Although these plants have gorgeous foliage, the real reason we love them is those spectacular flowers, right? If you are tearing your hair out screaming, “Why is my Abutilon not flowering?” then you’ve come to the right place – let’s figure out the reasons together.
What You'll Learn Today
Why Is My Abutilon Not Flowering?
There can be many reasons that cause your Abutilon to not produce those signature flowers. Let’s look into them.
- Not enough light. These plants like a good few hours of bright, direct sunlight in a day, and if they are not receiving this then they will not reward you with flowers.
- Lack of nutrients. These plants do like a good feed, and the flowering season depletes the plant of Phosphorous. Consider adding some to your feeding regime.
- Too much water. If you are giving your Abutilon too much to drink, you are running the risk of causing root rot, which can in fact kill the whole plant.
- Spent flowers left on the plant. Deadheading is known to encourage the growth of new flowers, so if you are letting dead blooms sit on the plant you could be preventing more flowers from growing.
- Not enough pruning. Without a good haircut once in a while, your Abutilon can become leggy and out of control.
Usually, these easygoing plants will produce beautiful foliage and their trade mark flowers quite easily and happily.
If yours has not been producing those blooms, it may be time to change things up a bit so that your Abutilon is happier.
How Do You Stimulate Blooming?
Encouraging a flower to bloom is often as simple as making sure it has all of its preferred conditions.
In the case of Abutilon, this is plenty of sunlight, regular feeding, enough water, and a good regular pruning.
If you follow this schedule and make sure your Abutilon has what it needs, you will be covered with flowers before long!
You can also encourage your plants to flower by making them stressed – it sounds unkind, but if you are interested then here’s an article explaining how you do it.
Do You Cut Back Abutilon?
The short answer to this question is a resounding “Yes!” Abutilon are fast growing, and if grown outdoors they can get pretty big pretty quickly.
In order to keep your plant as healthy and happy as it can be, you will need to cut it back once in a while.
You can either simply pinch the tops off the longest branches, which will encourage bushy growth, or you can try slightly more drastic measures.
Abutilon can have a tendency to grow leggy and wild, so you will need to keep on top of pruning it to make sure that you get the best growth.
Avoid cutting it back in the height of summer; you should always do the main bulk of your pruning at the very end of winter, just before your plant starts sprouting new growth.
Always use very sharp shears or secateurs, so that the cuts you make are clean and the plant can grow new growth on them.
These plants are pretty hardy, so even if you have had to remove a lot of growth, you should find that your Abutilon bounces back even stronger than ever.
What Should I Feed My Flowering Maple?
Some plants are happy to simply get their nutrients from the soil, while others need more of a helping hand.
Abutilon, especially if you are growing it indoors in a pot, will definitely benefit from a regular feeding regime.
Go for a water soluble fertilizer – this is not only a great way to get nutrients to the plant directly, it is also hassle free and easy!
Look for a fertiliser that is well balanced – a 20-20-20 mix is perfect for a maintenance feed for these plants.
During the flowering season, you can give your Abutilon a fertiliser with more Phosphorous to encourage blooms better.
You should feed your Abutilon twice monthly in the summer, as this is when the plant is growing at its fastest rate and needs the most support.
It is advised to stop feeding in the winter, as the plant will be dormant and as such any extra nutrients will be wasted.
If you are growing your Flowering Maple outdoors, you can happily mulch it with compost as well as feeding it, to give it the most amount of support you can.
How Do You Get A Flowering Maple To Bloom?
These happy plants are generally pretty good at doing what they’re meant to – but as with all plants, sometimes they haven’t quite got everything they need!
- Ensure it has adequate light. Abutilon likes a full sun position; anything less and it won’t have the energy to produce those trademark blooms.
- Feed it extra Phosphorous. This is the nutrient that encourages flowering; without enough of this the plant will not be able to flower.
- Deadhead. Removing dead flowers will make everything look neater, plus it will encourage more flowers to grow.
- Allow enough water. No plant wants to sit in a swamp, but they won’t like to dry out completely either!
- Make sure the soil is rich. Abutilon do like their soil to be filled with nutrients, so you can either make your own or buy good compost from a garden store.
- Prune once a year. Removing the old growth will encourage this plant to spring forward with a whole load of new growth, so it is very worth doing!
Go through this list and ensure that you are doing everything right for your Abutilon, and it will thank you by producing hundreds of beautiful flowers.
Here is a good video showing you a few tips to get your Abutilon to bloom:
Once you have figured out how to make your Abutilon flower you will never look back – these are gorgeous plants which will enhance your life no end!
If you have been struggling to get yours to bloom, have a read through of our tips and get on with making beautiful blooms all over your house and garden.
I love Abutilon flowers. Can I put them in a cut flower display?
Well, obviously you can use any flower in a display – however, Abutilon is not the best choice. It tends to droop down anyway, and will wilt pretty quickly once it’s removed from the plant. Just enjoy this one growing in its natural environment, for best results.