Content
Clematis are perennial climbing plants belonging to the Buttercup family. These are very popular flowers that are used for decorative vertical gardening of local areas. Usually, mature clematis bushes bloom beautifully and magnificently, but it happens that flowering is weak or, at all, absent. Information about the causes of this "behavior" of the plant and what to do to make it bloom will be useful to many beginners, and not only gardeners.
The main reasons for the lack of flowering
There are many such reasons. For example, a lot depends on the selected variety, the place where the plant is placed, whether it is planted correctly or not, how it is looked after and much more.
Clematis may not bloom if:
- The plant is planted in the wrong place or is not planted correctly.
- The soil is too acidic or moist.
- The seedling has been damaged or sick.
- The bush is not properly looked after.
- There are few nutrients in the soil.
- The plant is overgrown weeds.
- The bush has reached the age of physiological aging.
- The plant is weakened by diseases or pests.
- The bush is not pruned according to the pruning rules recommended for the group to which the variety belongs.
The lack of flowering can be caused by one or several reasons at once.
All he needs is timely, competent care so that he can take root well and grow healthy, powerful shoots. Clematis begins to bloom for 2-4 years.
Improper fit and care
In order for clematis to bloom annually and abundantly, it must grow in a well-lit place, but not in the sun. The best site for this vine is where there is a lot of sun in the mornings and evenings, and everything is in partial shade during the day. In addition, the place for clematis should be protected from wind and drafts, since the plant does not like them. That is why clematis are often planted near buildings or fences, not only because they serve as a support, but also because in such places optimal conditions are created for their development.
The second condition for proper planting is suitable soil, which should be fertile, but light, loose, air and moisture permeable.
It should not be acidic, if there is such a soil on the site, then it must be calcified by adding lime or dolomite flour to it. The ideal soil reaction is neutral or slightly alkaline.
The planting holes should be deep and wide enough (at least 0.7 m) so that the root system of the seedling fits into it without any problems. At the bottom of the pits, drainage from broken bricks or crushed stone should be laid, and a mixture of 0.15 kg of complex fertilizers, 0.2 kg of dolomite flour and 2 glasses of ash should be applied. The distance between them during group planting of plants should be at least 1-1.5 m: this is exactly how much is needed in order for them to develop successfully.
It is also important to plant clematis correctly: its root collar should be located 10-15 cm below the soil level (1-2 internodes). If the plant is already mature and planted too high, then you need to spud it like a potato. How to plant a clematis seedling correctly, and what mistakes should be avoided, is shown in the photo.
Lack of nutrients and aging of the bush
Clematis is a perennial liana, capable of living in one place for decades without a transplant. (20-40 years old). But, like all living things, it is aging, so over time, its flowers begin to shrink, their number decreases, as does the duration of flowering.
However, even young clematis may not bloom if they lack nutrition. Therefore, every gardener needs to make it a rule to feed their vines, starting from the second season after planting. To do this, every spring at the very beginning of the growing season, the bushes need feed nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrogen stimulates the growth of young shoots and leaves. The green mass allows the bush to develop well and store strength for subsequent flowering.
During the period of budding and flowering, clematis requires a complex mineral fertilizer containing phosphorus and trace elements. Phosphorus allows the plant to form bright and large flowers and maintain long flowering times. After its completion, the bushes are fed with organic matter so that they have time to prepare for the winter period. Peat is scattered around the bushes throughout the season as additional nutrition and to improve the characteristics of the soil.
It is also important to ensure that clematis does not overgrow with weeds and that any other cultivated plants do not grow too close to it: they will take food from it, which, naturally, will affect flowering.
Pests
Even the most resistant plants have pests and diseases, and clematis is no exception. It can be affected by a nematode that settles on the roots and depletes the bush, slugs, bugs, aphids, mealybugs. Roots can eat up bears, and small rodents can eat not only roots, but also shoots.
It is necessary to fight all these pests at the first signs of infection, otherwise you can not wait for flowering. Destruction methods:
- Nematodes - the introduction of nematicides into the soil one month before planting the seedling.
- Aphids, bedbugs and worms - spraying the plant with insecticides or a solution of tobacco dust.
- Slugs - Treating plants with insecticides, 1% copper sulfate, or collecting animals by hand.
- Rodents - Set traps and baits with zoocides.
