cherylad
 Regular Plants Contributor
S. Liberty County - Texas
Posts: 4188
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 1:03 pm Post subject: Moonflower Blooms not opening |
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Moonflower ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden )
Moonflower Bud - stage 2 ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden )
My Moonflower is growing great. Lots of buds (I've uploaded photos of them about to bloom). Almost....almost open... and then they just drop off!
They get a daily drink. Gets sun until about 3pm. Planted in a container.
Any clues to what I'm doing wrong?
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Sjoerd
West - Friesland
Posts: 6915
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 1:22 pm Post subject: |
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I don't knowq alot about this plant, but I wonder if it could possibly be getting too much water. Could you skip at least one or two days--or is the weather there too much for it?
Another thing you cou look for is "spider mite". You will need a magnifying glass and some backlighting to do this.
They can be best seei where they make little "webs" between stalk and flower or leaf stem.
I have to say that the pics that I saw here do not look exactly typical...but it's an idea. In fact ruling out all sorts of peats is a good idea.
P.s. Are you spraying the leaves?
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cherylad
Regular Plants Contributor
S. Liberty County - Texas
Posts: 4188
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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It's been 100 degrees F here for the last few days... I'm afraid if I don't water it even just a bit everyday that it would just wilt away. Occasionally I'll mist/spray the leaves, but I typically just water the soil. There's good drainage also.
I sprayed the plant with an oil/soap mixture about 3 weeks ago for aphids. Haven't seen any sign of mites however. But I'll keep checking.
Thanks!
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glendann
Texas
Posts: 9228
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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Cherylad my hibiscus and roses are doing the same thing but grasshoppers are cutting my buds off.The heat is really taking a toll on all my plants.
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cherylad
Regular Plants Contributor
S. Liberty County - Texas
Posts: 4188
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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The buds don't appear to be "eaten off"... they just plop right to the ground. 
I'll see if I can get a photo of it this weekend.
And yeah... this Texas heat is really giving the plants trouble.
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Joan
Posts: 62
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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Now this is just a guess, but it might only be due to the relative immaturity of your plant yet. Moonvines get much bigger than yours is at present. However, I think that if you have the ability to do so, you should plant it in the ground. I think their performance is also relative to their root space. So you'll get some vine, leaf, and vine no matter how much soil they have, but they will be all the more spectacular when they have more rootspace.
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cajunbelle
zone 8b Louisiana
Posts: 3256
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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Your plant looks healthy, I see no reason for it dropping the buds. I have grown these for years and they have never failed to open each evening, just at dusk. Very puzzling.
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Phil. 4:13
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Bayliner1999
Nottingham, MD
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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One of my Moonflowers bloomed for the first time last night. Unfortunately, it was gone by this morning. Last year, I planted my seeds outside in May but didn't get a single bloom until September.
I water mine every 2-3 days if temperature is around 80-85. This was one of my 'excess' plants still in a small container so I was quite surprised it bloomed.
Do your flowers fall off at night or the next morning? It looks healthy.
( photo / image / picture from Bayliner1999's Garden )
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gardenmama
Vermont
Posts: 575
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| Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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I planted moonflowers last year and each bloom only opens once and only in the late afternoon. They blooms until the first hard frost. I would say give them time.
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cherylad
Regular Plants Contributor
S. Liberty County - Texas
Posts: 4188
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| Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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These photos were taken Saturday morning around 9am.
The bud is barely hanging on.
Moonflower - barely hanging on ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden )
Now you can see it literally hanging on by a thread just moments later.
by a thread ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden )
Then it falls to the ground.
dropped ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden )
This is what the inside of the "would be" flower looks like upon "prying" it open.
forced open ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden )
So....do these photos give anyone any idea of what I might be doing wrong?
Hubby suggested that maybe I was doing such a good job that the flowers are just too big for their own good!
There was another bud last evening that looked like this one... and the others that have failed to open.
I watched it from 7-9:30pm. And it was still on the vine at 7:30am. I'll report on it's progress (or lack there of tomorrow).
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Joan
Posts: 62
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| Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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I have no new ideas, but I feel like the flowers are going to perform for you in a few more days. Just sprinkle the pot with a little patience.
Well wait, one thing occurs to me. Maybe those are not buds, but spent flowers that are dropping off. The flowers only last one night and I think they do sort of curl back up before they fall off. You will be getting plenty of buds to have flowers every night, so it doesn't matter that they bloom only for one night.
If you have some cold nights, the flowers can get stuck open and thus still be in bloom the next morning. But in the warm summer, I don't think you should expect to see any left by morning.
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cherylad
Regular Plants Contributor
S. Liberty County - Texas
Posts: 4188
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Joan...
I thought about the flowers just being "spent"... but we've checked on them from dusk to around 10:30-11:00 at night. And at 6-6:30 in the morning. None of them were open during that time.
Maybe my flowers are just shy?? 
This is the first time I've grown Moonflowers and am/were so excited to see them bloom!
I'll keep checking on them... and will try to be more patient.
Thanks everyone for all the help.
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cherylad
Regular Plants Contributor
S. Liberty County - Texas
Posts: 4188
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:47 pm Post subject: |
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My co-worker... who gave me the Moonflower seedlings said her's aren't opening until around midnight!
She's originally from Oklahoma and said they usually bloomed right at dusk there. Does the location, temperation, etc. make that big of a difference in when these flowers will bloom?
I hardly see myself getting out of bed at midnight to see a flower! 
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