No buds on impatien kept indoors all winter

19 years ago

My neighbor brought her beautiful white impatiens indoors for the winter. It was grown all summer in a very large pot. She cut it back half way before bringing it in. It grew all winter without any problem but never developed any buds, hence no flowers. She put it outside again last week and cut it back. It now has some new growth (would probably

have more if it would stay sunny and warm instead of cool and rain) but still no buds. She has been bringing in at least one pot of her white impatiens every year for about 20

years and this is the first time she had no flowers all winter. Do you think this one will bloom outside? Is there

anything she should do to help it along? Should she take the plant out of the pot, prune some of the roots and put in fresh soil? She has always used miracle grow potting soil. Thanks for any help

Comments (5)

shrubs_n_bulbs
19 years ago
Almost certainly just too dark or too cool inside this winter. It should flower now, but it will take another week or two for the flowers to develop. No need to hack at it, just a little dilute fertiliser in the water. I suppose if it has been in the same pot for 20 years, or even for a couple of years, then reportting with some fresh soil might do it good. If it doesn't flower then it will be an extremely unusual Impatiens!
littleonefb
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks for the info. The impatien hasn't been in the same pot for 20 years. This lovely elderly woman brings one of her new ones in every year. It's been in this pot and soil since last summer. How she carries it in and out I don't know as the pot holds 6 quarts of soil. Anyway I told her what you said and she decided to take the plant out of the pot and put in fresh soil (miracle grow soil), she pruned some of the roots off and put it back in the pot. She cut it back only because it was so huge. She keeps the plant in the same place in her home every year, but last fall it got nipped by some frost before she got it in the house. never did that before. The winter was horribly cold this year. January was like living in Siberia. I wonder if it also got some drafts from the window and maybe it should have been misted or something since the hot air heat is so dry. It felt and sounded like the furnace never turned off the entire month of January. Do you think that any of this may have caused no blooms all winter since it sat in the same location as always?
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shrubs_n_bulbs
19 years ago
You are right that they don't like that dry air blasted from the furnace, and this almost always causes spider mites to take over. Still, if the plant is now outside and seems healthy then there's no reason why it shouldn't be in flower very soon. Expect to see buds 2-3 weeks after cutting it back.
bon_yelle
19 years ago
Well hi all, my impatiens are planted in fresh potting soil(miracle grow), from seed and are beautiful, but no blooms. I will post a photo and you can see how it looks. Thanks for any help.
Bonnie in Oklahoma
Ectodini
19 years ago
If impatiens are brought inside for the winter they will continue to thrive (ignorance)? 20 years of cutting back and continual growth sounds amazing. As I love to try new/different bonsai material, this could be interesting. Let me know what you think.