When the plant is grown in a pot, it’s easy to adjust when a morning glory blooms.
Generally, if a gardener wishes to have the flower open early in the morning, they should turn on the lights when they go to bed.
If you want your flowers to stay open all day long, don’t turn on the lights until mid-morning.
Morning glories will be ready for harvest about 6 weeks after germination and two weeks later for flowering.
Many people ask me this question and start to worry when their morning glory flowers aren’t blooming in the early summer.
The fact is that if your plant is growing vines and leaves, it will bloom at some point.
Not necessarily by next week though.
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Morning Glory: Growth Pattern Explained
First, you need to understand how these plants grow because flowering (and producing seeds) is dependent on a specific growth pattern.
Morning glories grow from vines that curl around anything they can cling onto; if there isn’t something for them to cling onto then they’ll just curl up into a heap.
If planted outside they are especially fond of climbing up things like trellises or fences but I’ve seen them accomplish impressive feats without any help whatsoever– my mom has one that crawls across the ground and up a metal pole like it’s nobody’s business.
Morning glories grow by sending out new vines from an existing vine.
If you have one vine, then when it finishes blooming (assuming that it gets flowers every year) at the end of summer there should be another one growing that can flower next year.
These vines will continue to appear until your plant is very mature- years later I’ve heard of some people getting flowers on plants that are more than twenty years old!
Some people get flowers during only their first year though so don’t worry if yours aren’t blooming just yet.
The main thing to know about morning glories is patience. They are not easily manipulated into blooming early by any method that I’ve heard of.
The plants know when it’s time to bloom and if you want them to flower at a certain time, then your only option is to wait out the season until they get to it. Why do I think this?
It works for me! Every year my mom gets her morning glories mixed up with another vine from the same family called ‘moonflowers’.
Moonflowers have a similar growth pattern but instead of growing little green leaves, they grow white leaves. What makes moonflowers special is that their flowers hang down while morning glory flowers are upright.
Since both kinds of vines curl around whatever they can find- fences or trellises in my mom’s case- both kinds of vines end up growing around each other and intertwine.
So every year my mom always thinks that her moonflowers haven’t bloomed yet because the two kinds of vines end up getting mixed together (which is why she only ever gets one kind of flower).
The problem is that when morning glories get flowers, they stop growing leaves altogether. And since both plants grow at the same time, this means that there are lots of bare vines running around which can be confusing if you’re not aware of what’s going on.
This year my mom decided to separate her moonflower vines from her morning glory vines after seeing how much work was involved in getting them apart. I told her that the only reason she was doing this was that she couldn’t wait to see flowers on both vines but she wouldn’t admit it.
If you have both kinds of vines growing together, then one thing will happen- they are going to cross-pollinate with each other.
This means that your morning glories might start blooming at different times than usual because their growth is being affected by the moonflower’s growth which unlike the morning glory grows leaves during this time.
So if you’re having problems growing these plants then maybe this would be a good year for some experimentation. Planting more than one kind of vine together can give your garden some nice variety and you might get flowers earlier than expected by doing it this way.
I always recommend having fun with plants and trying new things instead of getting frustrated; no plant should be left to wither away because you don’t know what you’re doing.
Morning glories are short-day plants so they need at least 8 hours of uninterrupted darkness each night in order to begin developing flowers during late summer or fall. If you can provide this minimum dark period each night, you can force the plant to bloom when you want it to.
What Month Do Morning Glory Flowers Bloom?
You might have heard that morning glory flowers bloom in the morning. And, you would be right! However, what do you think would happen if I planted just one evening-blooming morning glory flower?
If it blooms in the morning, too, then your answer is that the flower will still bloom in the morning. So how can it be that a single flower has two different flowering times? Do some of them bloom early while others bloom late?
The reason for this is something called photoperiodism. There are two main types of plant photoperiodism: long-day plants and short-day plants. Long-day plants need a minimum amount of daily light hours to produce flowers.
In contrast, short-day plants will need a maximum amount of daily light hours before they start to produce flowers. Now, since morning glory flowers are short-day plants, that means that if the nights are long enough then the morning glory flower will not bloom until the next day (in this example).
If you plant only one evening-blooming morning glory flower, it won’t cause all of your other morning glories to do so; it will need more than twelve hours of darkness before it blooms.
| Plant Type | Annual |
| Soil pH | Neutral to acidic |
| Soil Type | Moist but well-draining |
| Flower Color | Purple, pink, blue, white |
Can Morning Glory Grow In Shade?
This is a common question. The answer depends on what type of morning glory plant you are growing.
There are several types of morning glories, including the common Ipomoea purpurea morning glory and the sweet potato morning glory. Some varieties even combine the two plants into one, creating a purple-leafed vine with sweet potato roots called Polygala incarnata.
