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Michelia alba Bloom Question
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Posted by dho1655 10 (My Page) on Fri, Aug 18, 06 at 0:49
| After months of heart-wrenching struggle, & with great trepidations I finally commited my beloved M. alba to the ground this spring in a spot that gets full sun. So far it has grown about a foot with lots of leaf growth & overall looks healthy but scarcely any blooms, whereas when it was growing in a pot in the shade it had plenty of blossoms. So does M. alba not bloom well in full sun? I'm in a mild climate zone of S. F. Bay Area so full sun is actually not scorchingly hot. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Michelia alba Bloom Question
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I believe that it's normal for plants to not bloom the first year after transplanting and I would not be concerned if it shows normal foliage
growth and development. Any newly planted takes some time to establish their root system and put on their growth the first season. 
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RE: Michelia alba Bloom Question
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| As long as your plant is growing well with new leaves, you should have one bud per leave node. If not, try fertilizing it more. Fish emulsion and Peter's 20-20-20 works well. |
RE: Michelia alba Bloom Question
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| I am also in SF area, at city of Orinda. I have 10 plants of M. alba in 5 gal pot. I am in the process to repot them into 15 gal container. I gently tab off the container and place the undisturbed root mass into larger container. My previous experience indicated that the plants have been blooming nicely. I can't come up an answer to your situation. May be the timing of transplant, temperature of the ground and disturbance of root mass are all related to cause the the plant to make adjustment. Plant can make interesting adjustment about growth. I would like to share with you one of my experience: I grow lots of camellia for breeding purpose. A yellow camellia species called Camellia nitidissima is very hard to form flower buds. It is possible that evening temperature in SF Bay Area is too cool or too cold for this plant to develop flower buds during the Summer time. Last year in Spring I accidentally caused a branch to break, not broken off. I immediately keep the branch in a stabilized bandage. Then the branch was full of flower buds to bloom later yet the other branches showed rare few flowers. So this year I did the "breaking" intentionally to a few more branches. Now I have seen the tiny flower buds are already in formation. |
RE: Michelia alba Bloom Question
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| Michelia alba tree is very hard to have flowers for the first two or three years. When I had my michelia alba tree 19 years ago,it took me about two years in the pot,out to the sun at daytime and in to the covered area at night from the cold, then I planted it into the ground. After two years later it bloomed. I am living in San Francisco. My michelia alba tree is 25 feet tall and has a lot fragant flowers. mickeykwok@earthlink.net |
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