Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Eastern Red Cedar bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Eastern Red Cedar, Red Cedar, Eastern Juniper, Pencil Cedar (Juniperus virginiana).

More about eastern red cedar

About Eastern Red Cedar

Juniperus virginiana · also called Eastern Red Cedar, Red Cedar · flowering

Eastern red cedar is a tough, columnar to broadly conical native American conifer, the most drought-resistant conifer in the eastern United States. It produces aromatic reddish-brown heartwood, glaucous blue berry-like cones attractive to wildlife, and scale-like dark green foliage year-round. Highly adaptable to poor, dry soils and extremely cold winters from USDA zones 2–9.

Plant type: flowering

The reasons eastern red cedar isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming eastern red cedar traces back to one of these, roughly in order of how common they are:

Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.
Too much nitrogen feed, driving lush foliage at the expense of flowers (very common with general or lawn feeds).
The plant has not been deadheaded, so it stops flowering once it sets seed.
Irregular watering — drought or waterlogging at the budding stage makes buds abort.
It is still too young or was checked by a transplant and is rebuilding before flowering.

Feeding eastern red cedar a high-nitrogen general feed and growing it in too little sun — you get a big leafy plant and almost no flowers.

The fix — how to get eastern red cedar to flower

Maximise sun. Give eastern red cedar the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers.
Switch the feed. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.
Deadhead regularly. Remove spent flowers often to keep it producing more rather than stopping to set seed.
Water consistently. Keep moisture even through budding and flowering — drought-then-flood swings make buds drop.

Light and feeding do most of the heavy lifting here. Dial in the spot with the light guide for eastern red cedar and get the feeding right with the eastern red cedar fertilising schedule — the wrong feed (too much nitrogen) is one of the most common silent reasons a healthy plant makes leaves instead of flowers.

Bloom season and what to expect

Eastern Red Cedar flowers across its growing season (mostly summer) and, kept fed and deadheaded, can bloom for many weeks or right up to frost.

Post-bloom care so it flowers again

Deadhead, keep feeding lightly, and many will rebloom; collect seed from the best plants at the end of the season if you want to grow them again.

For everything else this plant needs day to day, see the full eastern red cedar care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Eastern Red Cedar blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my eastern red cedar flower?

Eastern Red Cedar blooms on the season's growth given enough sun, warmth and the right feed — there is no cold or photoperiod trick, just good growing conditions and a bloom-leaning feed. The most common reason it is not happening: Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.

How do I make eastern red cedar bloom?

Give eastern red cedar the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.

When does eastern red cedar normally bloom?