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Sunday, October 10, 2010

Nasturtium Mystery


I planted a nasturtium seed in this container the last time I visited my mom in California.  It is now blooming, even though the plant itself is still pretty small.  There are also some weeds (including what looks like the beginnings of poppy seedlings) in this container as well.

Anyway, the only significance of this is that while this nasturtium grew and flowered in about two months, the nasturtium I grew in Indiana never flowered once this summer/fall, even though that plant has been growing for longer and got much bigger than this one.  They came from the same seed stock.

How strange.

I thought that nasturtiums were supposed to be pretty easy to grow everywhere.  I wonder if I did something wrong that caused my Indiana plant to not flower at all this year.  Or do flowers somehow prefer California over Indiana, at least for flowering purposes?

16 comments:

Annie*s Granny said...

Too much nitrogen, makes them grow large with lots of leaves. They do best in rather common soil, no fertilizer. I actually dug holes last year, and brought poorer soil from a flower bed to fill the holes before planting the seeds (I also had better luck direct seeding, no luck starting plants inside). My nasturtiums still grew huge and I ended up pulling out most of them, because they were choking out the rest of the garden. I had a few volunteers this year, and I let them grow. They were in the pathways, not in the garden beds, and they got more flowers and fewer leaves.

thyme2garden said...

Ah ha! Granny, I think you may have just solved my mystery. I grew my Indiana nasturtium in the "good" soil (Mel's mix) that I grow everything else in. This CA nasturtium just got some soil from the ignored part of the garden. So they need to be "abused" in order to flower!

Carolyn ♥ said...

The amount of sunshine would also affect the blooms. Nasturtiums thrive in a sunny spot.

upinak said...

Thyme, I didn't have a lot of nitrogen in some of my soils (I use 3 different types) and they only bloomed 2 weeks before frost too them. This year has just been bad for them and they bloomed late.
This was an observations from other blogs acorss the nation that we all had issues with nasturtiums and green tomatoes.

Faith said...

Sounds like you solved the too much N mystery. Nasturtiums love neglect. Nasturtiums are my favorite flowers.

Ribbit said...

I third, fourth, fifth...I lost count, the nitrogen concept. Mine flowered last year, but not this year.

Dirt Lover said...

Hmmm, purposefully neglecting a plant??? Looks like I should be planting nasturtiums next year.
~~Lori

Amy said...

They baffle me, too. I think they are very bright and cheery in the garden if they grow and bloom, however I never have any luck with them. They say they are so easy and good for beginners. :/ UGH....bad soil, neglect, I guess I will have to try less!

Debbie in MS said...

Your mom's yard seems to be the magical place to grow things. It is a pretty flower!

thyme2garden said...

Meredehuit - thanks for your info!

* * * * *
upinak - hmm, thanks for the heads up. I read a lot about green tomatoes, but not about nasturtium issues. Good to know!

* * * * *
Faith - I'm liking these blooms. I'll try to neglect mine more next year so I can see some blooms in my garden, too. :)

* * * * *
Ribbit - hopefully we'll both get some blooms next year!

* * * * *
Dirt Lover - make sure to use poor dirt! :)

* * * * *
Amy - you and me both!

* * * * *
debiclegg - you aren't kidding about my mom's yard. Check out the carrots on my Harvest Monday post!

Graziana said...

I learned that plants need a lot of sun to bloom... but don't worry, nasturtium leaves are edible and can be used in salads!

thyme2garden said...

Graziana - I did know that the leaves and flowers are edible, but I haven't tried it yet. Maybe soon!

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