A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum echinacea failure?

My very first post... thanks for being here.

2 years ago I started my own purple coneflower/echinacea seads. I even stratified them. They came up, had beautiful leaves and never grew a flower. The same thing happened last year. This year I'm watching them coming up again and wondering if I should give them another chance or not. The soil is decent and it's mostly sunny in this location. Does anyone have any idea if there is a particular nutrient that this plant needs to flower that I may be lacking? Any other suggestions or wisdom?

Thanks for your time and I look forward to many more great forum gardening experiences.

-Forsythia

Since you grew them from seed, they may need 2 years to develop first (?) and will hopefully flower this year. Mine reseed quite frequently, but usually flower the second year. They are usually very easy to grow, requiring little else but sunlight and occasional water.

Too much nitrogen in the soil can make plants grow leaves but not flower. If you think this may be the cause, try adding some potassium to the soil.

It is possible that in an effort to figure out what went wrong I did put too much fertilizer in the ground. I will be patient since this is their third year (and give them a bit of potassium).
Thanks for the advice.