Lovely and delicate morning glory blooms will brighten any day. With dark green foliage and flowers in various colors, morning glory blossoms are a sight to behold.
When these blooms are absent, they leave a lovely green vine that, without blossoms, blends into the landscape as it climbs your pasture fence.
Different varieties of morning glory bloom at various times throughout the season.
If you are new to growing morning glories, knowing when yours is supposed to bloom is essential. Sometimes, it isn’t your morning glory’s blooming season.
Read on to find out why morning glory not blooming could be due to several different issues.
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Morning Glory Not Blooming?
There are 3 prime reasons why your morning glory isn’t blooming. The first is improper watering. The soil conditions of your morning glory are also a factor in whether it blooms and how prolifically it does so. The third factor is not receiving enough sunlight.
Inadequate Sunlight
Morning glory’s like sunshine. They like six to seven hours of sun a day.
So if they are not getting this much sun, move them.
Along with the sunshine, they need support and will need to be grown where they can climb. A structure for morning glory vines can be a fence, a trellis, or other supporting structure.
Poorly Nourished Soil
Morning glory does fine on average or even in poor soil but does not like an overabundance of nitrogen.
To keep from adding too much nitrogen to your morning glory vines, use a fertilizer that is low in nitrogen.
If you find you have too much nitrogen in your soil, it can prohibit the uptake of phosphorus, which can stunt blooming.
Without soil testing, it is hard to estimate what nutrients your plants need, except by experimenting.
Even though morning glories do not require nutrient-rich soil, they do require good drainage.
With this in mind, be sure where you place your plants has sufficient drainage, so your plants do not suffer root damage.
Incorrect Watering
Most plants do not like to be overwatered, and morning glory is no exception.
Overwatering can cause their blooms to rot and their roots if they are not planted in soil with good drainage.
Deepwater your plants once a week. If the weather is scorching, you can increase watering to twice a week.
Keep in mind that overwatering can cause surface rooting, which can cause illness in your morning glory plants.
A soil moisture meter can take the guesswork out of watering your morning glory and other plants. This tool can help you take better care of your plants as you learn about their watering needs.
In the absence of modern technology, you can tell if the soil is too dry or wet by touching its surface and probing its depths with a finger.
Be careful not to over or underwater your morning glory for the best chance to get plenty of blooms.
Morning Glory: Annual or Perennial
That can depend on a couple of things. Where you live and the variety of plants you have can affect the behavior of this plant.
In warmer climates, morning glory will return year after year.
Volunteer plants have been known to pop up from the ground in the colder climes of Midwest states.
If states like Florida, Georgia, The Carolinas, Alabama, and other warm climate states, morning glory’s will return every season.
For those of you who live in climates too cold for these vines to overwinter, you can collect the seeds and plant them next year. That is if they are not from a hybrid plant.
Morning Glory Varieties
When you include the hybrid varieties, there are somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000 varieties of this cultivar.
Some are annuals, others perennials, and yet others are hybrids that growers around the globe have developed.
That is a lot of history to cover because it took some time to determine over 1,000 varieties.
But, throw in all those that professional horticulturalists have developed and hobby growers, and the number of types is staggering.
The origins of your morning glory could be hard to identify, especially if it came up on its own, from nowhere.
You may need to watch your plant for a season before determining why it is not blooming.
If you have checked the soil, water, and location of your morning glory, and it still will not bloom, you may need to give it time.
Maintain Your Morning Glory Vines
Morning glories need protection from the wind and can grow up to six feet wide and trail 12 feet or more, so they need space to grow.
Therefore, it is unnecessary to prune your morning glory during its growing season, but you need to cut it back at the growing season’s end.
It helps you if you deadhead your morning glory’s dead blossoms, at least once a week, as it stimulates new blooms.
Yes, it is tedious, but it will give you a chance to inspect your plant for other issues.
Morning glory flowers are not poisonous, but the seeds are, so pests tend to leave the vines alone.
However, your plant can develop fungus if it is located in an area where the leaves stay too damp.
Frequently Asked Questions Why Morning Glory’s Not Blooming
How can I find out what variety of morning glory I have?
You may, especially if it is one of the more common varieties such as Scarlet O’Hara, common morning glory, knowlian’s Black, or morning star.
Will my morning glory return next year?
If you are in a southern climate, your morning glory should return next year, and if you have addressed its needs, it should give you a bounty of blooms.
Daniel has been a plant enthusiast for over 20 years. He owns hundreds of houseplants and prepares for the chili growing seasons yearly with great anticipation. His favorite plants are plant species in the Araceae family, such as Monstera, Philodendron, and Anthurium. He also loves gardening and is growing hot peppers, tomatoes, and many more vegetables.