Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Wine Cups Babiana bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Wine cups babiana, Wine cup baboon flower, Rooibloubobbejaantjie (Babiana rubrocyanea).

More about wine cups babiana

About Wine Cups Babiana

Babiana rubrocyanea · also called Wine cups babiana, Wine cup baboon flower · flowering

Babiana rubrocyanea is a cormous perennial native to the Western Cape of South Africa, producing vivid wine-red and blue funnel-shaped flowers on short spikes in spring. It thrives in full sun with sharply drained, sandy soil and demands a warm, dry summer dormancy — in most of the UK it must be grown under glass or lifted and stored after flowering. The single most important care fact is to keep corms bone dry once the leaves die down, as summer moisture causes rot. Babiana is not confirmed safe for pets; treat as mildly toxic and keep away from cats and dogs.

Plant type: flowering

The reasons wine cups babiana isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming wine cups babiana 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 wine cups babiana 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 wine cups babiana to flower

Maximise sun. Give wine cups babiana 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 wine cups babiana and get the feeding right with the wine cups babiana 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

Wine Cups Babiana 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 wine cups babiana care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Wine Cups Babiana blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my wine cups babiana flower?

Wine Cups Babiana 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 wine cups babiana bloom?

Give wine cups babiana 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 wine cups babiana normally bloom?