Morning Glories: Light Requirements for JMG, 0 by bluespiral

bluespiral wrote:
The situation where I grew out some of Emma's youjiros last year was similar to yours, with half a day's sun in the morning, except there was a yew hedge behind instead of a wall and enough of the saucer magnolia overhead had died back and been sawn off that there was that much light.

I put up a section of fence behind the MGs, where they did very little. However, for each vine, I also placed a pair of bamboo uprights across the path with cross bars you could walk under, and where the vines traveled along that crossbar is where I got a pretty good show of flowers. (Due to late planting, the pods had to be ripened on stem sections in water later that autumn after frost.)

In general, elevating plants that might prefer more shade than their spot can give them sometimes seems to increase flowers and fruit. Do you have any outbuildings with roof potential? How about letting some MG vines drape themselves over your greenhouse roof? There's a technique of planting tomato vines upside down that seems to work for some...or, what about planting gardener2005's youjiros in "normal" hanging pots that cascade from high up that wall? Also, I think some pots come with one flat side that could be grown against the wall (would be very pretty with one of those one-sided fountains among the MGs also on the wall). If I were to try something like this, I would definitely incorporate water hydrating crystals into the potting mix - don't know the amount to use, off hand.

Last year, I found that I. purpurea types tolerated shade best, youjiro types next best, and nils least.

A wall fountain from times past -
ReicheltAugustaWilhelmina_FlwrsLionMask_FitzMus
from: http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/ (follow links from Collections)