These vines grow in U.S Department of Agriculture zones 4 through 9, spending their summers outside and their winters inside or under glass when temperatures drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius). These vines require 6 to 8 hours of sunlight daily for healthy growth.
If you’re growing a shade-loving morning glory like the star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), sometimes called Confederate jasmine, you can plant it in order to protect your house from cold winter winds.
These vines thrive in USDA zones 9 through 11 and require 6 hours of direct sun each day for proper growth.
They do well when planted next to brick or stone walls that will help keep them warm during the winter while still allowing them access to bright light during the summer months.
This vine’s rapid-growing nature can be useful for quickly covering unsightly parts of your home, but pruning should be limited to preventing flowering during the winter months.
Other varieties of morning glory will actually wilt if they are planted in too much shade. Morning glory plants are coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides), an invasive plant species native to India and Southeast Asia that was introduced to North America as a popular garden plant species.
These plants grow best in temperatures between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (15-27 degrees Celsius) with 6 hours or more of sunlight each day. They do well in moist soil, but this is usually not a problem since it rains frequently near their natural habitat.
There are also some varieties of purple morning glory (Ipomoea tricolor) that grow in USDA zones 4 through 9 and require 6 hours of sunlight daily to thrive.
Orange-flowered fields of Common morning glory, or Ipomoea purpurea, grow on hillsides with full sun exposure. Photo By Satpal Ram / E+ / Getty Images
In general, morning glories need a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight from dawn to dusk to thrive.
Although not all morning glories will die if they are planted in the shade, varieties that prefer indirect or partial sun will be stunted if they receive less light than they need for healthy growth.
Can morning glory grow indoors?
Yes, morning glory can grow indoors. It is a climbing vine and it needs a structure to climb such as a fence, trellis, or pole. As long as the plant has something to attach itself to that supports its weight it will be able to grow.
It does not require an abundance of sunlight but it must receive indirect light all day long. You can place your vines outdoors in very early spring or late summer depending on where you are located. If you want the vines inside then they need at least four hours of sun during the day.
Planting seeds is possible but it is better if purchased from a nursery because chances are they are already germinated thus making them ready for planting upon arrival at your home. The seeds will then be ready to plant when they start sprouting.
Potted morning glory can be grown indoors in a south or west-facing window. A north-facing window will not provide enough light for the plants to thrive. Morning glories need six hours of sunlight per day and if grown indoors you should place them directly under a sunny window.
The vines may grow towards the sun but if they get too long simply cut them back with scissors so that they can continue growing horizontally on their trellis.
When this happens it is necessary to tie the vines together so that they don’t become disorganized and difficult for you to manage at a later time, because once your plant blooms all of its energy will go into flowering rather than growth.
Use a large container that has drainage holes. Morning glories like moist but well-drained soil and organic matter such as rotted leaves, compost, or rotted manure will be helpful.
Mix one part garden soil, one part compost, and one part rotted leaves together before planting the seeds to help ensure your vines grow well.
Fill the pot so there are about two to four inches from the top of the rim. Place a small amount of gravel in the bottom if you do not have drain holes because morning glories tend to rot when there is standing water at the roots.
If you are going to plant your morning glory outdoors then choose a sunny location with loamy soil that is moist but well-drained, rich in nutrients, and slightly acidic.
Seeds are best sown in cold frames or hotbeds. Plant the seeds about 1/4″ below the soil’s surface where they will germinate when the weather conditions are right which is usually 10 to 14 days after planting.
The seedlings can be planted outside at a later date but make sure to harden them off first by placing them in a sheltered location while slowly exposing them more and more to natural elements over the course of six days.
Summary
To find out when morning glories bloom, observations were taken of several flowers. The time it took for the flower buds to open was recorded along with the ambient temperature and humidity at the time of opening.
The data that was collected was then analyzed in order to determine if there is a significant relationship between blooming time and environmental factors like temperature and humidity.
The following conclusions were made:
The temperature has no effect on when morning glories bloom; however, humidity does affect early-blooming times. This means that while more morning glories will likely open on warmer days, these conditions don’t necessarily make them open earlier.
Similarly, while more morning glories will likely open on more humid days, this doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be blooming earlier.
1. Temperature has no effect on when morning glories bloom; however, humidity does affect early-blooming times. This means that while more morning glories will likely open on warmer days, these conditions don’t necessarily make them open earlier.
Similarly, while more morning glories will likely open on more humid days, this doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be blooming earlier.
2. The data collected was not strongly correlated to any one factor which indicates that other variables may have an effect on the time it takes for a flower bud to fully bloom.
Future research should investigate additional environmental factors in order to determine what affects the blooming schedule of these flowers.