Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Palo Alto Sweetgum bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Palo Alto Sweetgum, Sweetgum 'Palo Alto' (Liquidambar styraciflua 'Palo Alto').

More about palo alto sweetgum

About Palo Alto Sweetgum

Liquidambar styraciflua 'Palo Alto' · also called Palo Alto Sweetgum, Sweetgum 'Palo Alto' · flowering

Palo Alto Sweetgum is a selected cultivar of American Sweetgum prized for its reliable, vivid orange-red autumn colour and tidy, upright-oval habit. A medium-to-large deciduous street and specimen tree, it performs well in urban conditions and moist soils. Its star-shaped, glossy leaves turn consistently brilliant shades from gold through scarlet each autumn.

Plant type: flowering

Watch for — Sweetgum scale (Diaspidiotus liquidambaris): Armored scale insects can colonise bark and twigs, causing dieback of smaller branches in severe infestations. Control with horticultural oil applied in late winter or early spring before bud break. Healthy, vigorous trees are generally resistant.

The reasons palo alto sweetgum isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming palo alto sweetgum 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 palo alto sweetgum 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 palo alto sweetgum to flower

Maximise sun. Give palo alto sweetgum 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 palo alto sweetgum and get the feeding right with the palo alto sweetgum 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

Palo Alto Sweetgum 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 palo alto sweetgum care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Palo Alto Sweetgum blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my palo alto sweetgum flower?

Palo Alto Sweetgum 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 palo alto sweetgum bloom?

Give palo alto sweetgum 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 palo alto sweetgum normally bloom?