Content
The reasons why peonies do not bloom are most often the mistakes of novice gardeners in the agricultural technique of planting and the subsequent care of the bushes. Plants do not form buds when placed on poor soil and after improper pruning, however, the age of the bushes and the varietal belonging of peonies are also of great importance. Depending on which species the plant belongs to, it can bloom at different times.
When peonies begin to bloom after planting
After planting a peony, many novice gardeners begin to worry if it did not bloom with them the next year, but this is not unusual. Depending on the variety, the shrub blooms for the first time only in the 2nd, or even in the 4th year of life.
So, for example, herbaceous peonies usually bloom for 2-3 years, in April-May. Treelike varieties usually form buds 4 years after planting, in May-June. And then-hybrids bloom mainly in June, however, there are both earlier varieties and later ones. Immediately after planting, flowering should not be expected, the bushes will form buds at least 2 years after being placed in the open field.
On the other hand, if the shrub has been planted for a long time, and the peonies have not bloomed for several years, this is a good reason for concern.
List of reasons why the peony does not bloom
The reasons why there are no flowers on the bushes can be very different, from improper planting to plant disease. Sometimes gardeners themselves harm the peonies when they try to stimulate flowering and divide the shrub - too small cuttings can stop forming buds. In order for the plant to not stop blooming, each seedling must have at least 3-4 buds. It is also not recommended to transplant too often - this procedure greatly weakens the bushes. So that they do not stop blooming, it is advisable to carry out the procedure no more than 1 time in 5 years.
Age of flowers
If the peony has not bloomed for many years, it is quite possible that the shrub is simply too old and has long been exhausted. For most varieties, the approximate limit is 10 years, after which the bushes need to be updated - dug out, divided and transplanted. Do the same when the crown thickens.
Plants that are too young sometimes do not flower, despite their healthy appearance. In most cases, this is quite natural - after planting, the seedling takes 2-3 years to root, only after that the peonies bloom.
On the other hand, plants planted in the fall often start blooming as early as the next season.
During transplantation, peonies are dug out, trying not to severely damage their root system.
Weather
If peonies suddenly stopped blooming, even despite their small age and good care, unfavorable weather conditions may be a possible reason. So, for example, the buds of renewal in peonies are laid two years before flowering, and if watering the flower bed is neglected in a severe drought, it will not bloom for the next several seasons.
Prolonged rains during the budding period lead to the accumulation of moisture in the flowers. Eventually, their petals darken, turn brown, and the buds remain closed without blooming. No less detrimental effect on peonies is sharp temperature changes.
Poor quality planting material
Peonies do not bloom well if the flowerbed was grown from low-quality planting material. On a healthy seedling, flower buds should be clearly visible, each of which has a diameter comparable to the size of the little finger. You should also pay attention to the roots - peonies will not bloom if the seedlings have too small a root system. The optimal rhizome length for full development is 10 cm or more.
The size of the storage roots is ideally close to the size of a medium carrot. Too large shoots are cut off, treating the cut with ash.
A quality seedling does not have cavities, rot and other physical defects
Wrong variety selected
Of no small importance for the development of plantings is the varietal affiliation of the planting material. Even with the best care, some varieties will not flower if the plant has been planted in the wrong climate for the variety. For this reason, thermophilic subspecies are not bred in the northern regions.
Violation of landing rules
Peonies do not bloom if the seedling was at one time incorrectly placed in the planting pit. In no case should it be buried; a shallow landing is also harmful. Ideally, from the uppermost bud to the surface of the earth, there should be 3-5 cm on heavy loam and 6-7 cm on light sandy soil. So the seedlings will not suffer from recurrent spring frosts and dry air in the summer months.
Another common mistake is landing in a low-lying area. In this position, excess water is poured into the root system of the peonies, as a result of which they stop blooming. Heavy shading is also not good for the flower bed. It is better to plant flowers under moderate sun or openwork shade.
