Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Eichhornia crassipes bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Water Hyacinth, Common Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes).

More about eichhornia crassipes

About Eichhornia crassipes

Eichhornia crassipes · also called Water Hyacinth, Common Water Hyacinth · flowering

Eichhornia crassipes is a free-floating tropical aquatic with glossy rounded leaves on spongy, inflated petioles that keep it buoyant, and showy lavender-blue flower spikes marked with a yellow eye. It multiplies explosively across warm, still water. Useful for shade and filtration in summer ponds, but a serious invasive weed where it can escape, and banned for sale in many regions.

Plant type: flowering

Watch for — Sparse flowering: It flowers best when slightly crowded in hot, sunny, still water. Too few plants, cool weather or shade suppress blooms; give it warmth, sun and a confined area to encourage flower spikes.

The reasons eichhornia crassipes isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming eichhornia crassipes 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 eichhornia crassipes 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 eichhornia crassipes to flower

Maximise sun. Give eichhornia crassipes 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 eichhornia crassipes and get the feeding right with the eichhornia crassipes 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

Eichhornia crassipes 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 eichhornia crassipes care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Eichhornia crassipes blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my eichhornia crassipes flower?

Eichhornia crassipes 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 eichhornia crassipes bloom?

Give eichhornia crassipes 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 eichhornia crassipes normally bloom?