Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Tufted Vetch bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Tufted Vetch, Cow Vetch, Bird Vetch, Boreal Vetch (Vicia cracca).

More about tufted vetch

About Tufted Vetch

Vicia cracca · also called Tufted Vetch, Cow Vetch · flowering

Vicia cracca is a vigorous, scrambling perennial legume native throughout temperate Europe, Asia, and North America, adorning hedgerows, grasslands, and coastal dunes with dense, one-sided racemes of 20–40 violet-blue flowers from late spring to late summer. It climbs by branching leaf-tip tendrils and, as a nitrogen-fixing legume, actively improves soil fertility. The most important care point is to provide a support structure or neighbouring vegetation to scramble through. The Vicia genus contains species with varying toxicity; raw seeds contain low levels of cyanogenic glycosides and should be regarded as mildly toxic.

Plant type: flowering

Watch for — Aphids (blackfly and vetch aphid): Dense colonies of black bean aphid and vetch aphid commonly colonise shoot tips and flower buds from late spring; encourage natural predators or knock back with a jet of water.

The reasons tufted vetch isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming tufted vetch 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 tufted vetch 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 tufted vetch to flower

Maximise sun. Give tufted vetch 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 tufted vetch and get the feeding right with the tufted vetch 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

Tufted Vetch 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 tufted vetch care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Tufted Vetch blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my tufted vetch flower?

Tufted Vetch 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 tufted vetch bloom?

Give tufted vetch 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 tufted vetch normally bloom?