of the door (15-17 feet off the gound, I'd estimate). She will not fertilize and hopes for second year blooms next spring. I recommend starting from a root or a plant.

Answer 7

Firstly grafted Wisterias will flower more quickly than plants grown from rooted cuttings or seedlings (the slowest in my opinion), so if you have yet to get a plant, look for a mature specimen that was grafted.  You should be able to tell by seeing the join between the root-stock and the growing plant, often with some form of seal that hasn't fully disintegrated.  If you're not sure, ask the nusery staff to help identify this for you.

Wisterias grow best in a sunny spot,  and this allows their shoots to ripen well, towards the end of the growing season.  Shorten your plant's long runners to around 1/3 of their length by pruning them, as this encourages shoots to form, which will all slow down the sap, and encourage flowering.  The pruned shoots should be around 12 inches long maximum, and you can help direct them towards bare spots in the growing area, as your plant matures.  Laterally growing shoots of most plants will flower more prolifically due to this slowing of the plant sap.  Shorten in late summer,  around August time, as a minimum, and any untidy growth in spring time: though beware of knocking flower buds off!  I do my spring pruning in mid February, cutting back thin growths made after the previous August pruning to a maximum of 4 or 5 leaf node points.  Depending on where you live, it is usually then possible to be able to see fatter buds that will become flowers a few weeks later in spring.   Don't remove these of course!   To give you some idea of context,  runner shoots could grow 10 to 12 feet in a single year!  I find under-pruning a frequent cause of delayed flowering in many gardens.   When you're establishing your new Wisteria,  then it is obviously possible to train your plant to cover the area that you want,  whilst just being mindful of not letting all its runners being too rampant and very extended.  This is my preference based on several decades of growing Wisterias.

  

Potassium is the element needed to enable flowering in plants, and an additive such as Potassium Sulphate, or Sulphate of Potash, will nudge plants into more prolific flowering, when they are ready.  As some have said, some Wisterias are slow to start to flower,  though the grafted plants should be several years earlier, due to their root stock vigour.

So,  choose the right type of plant,  give it a sunny location, prune its very long runners each year, to encourage budding, train some of its growing points laterally and add a Potassium supplement, assuming the planting area is generally well balanced for nutrients.  

Hope this helps. Good luck!  Rob

Answer 8

First of all they like full sun it takes a very long time to bloom

I've had mine for 4 1/2 years and I'm still waiting.  Don't do any pruning until they become established .  Most easy way is to purchase one that is already to bloom or in bloom.   That way you know it is established.  Patience and lots of it.

Then you need to know which type you have because that can and will determine how fast it will bloom.  They also need some pretty heavy fertilizer before blooming in the spring.

Wisteria species include:

In the USA we have 2 that bloom faster than the Japanese or Chinese

Japanese Wisteria - Wisteria floribunda

Chinese Wisteria - Wisteria sinenis

American Wisteria - Wisteria frutescans

Kentucky Wisteria - Wisteria macrostachya

Social Science Lady must be confused about how to get them to bloom.