The observance of 2 plants responding very differently when exposed to the same environment is an example of the adaptive genetic diversity present in the plants...the plant that blooms well in one environment may not bloom well in another and vice versa...

Growing your next crop of plants from seeds collected from plants that responded the way you would like to see them respond is more likely to result in plants that are the most satisfying for you...

Seeds collected from plants that grew and flowered well in your(!) zone(!) or a climate zone most similar to your own will in all likihood yield the best results...this includes summer and winter high and low temperatures as well as growing season daily(!) average(!) temperatures...
latitude is also a factor because the Electro-magnetic spectrum(!) of sunlight varies at different latitudes...additionally >mountainous areas receive a different spectrum of sunlight than comparatively very low areas like valleys...

The ratio(!) of all the essential and non-essential Macro and Micro nutrients will affect the growth and flowering response of the plants...a ratio that works well in Portland,OR may not work well for someone in Dallas,TX or Chicago,Tampa or New York...

Nitrogen in excessive amounts can sometimes delay flowering,but since the word 'fertilizer' and even 'nutrient' are fuzzy terms that actually can refer to at least 25 or more elements...it it better to be more specific in relation to the particular element(s) being referred to...

Plants can respond to both essential and non-essential(!) elements and nutrient like substances...again the ratios(!) of all substances present can exert widely varying results > and are often almost impossible to calculate in their vast all-inclusive sum total entirety...

The trace minerals can affect the growth and flowering behaviour of plants,but the sum total of all environmental factors involved including the ever important ratios(!) are often very difficult to ascertain completely...
so an intelligent guesstimate is the best that can most often be arrived at with regard to providing a plant with what will most likely induce it to behave the way we as individuals would enjoy...

The macro nutrient Phosphorus is most often bloom stimulating and Potassium is good for healthy root systems...and although excessive(!) levels of the macro nutrient Nitrogen can result in delayed blooming
>too little(!) Nitrogen can also delay blooming and reduce the overall viability of seeds...

Every particular situation and person may discover a particular strain of plants and a combination of climate and soil conditions that work out well for them...if a particular formula works for you > continue with it...

Seeds harvested from plants that have displayed the features that you like >that originate from overall conditions most similar to your own present growing conditions are more likely to do well >in your(!)particular garden than seeds that come from plants that were grown in significantly different overall growing conditions...
that is why saving the seeds from your own plants that do well in your(!) own garden is a very important factor
>because these seeds are most likely to re-produce plants that are progressively better adapted to your own particular growing conditions...

Hope this is helpful and continue to Enjoy...

TTY,...

Ron

It may or may not make a difference in whether they bloom or not. I use miracle grow fertilizer on my vines and if they are in pots, the soil I use is miracle grow potting mix.

They bloom when they want to bloom and the weather has a great deal to do with it as well as fertilizer as Ron mentioned above.

Fran

1st post here. I've learned a lot just from reading through this thread. This is my 1st try (this year) at growing MGs. I'm not a total novice, I've been gardening for about 25 years (not counting my kid years with my family), but I'm no expert either! I learn new stuff everyday. :-) My MG vines are about 3 months old & have just begun to set buds. But they just fall off before they can open. Am I experiencing a similar problem with regard to too much food & water? They do get a lot of water here & I feed about once a month with Miracle Grow. I have a small garden, about 8 X 20ish ft. They are growing up a trellis right next to Sunflowers & Zinnias, if that sheds any light on anything. My issue just seems to be 1 step away from no blooms, thus my wondering. I've also checked for any signs of disease or pests & I didn't see any. I do try to keep a regular care schedule here w/regard to those because of our climate & issues here. Any light would be appreciated. Thanks all!

Sincerely,

Lauree

You mentioned that "they do get alot of water here"...depending on conditions and the species they may need to be watered everyday.

What is your geographic location as a 9b can be arid or wet or anything in-between...

What are you feeding them...feeding them exactly what (?)

Please consider enabling members to communicate with you via PM e-mail by allowing this in your profile settings...or click onto my name and send me an e-mail...

regards,

Ron

I'll post more information later

Right now I am trying out how to upload photos here

You mentioned that you feed with Miracle Gro. Do you use the 'Regular' Miracle Gro or Miracle Gro BLOOM BOOSTER???

If you do not use Miracle Gro Bloom Booster, that may be your problem as the BB has the highter middle number.
Otherwise, using the 'Regular' Miracle Gro, you are more likely to get a lot of lush leaves and little to no blooms.

I do use Miracle Gro BB, but have not this year. The only thing I have used this year is Bayer Advanced 2-in-1 Systemic Rose and Flower Care
[BECAUSE IT WORKS FOR ‘ME’]
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/rose-flower-care/products/2-in-1-systemic -rose-flower-care

I like this product because we do have a LOT of pests in Texas and it also has a 6-9-6 fertilizer. You only need to reapply every 2 or 3 months
When I feed my MGs with Bayer, they take off like a Rocket

I grow at least 700++ Morning Glory Vines every year and always get fabulous blooms

If you're planning on using systemic pesticides in your garden, do please remember that they can be pretty indiscriminate about the types of insects they kill, i.e. they won't just target the "pests".

I hope that basic Science is not unsavory for you.

regards,

Ron

The first year I grew them they started producing tiny little flower buds in early September and they put out the first blossoms by the end of September. By the middle of October they were in glorious full bloom and continued to bloom and bloom and bloom until the first frost, sometime after Thanksgiving. For the next 2 years, however, things were different. The vines would not start producing those little flower buds until sometime in October and they would not be able to reach full bloom before a killing frost would hit. It was frustrating to watch those vines grow huge and lush but for months not produce a single flower bud.

