Morning glories

Question

I live in Rhode Island. I have always had success with in-ground morning glories. I moved last year and planted them as usual. They grew like on steroids but no blooms until late September, and then we had a frost and that was that. This year same thing, only it’s September 18 and still no blooms! Is there anything I can do to ensure I get blooms next year?

Answer 1

It sounds like you probably have high nitrogen in the soil of your new garden, which may have been added by the previous resident to fertilize their garden. Excessive nitrogen can promote strong stem and foliage growth, but will inhibit flower production, as you describe. This article explains a few other potential causes, but high nitrogen is the most likely:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/environmental/plant-not-blooming.htm

To fix this, you should first get a soil test:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/testing-soil.htm

Then, if the nitrogen levels still look high, you could try mixing in regular garden soil to dilute the nitrogen, or planting foliage plants next year to use up some of the nitrogen.