Fertilizing Midnight Wine Weigela

May - 14
2022

Fertilizing Midnight Wine Weigela

With deciduous bronzed foliage, darkening to purple in autumn and bursting with bright pink flowers that attract hummingbirds in spring, Midnight Wine weigela (Weigela florida “Elvera”) has the utility of a shrub using the appealing attributes and size of a perennial flower. “Midnight Wine” is the marketing name for its patented cultivar of the spring-blooming shrub, which grows 1 to 2 feet tall in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 9. While fertilizer can benefit growth, leaf color and flower production, you should understand the plant’s growth cycle and the way it reacts to additional nutrients before you feed Midnight Wine weigela.

Midnight Wine Weigela Culture

Midnight Wine requires full sunlight for best leaf color and flower production, but it can tolerate light shade. Weigela thrives in a moist website which has good drainage, and it is flexible to clay soil and soil that’s neutral to slightly alkaline or acidic, from 6.8 to 7.7 on the pH scale. Once established, the plant only needs supplemental water during extreme heat or heat. Midnight Wine blooms in mid-spring on last year’s growth, so prune immediately after flowers fade, however this isn’t necessary when the plant isn’t yet fully grown. It might take a complete year in your garden before this slow-growing plant begins to increase in size, according to the plant’s marketer, Monrovia.

When to Fertilize Midnight Wine

Fertilizing any plant when it isn’t actively growing or already contains adequate nutrients does more harm than good. Newly bought shrubs usually don’t need any fertilizer at planting time since nurseries mix the proper fertilizer into the soil. Wait about a month before fertilizing a Midnight Wine weigela implanted in early spring. A balanced fertilizer ought to be applied simply to fuel active growth, every six weeks in the example of weigela, stopping in early autumn to slow new growth which could be broken over the winter. Timing one feeding to follow any pruning after spring dampening aids the plant recover, and substituting a high-phosphorus fertilizer at the late-summer feeding promotes bud creation for next year.

Fertilizing Midnight Wine

When your Midnight Wine weigela is actively growing, supply it with a gentle, water-soluble fertilizer that has about twice as much nitrogen as phosphorus and potassium. Growers recommend a 5-3-3 fertilizer derived from organic substances. The numbers indicate the percentages of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in the item. A good guideline when binder a healthful plant is to feed it every six weeks from early spring through late summer, sprinkling the granules at the total recommended for the magnitude of this plant around its drip line — the ground right under the outer border of the foliage water it in well. Apply half the recommended amount in the first year for newly implanted weigelas. For even easier maintenance, slow-release fertilizer granules worked into the ground just once in spring could feed the plant all season.

Considerations

When it comes to fertilizer, less is usually better — both for the plant and also for the environment, which can suffer from fluid run-off. Many woody plants, such as weigela, don’t require any supplementary nutrients at all for healthy growth, particularly when growing on or adjacent to your lawn which gets regular feedings. Signs an established shrub may need fertilizer include poor color, smaller-than-normal leaves, absence of fresh shoots, and fewer blooms and leaves around the shrub. Check soil pH level, drainage and also for signs of pest infestation, and correct any problems before lavishing a sickly looking Midnight Wine with fertilizer. Fertilizer simply helps when a plant contains nutrient deficiencies.

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