I'm certainly not "the expert" mentioned in a previous post, but I have made suggestions in the past ref caring for wisteria. As others have already said, it can take many years before a newly purchased plant may flower, so it's a good idea to buy one when it is actually flowering so that you know there's every chance that will continue to do so thereafter.
When I came to my current home - over 20 yeas ago now - there were two very well-established wisterias at the property but neither of them flowered. I found this very frustrating, as the plants themselves had clearly been there for many years with the main stems being at least 3" in diameter. They had been planted at the front of the house, at the base of the house wall, in rather small holes which had been made in the concrete path which ran along the whole of the front. I discovered that they needed to be very well-watered during the autumn months, in order for them to flower the following spring. I made sure that they got lots of water until the time came when the path itself was removed in order to create a shrub bed in its place, together with a new layout for the driveway etc. Since then the general rainfall has meant that the moisture spreads throughout the shrub beds and extra water for the wisterias has proved to be un-necessary.
The reward has been what could be described as resembling a purple waterfall down the whole of the front of the house - and it's turned out to be one of those things which people use to identify the house itself - i.e. "that one with the fantastic wisteria".
My guess is that not only lack of water but also lack of nutrients played a part in the poor "performance" of the plants - the soil close to the house foundations was probably very poor quality and the concrete path certainly meant that there was insufficient water reaching the roots.
It doesn't work, however, to use too much fertiliser because this stimulates leaf growth rather than flowers, so careful and regular watering seems to be the solution.
So if mine didn't grow in all directions last year what could be the issue? We pruned it twice a year as advised but no extra growth. Fingers crossed this year it gets bigger
Wisterias are sometimes very slow to start producing the hormone that causes them to produce flower buds.
If your wisteria was budded from wood that had never bloomed then it might take many years.
Things that can help: root prune circling about 2 feet from the stem; in spring shorten all shoots by half and then again about midsummer so the new growth has a chance to ripen. Wisteria doesn't need a lot of water but it needs to be adequate when it's in growth; don't fertilize ever, all you'll do is produce lots of whippy growth that won't bloom.
Where exactly is your wisteria planted, Ryan? All too often people plant things close to a boundary where the soil is poor or compacted, and they don't remember to make a really big hole and use some good quality compost to back-fill the hole when planting things.
I've never heard or read about root-pruning wisteria, so would be reluctant to try it, having found what (to me at least) was a totally satisfactory way of getting the plants to produce plentiful flowers. During the summer months, after they have finished flowering, the wisterias here seem to grow like triffids. I think I really should measure the rate some time, as I reckon the shoots grow about 18" per week, and spread across windows etc during the time I'm away in the summer!
Mine has finally flowered after 5 years of pruning by the book, keeping it well watered and fish blood and bone in Feb and high potash in April. It was on its final warning, perhaps that what did it.
It is still very young so I would consider cutting off that thin stem coming out from the base and then shortening that other long spindly bit you've trained up vertically. I would also lengthen those training wires by several metres and train any new growth as horizontally as possible as this slows sap flow and encourages budding for flowers.
Give it a good feed of pelleted chicken manure in spring to encourage growth and a liquid tonic of tomato food to help encourage flowers. Then you need to look up the pruning regime that encourages flowers - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=242
This is one of ours, inherited when we bought the house and after pruning back a lot of chippy growth. They can get very long and wide, hence advice to lengthen wires. Use screw in vine eyes to space the wires a couple of inches out from the wall to allow ventilation and tieing in.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Posts
I'm certainly not "the expert" mentioned in a previous post, but I have made suggestions in the past ref caring for wisteria. As others have already said, it can take many years before a newly purchased plant may flower, so it's a good idea to buy one when it is actually flowering so that you know there's every chance that will continue to do so thereafter.
When I came to my current home - over 20 yeas ago now - there were two very well-established wisterias at the property but neither of them flowered. I found this very frustrating, as the plants themselves had clearly been there for many years with the main stems being at least 3" in diameter. They had been planted at the front of the house, at the base of the house wall, in rather small holes which had been made in the concrete path which ran along the whole of the front. I discovered that they needed to be very well-watered during the autumn months, in order for them to flower the following spring. I made sure that they got lots of water until the time came when the path itself was removed in order to create a shrub bed in its place, together with a new layout for the driveway etc. Since then the general rainfall has meant that the moisture spreads throughout the shrub beds and extra water for the wisterias has proved to be un-necessary.
The reward has been what could be described as resembling a purple waterfall down the whole of the front of the house - and it's turned out to be one of those things which people use to identify the house itself - i.e. "that one with the fantastic wisteria".
My guess is that not only lack of water but also lack of nutrients played a part in the poor "performance" of the plants - the soil close to the house foundations was probably very poor quality and the concrete path certainly meant that there was insufficient water reaching the roots.
It doesn't work, however, to use too much fertiliser because this stimulates leaf growth rather than flowers, so careful and regular watering seems to be the solution.
Wisterias are sometimes very slow to start producing the hormone that causes them to produce flower buds.
If your wisteria was budded from wood that had never bloomed then it might take many years.
Things that can help: root prune circling about 2 feet from the stem; in spring shorten all shoots by half and then again about midsummer so the new growth has a chance to ripen. Wisteria doesn't need a lot of water but it needs to be adequate when it's in growth; don't fertilize ever, all you'll do is produce lots of whippy growth that won't bloom.
Where exactly is your wisteria planted, Ryan? All too often people plant things close to a boundary where the soil is poor or compacted, and they don't remember to make a really big hole and use some good quality compost to back-fill the hole when planting things.
I've never heard or read about root-pruning wisteria, so would be reluctant to try it, having found what (to me at least) was a totally satisfactory way of getting the plants to produce plentiful flowers. During the summer months, after they have finished flowering, the wisterias here seem to grow like triffids. I think I really should measure the rate some time, as I reckon the shoots grow about 18" per week, and spread across windows etc during the time I'm away in the summer!
Mine has finally flowered after 5 years of pruning by the book, keeping it well watered and fish blood and bone in Feb and high potash in April. It was on its final warning, perhaps that what did it.
I planted this wisteria 2 years ago and it hasn't really grown very tall. It has a long thin branch coming from the base, should I cut that off now?
It is still very young so I would consider cutting off that thin stem coming out from the base and then shortening that other long spindly bit you've trained up vertically. I would also lengthen those training wires by several metres and train any new growth as horizontally as possible as this slows sap flow and encourages budding for flowers.
Give it a good feed of pelleted chicken manure in spring to encourage growth and a liquid tonic of tomato food to help encourage flowers. Then you need to look up the pruning regime that encourages flowers - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=242
This is one of ours, inherited when we bought the house and after pruning back a lot of chippy growth. They can get very long and wide, hence advice to lengthen wires. Use screw in vine eyes to space the wires a couple of inches out from the wall to allow ventilation and tieing in.
Thats great! Thanks Obelixx! That picture of yours is beautiful!
Obellisk's wisteria is just glorious. I get jealous every time I see that photo.
I am green with envy.
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'