How to get flowers on my bat plant?

[SheriG]

my bat plant had only flowered once in 6 years..... it has plenty of large bright green leaves, planted in a large terracotta pot in the shade.

my bat plant has only flowered once in 6 years.....it is under the terrace roof in the shade.... plenty of healthy green leaves but no flowers.....

[EricL]

Hello @SheriG

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about your Bat plant.

Soil balance is vital to the health and well being of your plant. If your plant is only getting a certain mineral in the soil and not enough of the other, it causes an imbalance in how the plant grows. Phosphorus is a key ingredient needed for developing flowers, fruits, and root systems. If it's missing from the mix in your soil, your plant will not produce flowers. Potassium helps with the root systems and keeps the plant healthy and strong to fight stress and drought. Nitrogen is the building block for growing new stems and leaves, plus it is a necessary part of chlorophyll, which makes the leaves green and helps plants photosynthesize.

Looking at your picture, your plant seems very healthy so it must be getting a lot of Nitrogen. However, your observation of the Bat plant failing to produce flowers indicates that it is missing a key ingredient. I propose using Richgro 2.5kg Organics Phosphorus Root Health Booster to correct the imbalance in your soil mix. 

Let me tag our experienced members @Noelle and @Adam_W for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Noelle]

Hi @SheriG 

While I agree with Eric regarding providing a balanced diet for your Bat Plant that includes all the necessary major, minor and trace elements, the lushness of your plants indicates to me that it is putting on luxuriant growth at the expense of flowers.  This is quite common when there is an abundance of fertiliser available especially one with a high nitrogen content. Possibly the amount of nitrogen in the fertiliser is excessive compared to the other nutrients.  Nitrogen promotes strong leaf and stem growth.  Due to the amount of N available, the plant is putting all its energy into producing new growth rather than some growth as well as flowers.

Flowering (and setting seed) is a survival instinct in plants - so keeping it slightly under-fed rather than having a plentiful supply of fertiliser will encourage flowering.  If the plant is slightly stressed, it will flower and set seed to ensure the next generation.

So, in my opinion, using a controlled release or slow release fertiliser twice a year would be the way to go.  Use one formulated for potted plants and apply it in late winter (just before the plant shows signs of new growth after its cool weather dormancy) and again in late summer.

[SheriG]

Thank you Eric and Noelle, I will give the controlled or slow release fertiliser a go first as I have some, I will let you know if and when I get at least one flower….😁

[Adam_W · Accepted solution]

Hi @SheriG the various Tacca species like to be fed a little bit but often so stronger fertilisers or over-feeding can have an impact. Your best bet may be a small dose of a controlled release like Osmocote and then supplement this every couple of weeks with a light liquid organic feed.
What region are you in? They are a tropical plant and do like higher humidity and warm conditions, they don't like less than 15˚. If temps get too low that can stop them flowering too. They like to be kept on the dry side in winter too.

[SheriG]

Hi Adam, I am in Dulguigan, Northern Rivers, NSW…..1/2 hour south of the Gold Coast…..our winters are very mild…in Summer I lightly mist with water everyday, thank you for your suggestions I will use Osmocote and see how it goes…..❤️

[MitchellMc]

Keep us updated on your plant @SheriG. Please reach out if you need further assistance. We're here to help.

Mitchell

[Adam_W]

Glad I could help @SheriG just looking & I'm thinking that perhaps the Osmocote orchid blend may be the best one.

[SheriG]

Thanks Adam….💚

[SheriG]

Hi everyone….since my last post when we were flooded in for 9 days i didn’t have any of the recommended products so I fed my plant with Epsom Salts, and I now have 3 flowers….!….thank you for responding to my original post…😘