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jebaba

Buds won't bloom

jebaba
17 years ago

Help! My passionflower looks healthy, has a lot of new buds, but they get to where they look like they're going to bloom and they never open up! They just stay buds forever and then eventually fall off (The flower is there, it just never opens, and falls out of the bud 'shell').

Any suggestions, ideas, etc. would be most appreciated. This is my second attempt with a passionflower after my first one wasn't getting enough water.

Thanks in advance!

Comments (5)

  • Mystyspassion
    17 years ago

    Hi; sorry to hear about your problems; I have a few questions; Are they getting direct Sunlight all Day? What Species is your Passionflower? Have you Been Fertilizing?

    I Fertilize my Passi's once a week; depending on at what stage of growth I use different fertilizing methods. But when my Plants are just starting to produce Buds I use a fertilizer to help Blooming. That just may be all you need. I fertilize Weekly with this and I have great Flowers.

    Hope this helps.
    Chris

  • jebaba
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    It has been getting direct sun all day long just recently. AS far as kind, I'm not quite sure, but I haven't been fertilizing at all. Is there anything in particular that you might recommend?

  • karyn1
    17 years ago

    I use Miracle-Gro bloom booster during the growing season. I've also read that burying a banana or a banana peel in the soil is good for passion vines. It provides extra potassium but I've not yet tried it.
    Karyn

  • sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
    17 years ago

    I was having some of those same problems earlier this season with bud drop. It turned out to be stinkbugs who inject thier saliva into the vines and flower stems while sucking the juices out of the plant.

    Here are a few common causes of bud drop:

    Both stink bugs and thrips (very tiny whitish bugs that get into the flower buds) can cause bud drop. (open up one of the buds that fall and look for tiny little bugs=thrips. Stink bugs will be hiding in the vines and can be green or brownish in color and are shaped like shields).

    -Too much water ~(have this problem sometimes here when it rains alot)- the roots stay wet and the soil therefore compacts and when the roots can't get enough oxygen, the plant will drop its buds. Make sure you have lots of drain holes in your pots and check with your fingers or a water meter several inches down before adding more water. Also a well-draining soil mix is important, I use half cactus soil to 1/2 potting soil (MG) and several handfulls of perlite mixed in.

    -Too little water (as you already know)

    - Extreme heat: more than the plant is used to will sometimes cause bud drop especially if it is already stressed.

    There are probably some more I cant think of right now, so I hope someone else will comment.

    Good luck
    ~SJN

  • Shelly Kling
    2 years ago

    My passion flower has bloomed for 19 years and last year stopped blooming. It looks green and it is giant. It keeps growing just doesn't bloom.

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