Coming of age

[banksia]

G'day everyone!. Pretty chuffed as for the first time in 9 years my one and only Wisteria has decided to treat me with a flower. I'm wondering now what sort of fertilising regime I should undertake. Can anyone give me a basic rundown of how much and when?...and what are the best ferts to use?
Also if there's any Wisteria experts that could help with an ID?..the one raceme is a very light maeve...bordering on white.

Cheers
Anthony

[elljuu]

Beautiful Plant. Did you have it very long? I hope my wisteria doesn't take 9 years to flower. It's like 7 now I think. What kind of pruning did you do to get it to flower?

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[banksia]

Thanks elljuu!.
I bought it 9 years ago and at that time it was about pencil thin...I'm thinking it was in its second year or so.
It was originally put in the ground as an ornamental to be trained up a pergola but for the first 4/5 years, it did nothing in the way of producing flower buds. During this period I'd let it run from when it woke from dormancy, until the cooler months arrived (late March/early April) then prune it back so that at least 2 or 3 buds were left on any one "branch.

Cheers!
Anthony

[shibui]

Wisteria is notorious for taking many years to flower when grown from seed. My first seedling took 19 years but now flowers happily. Cutting grown plants flower quicker because they are wood from mature plants. If you want flowers purchase from reputable growers who propagate good varieties as cuttings.

Getting wisteria to flower: Everyone has their own special recipe and some are completely conflicting. That usually means that the plant will flower despite what you do to it
I feed all flowering plants with high P fert (citrus, tomato, flowers and fruit, etc) from mid summer to leaf drop to help form flower buds. Don't let wisteria dry out where possible. Some keep the pot in a water tray over summer and that does not seem to hurt the roots. Allow shoots to extend to 60-100cm long then cut back to the first node as often as it grows in summer.
Also keep and allow a good dose of luck every 4 weeks.

[banksia]

Cheers for the rundown shibui.
If I do get another, I'll source the right person for sure, as this was far from that!! Dare I say the "B" word. My wife initially wanted it, but after 5 or 6 years in the ground without a flower...it became mine
When cutting back during Summer...does this induce branching? I gather it does,thus producing more widespread budding. Yeah??
I have it in a tray full time during our Summer, then out from say, May to late September.

Thanks again!
Anthony

[shibui]

As with almost all plants, cutting back hard allows dormant shoots to start growing so you will get more branching as a result. I have found that if I only prune some branches, leaving one or more upper branches with intact tips, back budding on the pruned branches can be minimal so I would advise pruning all branches at the same time on wisteria.
Wisteria wood is soft. They do not heal over very quick so larger pruning cuts are prone to die back and rotting. Seal all cuts larger than about 1cm to enhance scars healing.

[elljuu]

As with almost all plants, cutting back hard allows dormant shoots to start growing so you will get more branching as a result. I have found that if I only prune some branches, leaving one or more upper branches with intact tips, back budding on the pruned branches can be minimal so I would advise pruning all branches at the same time on wisteria.
Wisteria wood is soft. They do not heal over very quick so larger pruning cuts are prone to die back and rotting. Seal all cuts larger than about 1cm to enhance scars healing.

My wisteria was long and the main trunk was too tall for my liking so I cut it back by 3 nodes and it began to bud up then I did it again and it produced 3 different buds but only the highest one is growing strong but I cut that so it would put it's energy into the other 2 branches. Boy training a wisteria is hard.

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[banksia]

G'day Guys!...back again!
As it's coming around to that time of year when these guys start to slow down in growth, I have a question or two.
I've followed the advice of those comments before concerning fertilising and pruning and was just wondering....
When roughly do I do my last pruning.? Do the flower buds become evident first?....and then cut back to just above them, or,
cut back to the first couple of nodes now while the tree is still shedding it's foliage?

Cheers!
Anthony

[shibui]

You should be able to see the difference between flower buds (fatter and bigger) and vegetative buds (thin and pointy). It is possible that your tree won't have any flower buds this year so you will look and look and try to find minute differences when there are none. Try looking at some more mature trees in gardens or parks to learn what flower buds look like, then compare with your bonsai. I know that after its first flower it was another 5 years before mine flowered again Like many other things, you have done all you can do now so just relax and let nature take its course.

Flower buds will normally be near the base of the current season's growth so you can safely cut back even if you can't work out which buds are which. It does not really matter when you do your last pruning because buds have already formed. I'll prune mine after the leaves have dropped. It is easier to see what is there and what I need to remove then. This is in contrast to plants like azalea that flower on the tips of current growth.
Even if you see a flower bud but it is in a spot you need to prune for the sake of style or health I would not hesitate to prune it off. Long term development is far more important than short term gratification