Clematis can be susceptible to diseases such as gray rot, rust, alternaria, leaf spot, yellow mosaic, verticillium wilting, fusarium. To prevent infestation of clematis, the soil around the bushes must be mulched with a mixture of sand and ash in a ratio of 10 to 1, and if the plant is already infected, treat it with fungicides.
Additional factors
The flowering and, in general, the well-being of the plant is also influenced by how it overwinters. Clematis can do without shelter only in the southern regions, in the rest they need to be covered. They cover the plants before the onset of cold weather, after pruning. In the spring, the shelter is removed, the shoots are tied to supports so that clematis can start a new season.
What to do to make clematis grow and bloom well
If you start in order, then, first of all, you need to choose a strong and healthy seedling. It should be a 1-2 year old plant, with a well-developed root system and several buds (for varieties that require pruning for the winter), healthy, thin, intact shoots up to 0.2 m long (for other varieties) and green leaves (not light and not dark).
When choosing a seedling, you need to take into account what variety it belongs to in order to properly cut it in the future. This is important, since all clematis are divided into 3 groups according to the pruning method. If clematis is supposed to be planted near a building, then you need to maintain a distance from the wall of at least 0.5 m and put a decorative support near the bush to direct the plant in the right direction.
Two-time feeding
Without feeding, it is impossible to obtain clematis, which blooms attractively and abundantly.For this plant, you can apply a scheme in which a small amount of fertilizer is applied 2 times a month, starting from April-May, when shoots begin to grow. First, clematis is fertilized with a weak solution of mullein (1 tablespoon per 10 liters) or bird droppings (1 tablespoon per 15 liters). A bucket of such liquid is poured under each bush. When nitrogen fertilizer is used a second time, then use saltpeter (1 tsp per bucket).
With the onset of flowering time, ash is used instead of manure, superphosphate and potassium salt instead of nitrate. Fertilizers are applied in the same doses as nitrogen fertilizers. The liquid is poured not under the root, but at some distance from it. On acidic soils, lime milk is used, which is prepared from 0.3 kg of garden lime and 10 liters of water.
Stimulants
Clematis responds well to feeding with synthetic flowering stimulants. After their application, its flowering becomes more magnificent and intense, the buds and flowers become larger, and the color of the petals becomes brighter. For these purposes, you can use humates, special preparations, for example, Bud, Zircon, Epin, etc. Treatments can be carried out repeatedly during the entire flowering period.
Watering
Clematis is watered regularly, about once every 2 weeks, and in extreme heat, the frequency of watering is increased. The volume of water poured under each bush should be such that the soil is moist at a depth of at least 0.5-0.7 m (about 3-4 buckets per adult bush).
You can also dig in 3-4 pieces of wide plastic water pipes near the bush, directing them obliquely towards the plant and pour water into them. To reduce the rate of evaporation of moisture, the soil around the bushes must be mulched with straw, hay, and dry leaves. If there is no mulch, then loosening should be carried out after each watering.
Pruning
Pruning clematis is very important: if done incorrectly, the bush will bloom poorly or not bloom at all. All clematis are divided into 3 groups:
- 1 - varieties that bloom on last year's shoots;
- 2 - varieties blooming on last year and the shoots of the current year;
- 3 - varieties blooming on young shoots of the current year.
That is why, if the pruning was carried out incorrectly: all the shoots were cut out or, conversely, unnecessary ones were left, then the clematis will not bloom.
How to prune clematis correctly? The shoots of plants that belong to the first group are removed from the supports before the onset of cold weather and cut at different heights: from 1 to 1-1.5 m.At the same time, all dry, broken and weak ones are completely cut out. The cut ones are tied together, laid on spruce branches spread out on the ground. From above, they are also covered with branches, covered with a thick layer of dry leaves (or peat, sawdust) and covered with roofing material, in which several holes are made to circulate air inside the shelter.
Clematis second group pruned at a height of 1 m or higher, also removing any unusable shoots. They cover them for the winter in the same way as the plants of the first group. Shoots on plants third group cut off at a distance of 0.15 m from the ground and cover the bush with peat, sawdust, sand, leaves to a height of 0.3-0.5 m, cover with roofing material on top.
Conclusion
If clematis does not bloom, you need to find out why this is happening and eliminate the cause. Only in this case it is possible to grow a luxurious plant that will delight the gardener with its lush flowering every season, without interruption.
