Morning Glories love poor soil. The fertilizers in the Miracle Gro will inhibit flowering. The first time I ever grew MG I fertilized them and all I got was a lot of healthy leaves and no flowers! Next time you try and grow them in a pot see if you can dig up some soil from a friends yard or something...I'm not sure if it will work but its worth a try maybe.

can you really start summer annuals in what is basically september in z9????

if so.. i am simply amazed ... will they bloom all winter???

i know it sounds snarky .. but really.. i am mystified.. if this will work ...

ed-ju-ma-cate me ...

ken

ps: i agree they like poor soil ... they reseed forever in my mineral sand ...

I am aware they like poor soil... I just wasn't thinking when I planted them. They germinated in less than 4 days though, so that was kind of nice.

Ken, I am aware that it seems unorthodox, but believe it or not, the summers here are so swealtering that last year my glories could hardly make it through a full day without drooping badly, even when watered early in the morning. They will hopefully bloom well into winter, as we do not approach freezing temps very often. With that being said, it's also mentionable to note that we will probably not even get close to 70 degrees until December, which has an average yearly temp. of about 63 in my area... So I'm not too absolutely worried. I was pretty certain that they would bloom at least for a little while. Now I am worried that the soil will inhibit blooming regardless... I only planted a couple of seeds though, and still have many left that I collected from last year. So if this doesn't work out, I can always start again in a couple months with the proper soil.

I will definitely stay posted to see if I can surprise myself and others. (:

i am not surprised with the temps .. that seems to make the season long enough ... barring the out of the ordinary ...

what i am mystified by.. is that i thought the inclination and declination of sun was important in triggering flower production and bloom ...

and right now the sun is in decline until after xmas ... unless you are so much closer to the equator.. that this is irrelevant to you ... or i should say.. your plants ....

i hope one of the botany based peeps can clarify it for me .... in not too scientific terms, please ...

ken

Ken, I thought about that as well. From my past experience, I wouldn't believe this to be too big of an issue. We get about the same number of hours of sunlight year round here. Give or take maybe an hour... I have planted basil around this time in the past and gotten flower pods during the winter months.

It may sound too simplistic, eicher, but why not simply transplant the MGs into pots of plain old poor soil? Do you have access to any?

My neighbor planted some deep purple ones years ago, and they've reseeded and thrived in the clay here in Virginia. Find a construction site and ask them for a bit of dirt. You may get some strange looks, but it never hurts to ask!

You make a very good point, hudsonriverbug. My brother actually lives in the area. Perhaps he will let me dig up some dirt from his yard.

I think your morning glories will be OK as they are if you don't fertilize them. The fertilizer component in miracle grow potting soil, in the high temperatures of summer will not last long enough to impact the future flowering, especially if you water enough that you see some water drain from the pot each time. Al

I planted combos of morning glories & moonflowers this year for the first time in 3 different areas as an experiment to see how they would do. Some are in a flower pot on a mostly sunny deck in miracle gro PotMix. A few are planted in the ground (sun to shade) in front of a front porch railing in average garden soil that stays a little moist. And 2 are planted in late afternoon sun in somewhat dry, packed soil covered with small stones near my mailbox.

The vines growing in the dry soil are the thickest, greenest, and healthiest! They have grown the fastest and look the best. They are winding their way up and over my mailbox.

The ones by the front porch railing are OK, but not filling out much. There are also some leaves missing. I think something has been nibbling them.

The ones growing in the miracle gro in the flowepot look the worst! The plants started out like gangbusters, but now they look sparse and kind of spindly. They hardly seem to be growing at all.

I don't have any flowers yet ... still hoping though. Could be the weather (cool temps and lots of rain). But I must say there is a DEFINATE difference in the vines growing in the drier, rocky soil. :))

My first time planting morning glories i started them inside on a windowsil and then planted them in a rich soiled container, all my plants have done great in this soil but the morning glories. soon after i planted them the leaves started dying. i wasnt sure why this was happening, so i looked it up and found out that seedings were sensitive to fertilizer. so i moved them to a pot with half miracle grow and half soil from my yard and soon new leaves were growing and i had beautiful flowers! Hope this helps to anybody reading this!

Thanks for the follow ups! I transplanted my MG's into pots with half garden soil and half sand from my yard. They didn't look great after the transplant, wilting frequently, even when watered (I actually cut back on watering). They are totally healthy now. They are taking over my railing. I should be about 60 more days from seeing blooms. I think the temps will hold up for me to see them bloom at least a little.

Well it worked just as I planned. My MGs have been flowering for about a week now, right when the weather is starting to cool down. I should see a few more weeks worth before it freezes here. Thanks everyone.

Hi, I was wondering what kind of MGs you're growing. I am going to plant some Japanese Morning Glories (Ipomoea nil cultivars). I have a source that I can buy potting soil that does not have fertilizer in it - one brand is Baccto.

Susan

Sorry I've been away for so long... Anyways, my MG's are still going strong(just to show those non-believers up north what the FL sun can do). We had a couple cold days here, but still haven't hit freezing. Does anyone know if I can take the vines into next season? If the weather permits, will they continue to grow? Or will they eventually hit the end of their life cycle and die off?

Also, susan, I am growing heavenly blue morning glories!

Ipomoea nil needs a balanced fertilizer to make decent number of flowers. Ipomoea purpurea will grow ok in Miracle Gro mix. Just don't feed the plant anymore.