Kia Ora
We have a palish blue wisteria planted about 10 years ago.
We have to trim it back severely every year, it produces a few sparse flowers
for a short time then heaps of luxuriant green.
I have looked up Google & it says that feeding should be restricted for good
flowering. We have never fed the plants.
Any suggestions for getting rid of excess nourishment please.
The plants are in the garden, not in pots.
I know we are in NZ, but please help
Thanks
Mac

Hi, Mac,

as no one else is offering any suggestion you might as well get an opinion
from someone who is only guessing....... well, using whatever knowledge I
have from oz native cultivation.

Firstly, plants generally flower and fruit better if the water is kept
own - eg. best seasons for mangos are the dry ones.
Secondly, while high nitrogen promotes leaf growth, it may be more a case of
lots of water plus relative lack of phosphorous and potassium.
Lastly, soil pH may limit some nutrients and trace metals which promote
flowering.

As I understand it you guys have been getting plenty of rain? If so,
cutting back on water is difficult. Secondly, rain usually contributes
nitrogen to the nutrient cycle (lightening creates NOx, pollution NOx gets
washed down by rain, etc). If that is the cause of your poor flowering
you'll have to wait in hope for a better season (have you seen any other
wisteria's in full bloom in your area - good shows or poor year?)

The only proactive steps I could recommend are to get some high P+K
fertiliser and a trace metal suppliment and use according to directions.
Might be worth doing a soil pH and comparing against the range recommended
for wisteria (might need local nursery or govt primary industry dept advice
on that).

As Mark Twain once said, "I'd like to tell you more, but I've already told
you more than I know". So, good luck, Jim Haig (married to
Hokitika/Christchurch girl - had to take pity on a poor Kiwi)

"Mac Lynch" wrote in message
...
Kia Ora
We have a palish blue wisteria planted about 10 years ago.
We have to trim it back severely every year, it produces a few sparse
flowers
for a short time then heaps of luxuriant green.
I have looked up Google & it says that feeding should be restricted for
good
flowering. We have never fed the plants.
Any suggestions for getting rid of excess nourishment please.
The plants are in the garden, not in pots.
I know we are in NZ, but please help
Thanks
Mac

Oh, yeah, I meant to get back to this, but I was hoping someone with
actual knowledge might respond.

My first question would always be, how much sun is it getting? It may be
getting enough sun to grow happily, but not enough to flower.

The second thing is pruning, here's two links that go into details

http://www.plantamnesty.org/pruning_...t_wisteria.htm

http://www.gardenseeker.com/pruning_wisteria_.htm

and a quote from a 3rd:
"Pruning wisteria extensively during the dormant season may encourage
rampant vegetative growth the next spring. Instead, in July prune out
the long, straggly growth except those branches needed for climbing.
This is more likely than anything else to induce flowering. Shoots
should be cut back one-third to one-half their length. This will induce
them to produce the short spurs that will bear next season's flower
clusters." (from http://www.orchardsedge.com/vines.html)

HTH
Jane

In article ,
Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
Mac

(Mac Lynch) writes:
Kia Ora

I think KiaOra is a brand of baked beans here. :-))

We have a palish blue wisteria planted about 10 years ago.
We have to trim it back severely every year, it produces a few sparse flowers
for a short time then heaps of luxuriant green.
I have looked up Google & it says that feeding should be restricted for good
flowering. We have never fed the plants.
Any suggestions for getting rid of excess nourishment please.
The plants are in the garden, not in pots.
I know we are in NZ, but please help

Our friends in NZ have been bemoaning how wet their winter and spring
have been. So I think that probably explains your problem: the wisteria
is getting too much water and not enough sun. Obviously, these do go hand
in hand--if it is cloudy and showery, there isn't much sunshine. :-(

So the short answer: join the exodus. Move to Bondi!
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")