AusBonsai

Hello friends,

I have a 17 yr old Japanese wisteria. A few weeks ago it started to push a few flower buds. A week and a half ago I added some low nitrogen fertilizer and a new flower bud popped up great right? Then this weekend I took her out if her usual spot to give her full sun and water. I also sprinkeled some pot ash on top (before watering) I noticed today 2 out of my 12 flower buds have dropped off? Is this normal? Was moving it into the sun and giving it pot ash a bad idea? Or did some birds eat them? (they do look tempting ) I will lose my right hand before I loose any more buds. It is a new plant to my collection and I consider myself lucky that the plant even pushed buds. Pleeeeeeease help. The buds are fairly young being 1-3 cm in length.



Thanks

I woud not be moving the tree in and out of the sun

At this time i would be leaving it in full sun all the time.

Ken

Awesome thanks Ken will not more it again!!

Also please, there are plenty of buds that aren't really doing anything...some look very lifeless. Will they be leaves or potentially more flower buds? Pleease excuse my inexperience in this tree....some even look hollow? Not sure of the growth patterns and many things I read all say different things...

Someone described flower buds as looking like bumble bees when they first start forming and it is a pretty good description, fat & furry. The other buds will be either active or dormant growth buds and shoot later.

A branch off one of my wisteria showing a flower bud before elongating, it is very fat at the base and has a light brown coating of hairs. The growth buds on the branch behind can be identified by the slightly silver sheen to them & also the shape, being skinnier at the base & getting fatter at the end. You can also see buds that have yet to start swelling just above the flower bud.

Hey Matt, Full sun is fine. It helps the tree push the buds open. Give it some diluted tomato liquid that contains potasium and phosphorous to help with flowering. Those are definitely flower buds. They will droop as they get longer and the hard skin of the buds will drop.. See a couple pics of my tree.
Enjoy the moments of your tree.
Cheers
DK

the biggest cause of flower/bud dropping is lack of water. especially with wisteria.

I probably wouldnt have fertilised till after flowering finished. fertilising can cos the plant to gorw leaves at teh expense of flowers, even if it is low nitrogen.

Wisteria form their flowers buds in the previous summer. fertilising with low nitrogen fert is preferred if you want flowering, but the best tiem to do this is after floweing right up till the end of summer. doing this will ensure the most amount of flower buds for the coming spring.

fertilising during flowering will not increase the amoutn fo flowers you get but may in fact do the opposite.

the amount fo sun recieved during spring and summer will also help determine how much teh wisterai flowers

Thank you all very much, theres nothing like real advise from growers compared to frantic google searches

All good advice, I can only agree.

As to the flowers having seemed to slow down in development, mine have started and stopped for a while now depending on if the run of days has been warm or cold. Yesterday was the last of a series of warm days and nights but an overnight change means we are back to jackets to go outdoors. I expect that the half opened blooms on my wisterias will not move much now untill the warmth returns (I can only agree with them - 14 degrees max, Brrr).

The other culprit with the falling flower buds could be parrots; here the rosellas love to snip off the buds on the verandah wisterias. I keep the bonsai under fully enclosed 50% shade cloth to keep the "feathered secateurs" from offering me assistance with the pruning.

Beautiful image of the white wisteria kvan64, is it Sinensis Alba? Mine hasn't started to move at all yet; (it is always one of the last in my cold climate), but after seeing yours I am really looking forward to it.

Jan