This year, here in northern Mississippi, we had an early spring and I put a lot of things out earlier than I usually would. One evening I started transplanting seedlings into the back yard and garden and I got one of the usual four Heavenly Blues planted in the ground and then, at that point, had to quit for the day. That night it got unexpectedly cool - I'm not sure exactly how cool but, I would guess that the low was somewhere in the mid 30s. The next day I checked the little 6 or 7 inch Heavenly Blue seedling that I had planted the previous day and saw that it was somewhat wilted and looked like it might lose a leaf or two. I then went ahead and transplanted the other 3 Heavenly Blues. Over the next few weeks I kept an eye on these seedlings (mainly because the snails here seem to feast on them when they are small).

Now, the seedling that had been subjected to the cold stress lagged behind the others in growth. It seemed to grow at maybe half the rate of the others. However, despite the slow growth, about a week or so latter it had produced a flower bud! (This was in March!) All this spring and summer it continued to produce flower buds and continued to lag behind the others in leaf and vine growth. It was not at all unhealthy looking, it was just not as big as the other three. It was however, covered with buds. And then before the end of July, it was blooming! And now, in the middle of August, it is almost in full bloom! None of the other three Heavenly Blues have produced a single flower bud yet. (But, they have grown huge).

Now, I don't know if this plant is blooming because of extraordinary genetics or because of the cold stress it experienced when it was a seedling. But, I suspect it was the cold.

In any case, I'll be saving some seeds from it to experiment with next spring.

I'll try and get a shot in the morning while the blooms are open.

It seems like you can only upload 1 image per post, so this will be a series of posts.

This first image is a photo of 2 of the 4 Heavenly Blues I grew this year. These 2 are planted on either side of a gate (the gate may be hard to see) and each is growing over a section of wooden fence bracketed by brick posts.

Things to note about this photo:

1. Both of these HB-MG vines were grown from seeds from the same package and were started indoors on the same date.

2. The vine on the left was cold stressed on the first night it was planted outdoors (which was the night before the vine on the right was planted outdoors). It is smaller than the vine on the right and it is blooming. Yesterday, there were in fact, more flowers open. But, we got a heavy rain about 2 hours ago and some flowers sort of just disintegrated.

3. The vine on the right was NOT cold stressed, ever. It is larger and the foliage is "more dense" than the vine on the left (and it has completely covered both brick posts on either side of it). And of course, it is not blooming. The other 2 HB-MG vines I planted (in another location) look very much the same as this vine.

They are indeed Ipomoea tricolor.

There is a possibility that a cold stress might have done something to induce an early flowering , although I personally remain doubtful...
Ipomoea tricolor simply does not like cold and although short day (light) treatment may last if initiated in the seedling stage , I have reservations that a cold stressed seedling would cause lasting metabolic changes that would induce early flowering...

I suggest that there may be a difference in the amount of light that the 2 plants may be receiving at the onset of sunrise , during the mid-day and as the sun is setting....trees and buildings can often cause different amounts of sun to be received by plants which may be within a relatively short distance from each other as I experience that phenomenon in my small growing setting...

There may be a difference in the amount of either phosphorus and / or nitrogen where the 2 plants are rooted.

There is always the possibility that individual plants may behave differently even if exposed to relatively very similar conditions as I have seen this occur on many species of Morning Glories...unless you have clones , there are no 2 plants that are exactly the same...

You might want to try some phosphorus based bloom booster and see if that initiates buds on the non-blooming plant , although most likely the shorter days will do the trick...hopefully before it gets too cold...

Well, who knows what caused that vine to bloom early. I suspect that it was the cold because the only difference that I can think of between how that vine was treated and how the other 3 I planted were treated was the one very chilly night that it spent outdoors.

This is the 4th year I've planted Heavenly Blues on these 2 fences. And each year they have bloomed at a different time in the season; once relatively early and twice disappointingly late in the fall. However, each year, they had always bloomed simultaneously (or at least within a few days) - until this year. So, this makes me doubt that their relative locations are a factor in this.

As for fertilizer, I have never even been tempted to apply any because they grow like crazy without it. However, in the first one or two weeks after they are transplanted outdoors they do get two or three applications of iron phosphate based slug bait pellets(Sluggo, I think it's called). But, all the vines get this and in roughly the same amount. I do occasionally water them during the height of summer when they look too wilted.

So, who knows? Maybe it IS genetic. I will be saving some seed from this vine to experiment with next year.

I'll try your suggestion and put some phosphorus on one of the non-bloomers and see what happens.

Sometimes the plants behave in unusual ways and we like to pin down the cause although sometimes the exact cause is elusive...

I did a google search on cold stressed seedlings and all of the results seemed to indicate that cold stressed seedlings have delayed (!) flowering...

I would be interested (to review any studies) if someone could locate a study to indicate that cold stressed seedlings exhibit any early flowering.

The possibility that the plants are flowering at different times due to genetics might require an extensive controlled grow-out of selfed (hand pollinated) flowers from each plant as well as cross pollinated (by hand) between the 2 different plants and notate the results...

Simply growing out a few seeds from each plant (with the exact parenthood unknown as to gestational and donor plants) would likely yield 'fuzzy' results that wouldn't be of high quality scientific value but, hey, collect some seeds and let's see what you get...

best,

Ron

I will respond to your questions if you start a new thread devoted to your specific topic.

I would also suggest that you allow members to communicate with you via e-mail by enabling this in your account settings....e-mail me if you can't locate the settings and I will help you out...

Looking forward to your devoted thread on Heavenly Blue color variations and hybridizing...

best regards,

Ron