I got this plant earlier this year. It was close to 2 feet tall. Now, it's got to be over 5 feet. And I think it's starting to suffer from Flopus Overus (like Jerry's tomatoes). :-D Esperanza - not blooming ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) Anyhow... there's no sign of it trying to flower. And one's in the area have been blooming for a couple of weeks now. Do I go ahead and give it another dose of fertilizer that's high in phosphorus to see if I can coax it into blooming? Shall I prune it back? Or at least cut off those lower branches that are leaning way over? Or... shall I just have patience and let it do it's own thing?
Don't prune at this time of the year or you might prune off potential buds, I have read that there are some Esperanza that don't bloom until Sept and some that start in May. Also, it just might not be mature enough to bloom yet. A tropical perennial usually doesn't reach maturity for 2-5 years. Sometimes age of the plant determines when it will bloom, not the size. Is it getting full sun, they need 8+ hours a day. Maybe too much water, let the soil dry out between waterings? You could fertilize with a general fertilizer every 4-6 weeks but I wouldn't use a high phosphorus fertilizer until it has shown you it's blooming schedule.
Thanks Toni... maybe this is a September blooming one? Which would be fine with me. yes... it gets full sun. And it did get alot of water a few weeks ago with all that rain. When I planted it, I used Osmocote (14-14-14) and gave it some more right around the time of the rains. Guess the answer is.... patience. Why is that always my answer?