The soil level should be about 3-4 fingers above the root bud
Violation of the rules of care
Sometimes it also happens that peonies bloom, but the buds do not have enough plant vitality to open up. In this case, the flower bed must be fed. In total, during the season, the shrub is fertilized 3-4 times using liquid formulations, while nitrogen is introduced in large quantities in the spring. In autumn, it is impossible to feed peonies with nitrogen-containing fertilizers, during this period the plant needs phosphorus-potassium mixtures for a safe wintering.
Also, peonies do not bloom with a lack of moisture in the soil. During a period of intense heat, the water consumption for each bush is increased from 15-20 liters to 30 liters, while the frequency of watering is not increased.
If the peonies bloom, but the buds do not bloom, this is a sure sign that the plant is starving.
Breaking the cutoff rules
If the peony has not bloomed for several years, despite the fact that the bush looks healthy as a whole, early pruning of the leaves may be a possible cause. This is one of the most common mistakes - many novice gardeners remove foliage in early September, which is absolutely impossible to do. Immediately after flowering, the plant begins to lay flower buds for the coming season, so the leaves can only be cut in October-November.
Also, cutting flowers too early affects the splendor of flowering. When trying to increase the size of the buds, gardeners cut too many flowers. It is recommended to adhere to this scheme - 1-2 buds on each shoot.
Pests and diseases
If the leaves and shoots of peonies begin to eat up insects, the plants must be treated with any suitable insecticide.
To get rid of insects, the drug "Aktara" is suitable.
Of viral diseases, the greatest danger is the stretching of shoots. Symptoms of the disease are the formation of many thin stems. It makes no sense to treat such bushes, they are dug up entirely and destroyed.
Fungal diseases of peonies are treatable. If the bush gets sick with gray rot, it is sprayed with "Fundazol".
If necessary, you can replace "Fundazol" with copper sulfate
What to do if peonies don't bloom
If the peonies are not blooming, you can take the following measures:
- If the basic planting rules are violated, the situation can be corrected by transplanting the shrub to a new place, selected taking into account all the recommendations. Peonies growing in overly shaded areas are transplanted in partial shade, preferably on a hill, in order to avoid stagnant moisture.
- Bushes overfed with nitrogen, which have gained a lot of green mass, are fertilized with phosphorus and potassium, but these elements should also not be overused. In the same year, peonies are unlikely to bloom, but by the next season it is usually possible to correct the composition of the soil.
- When the bush is affected by insects, the flower bed is treated with insecticides. If peonies are sick with a fungus, industrial fungicides will help restore the plant.
- If the soil on the site is too acidic, then its composition is artificially adjusted. This can be done by adding dolomite flour to the soil. Also for these purposes, you can use wood ash, hydrated lime or bone meal.
- With a lack of potassium in the soil, the flower bed is fertilized with potassium sulfate - 10 g of substance per 1 m2 is enough.
- Watering is adjusted to suit local climatic conditions. In extreme heat, water consumption is increased.
Florist tips
The following recommendations will help to make peonies bloom more abundantly:
- Old plants need to be dug up and divided to ensure lush bloom. At the same time, all old and weakened roots are removed on the parcels, immersing the remaining ones in a solution with a growth stimulator. Then the individual parts are seated, placing them in a new place. In addition, before this, you can keep the roots of the seedlings in a disinfectant solution of potassium permanganate or the drug "Maxim".
- If, during the planting of peonies, you put a sufficient amount of fertilizer on the bottom of the planting pit, you can not feed the flower bed for several years.
- In order to get the largest flowers on the bushes, during budding, only one bud is left on each shoot, cutting off the side ones.
- If the size of the flowers does not matter, the extra buds are not cut off - this way the shrub will retain its decorative effect longer, since the lateral flowers bloom later.
Conclusion
The reasons why peonies do not bloom can be very different: from mistakes in the agricultural technique of planting to unsuitable weather conditions. The age of the plant and its variety are also important, however, even if the bush does not form buds for several years, it can still be made to bloom with a number of tricks.
