Does anyone know if this cousin of the Brugmansia needs to "Y" before it blooms? I have one that's over 5 feet tall and 2 smaller ones (which were 2 cuttings that I got when I trimmed mine to encourage branching). Nothing is flowering.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks!
Does anyone have Iochromas?
Ooops, meant to post a pic of it.
I have two. Both are under a foot tall, one is blooming (2nd flush), and the other isn't. Hadn't thought about the "Y" thing, but I'll check in the morning to see if the one that's blooming has one...
OMG! Under a foot tall and blooming!?!? It's gorgeous.
Now I know for sure, that I'm doing something really wrong here! ;-(
Let me know what you find out tomorrow.
Teresa, I just looked at the baby Iochroma, and I don't see a "Y." Maybe I have an above the "Y" cutting? To be fair, I purchased this from online, and when I got it, it had blooms on it.
I had three of these plants, got plenty of leaves but never did bloom, after the third year I gave them away, I tried everything.
I have a few they bloomed like gangbusters in the greenhouse last winter but they have went slowly downhill after puting them outside. they still bloom occaisionally but not nearly as much.yours look much healthier than mine do now. I think they need lots of sun in order to bloom 6 hours or more and you might try bone meal as a suppliment. or if your not organic I think peters 30-30-30 should do the job. thanks to your post I'm going to repot mine and see if I can bring them back to life.
Teresa this is my first year with Iochromas that bloomed.. Last year they didn't do anything. This year, a surprise purple (I thought I lost in the freeze) is like 6' tall now. I am trying to train it to be a standard, but it's so dang floppy! The first blooms were acutually from a basal shoot.. then gradually, all the branches that were trimmed back bloomed at the new growth. It did not need to Y to bloom. Now it is blooming at the top too.
I wanted to add.... yours is beautiful!! So healthy! What colors do you have? Such a nice looking plant. It is gonna be really nice when it blooms..
Thanks for the suggestion Ted. I'll try anything. :-)
ZZ, yours if beautiful! My flowers are supposed to be blue.
Hi Teresa,
Do you know which species you have? In the past, Iochroma grandiflora was the easiest for me to bloom (started blooming in a 3.5" pot at 5" high and repeated often).
I suspect that maybe because of their smaller leaves that they don't transpire & take up water as fast, so it's much easier to keep them too wet than than it is for brugs. I could be wrong, but it seems like they've bloomed better for me when a little rootbound.
I would try experimenting by maxing out the brightness they'll take so you're growing them up the their potential (and using up that excess water in the pot), and maybe fertilizing weakly weekly. :)
- Tom
Tom, it's a Acnistus Australis. It doesn't seem to have any problem drinking up the water and fert that I give it. It's just not doing anyting (bloom-wise).
When I snipped it back much earlier to encourage branching, I potted the snippets, so now I have another couple of smaller ones. The sister are now close to 3 feet tall.
I have 3 Iochromas (australis) that I overwintered 2006-2007. They had a few measly blooms in the spring, but nuthin' since. Very disappointing. I fertilized like mad a few weeks ago, but all I got was lots of foliage. Not sure if I'm going to bother overwintering again. They are about 3 feet high and in 3 gallon containers.
I've been reading conflicting information about them for what seems forever- fertilize/don't fertilize, part shade/full sun, keep wet/keep dry-it's maddening! They do seem to be water hogs, as sometimes I have to water twice a day when it's really hot here.
I suspect that they bloom on new growth and that the secret may be to give them a serious prune occassionally. If you can bear to do it!
Or- and this could really be a bummer-it's possible that the seed I had gotten was just weak. The few blooms that I did get were pretty pale.
Ned if you have to water up to twice a day and you're getting pale blooms it sounds like you have them in full sun? Mine don't seem to like as much sun as the brugs, some of which don't like full sun themselves.
Mine are in morning sun only.
The pale blooms were back in May. They were in morning sun conditions then. Right now they're in 3/4 day sun, on a concrete patio (that's probably serving as a stove burner, now that I think about it. Oop.) So they might be too hot. After my fertilizer frenzy, (dilute every other day or so for a few weeks) I got buds on the passion flower, mandevilla, and the brug, but no bud action on the iochroma.
I recently moved, so I'm dealing with new conditions. The east side here gets way more day light than the old place. It's actually a challenge to find a bit of dappled shade within hose/bucket distance. And maybe they're traumatized. They did spend a few weeks at my mother's....!
I'll try another spot. There's still a few more weeks left in the season, maybe they'll surprise me right before the frost hits.
Teresa how's your Acnistus Australis doing? It sure is big and healthy?
:) Donna
Donna, it's huge, but still ... no flowers! I'm really disappointed in it.
I don't have one so I can't help you there.
:( Donna
that is odd I dumped a double hand full of organic fertilizer on mine and it is greening up nicely even put on a bloom or two. I cant figure out why yours is bloomless cut back on nitrogen maybe?
I just gave it a big dose of fert. Its leaves are very healthy. The entire plant looks great - just no blooms... so that's just WRONG!
i had the same problem with my brug, and now...... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/746405/!
Unfortunately, Brugs and Iochromas are a bit different, Trent. I've got a purple Iochroma that was blooming at 6 inches or so tall. The blue on the other hand, which is the same as the purple, has not bloomed at all. I think it has a lot to do with the type of Iochroma a person has.
oh i c
but diehard, your brug turned out BEAUTIFULLY!
thank you soo much i cant wait til it smells tonight!!!
do iochromas smell good?
I dunno, I haven't had a flower yet and this is my first year with them. I started mine from a seed last fall.
well tell me when you find out!
I was bidding on an iochroma on eBay but dropped out when it got too high. I'm kinda glad that I didn't get it after I see here that it is hard to get to bloom.
If you had a I. grandiflora, I would say that it is very easy to get to bloom. Part of the problem could perhaps be that some varieties have a bigger tree-type shape, and need a little extra coaxing when immature in size.
- Tom
Well, Tom......Can I get some cuttings from you? I have a little greenhouse to start them.
Sorry Woodspirit, I lost mine this last winter. Garage door left open while we were out of town for the coldest week of the year. I lost a lot of great plants. I'm slowly rebuilding, so I'm looking for one myself. :)
- Tom
I have a purple/blue one... I guess it's more a blue. with a white edgeing on the edge.. it stands about 3; tall or so... It has had a pile of blooms early and throughout the summer... and is still going ...flowers all over it... I can't say I have anything in 1000 plants that is so cooperative for me.. as far as flowering without stopping.. it's potted... Gordon
Well, Gordon, how about sharing a cutting form me and grrrrrnthumb?
Maybe I can help ya'll out?
Gordon, do you have a picture of it???
Indiana Lily made a generous offer! ;-)
Yes Indiana lily, you sure can. Can you share cuttings? Do you want a trade or postage?
I can share cuttings. :) Send me a d-mail, and we'll go from there. :)
That was a generous offer. :) Sent you a link to my trade list Indiana, but I forgot to mention that I also have Brugmansia arborea well rooted plants to trade plus some nice Maya variegated cuttings that aren't on there yet.
- Tom
This message was edited Sep 29, 2007 6:27 PM