Morning Glory Plant Care

Planting

• Morning glories will grow in nearly any type of soil, even preferring soils with lower fertility. Plant your morning glory vine in a spot that has full sunlight to very light shade. If you're planting morning glories from seed, soak the seeds in water overnight or nick the hard seed coating with a nail file before you plant them to ensure proper germination. Wait to plant morning glories outdoors until all danger of frost has passed in spring. Also, choose a planting site that has well-draining soil, where water doesn't pool after heavy rains.

Watering

• Water your morning glories deeply and thoroughly to supplement rainfall, allowing the soil surface to dry slightly between waterings. Like most other annuals, morning glories need 1 to 1 ½ inches of water per week from rainfall or supplemental watering. Although morning glories are heat-tolerant, you might need to provide even more water during very hot weather or dry spells. When watering, try to water directly into the soil to avoid wetting the flowers and leaves, which can promote disease problems. Another good way to cut down on watering and better preserve soil moisture is to spread a 2- to 3-inch-thick layer of organic mulch on the soil around your morning glories. The mulch will also help to keep weeds at bay.

Fertilizing

• If you're planting a bed area of morning glories, you can enrich your soil prior to planting. If you have nutrient-poor soil, mix into the top 6 to 10 inches of soil about 1 lb. of 10-10-10 NPK fertilizer per 100 square feet of bed area. Alternatively, you can mix into the soil a complete slow-release fertilizer according to the instructions on the package. You can fertilize the morning glories again during summer, but only if the plants aren't growing or flowering properly. If you provide additional feedings, apply a water-soluble or slow-release fertilizer made for flowering annuals, and follow the directions on the label.

Deadheading

• Pick off the flowers from your morning glory as they fade and before the seeds form. This practice -- called "deadheading" -- will help keep the morning glories looking tidy and encourage them to re-bloom. Alternatively, you might allow the morning glories to produce seeds, because they can actually reseed year after year. Because morning glory vines are such fast growers, you can also trim back the vine if it grows outside the desired bounds.