Young at Heart

[wirebender]

This my first time on the forum, but I have been reading it for a while. I am growing Young at Heart, and it is growing very well, but I can't get it to bloom. It's getting rather tall-2feet and needs to be pruned probably. Does anybody out there have any experience with this cv?

[helixturnhelix]

Hi Wirebender,

There is a Young at heart growing at my parents house, it is a fast grower and bloomed alot in the summer.  Its become a tall bush, and it takes a bit after you prune it for it to start blooming.  I remember that the stems got pretty long before it sent up buds.  As far as getting it to bloom, how much sun does it get?  Not enough sun is usually the reason why a plant wont bloom.  I've had some plants bloom this winter in the house with only an hour of full sun a day.  The next thing to check is whether or not you are fertilizing with the right ratio fertilizer.  Hibiscus like fertilizers that are medium in nitrogen, low in phosphorous, and high in potassium.  Numbers like 17-6-24, would be good for hibiscus.  If you have been using a bloom fertilizer that is high in phosphorous, your plant will not bloom and will eventually start to decline and die, due to a decrease in its ability to uptake other nutrients.  Water would be the next thing to check, it is the start of summer so if it is really hot and your plant is not getting enough water, it is going to be really stressed and focus its energy in forming leaves, rather than flowers.  For a plant, flowers are a luxury only producing them when it is not stressed and happy.  Finally, it could be that you just have a weird clone, that doesn't behave like it should.  More likely though, it is a deficiency in sun, water or nutrients.  Good luck!     

[Charlie]

Chris has made a lot of good suggestions that I won't repeat but will add that Young At Heart does take its time before budding up and blooming for the first time as a young plant. It seems to put most of its energy into growing but will eventually start blooming and then is a good bloomer if its getting the sun, water, fertilizer, etc that it needs.

Charlie

[wirebender]

Thanks Charlie for the information about Young at Heart. It's growing very well, so I guess I will let it keep growing straight up. Although I'm going to have to put it on the floor, or cut a hole in the roof of my greenhouse. It's about three feet tall. I'll post a photograph of it when it blooms. Thanks again