If your indoor space could use some color, the easiest solution is to add some peonies! Their splendid blossoms will brighten up any room!
Sometimes, peonies bought at local florists or supermarkets won’t open their buds for days. There are a few reasons why this happens, such as picking plants too early for shipping.
If this happened to you and you want a gorgeous display of blooms ASAP, you are in the right place.
In this article, I’ll show you how to force peonies to open and bloom quickly with a few easy steps!
Let’s get started!
Forcing Peonies To Open
There are a few factors that affect the flowering stage of peony plants. Specific conditions can cause changes in the size of blossoms and the time of blooming, so it’s essential to know more about peony growth before taking any steps.
As mentioned earlier, picking these plants too early may delay the time of blooming. Warmer temperatures are responsible for the speedy flowering process, so a cool environment may be responsible for delayed blooming.
Therefore, increasing temperatures around your peonies may encourage them to bloom. Additionally, enough light and warm tap water can also trigger the buds to open.
These are sun-loving plants, so you’ll need to provide them with as much sun as you can. Artificial lights are frequently used to force peonies to bloom.
Hydration Is Key
Now that we know what can affect blooming in peonies, let’s see how to encourage the buds to open.
You should know that in many cases peony buds have a waxy coating to prevent ants from munching on them. This can also be a reason why you don’t see any blooms.
When you bring your peonies home, the essential thing is to hydrate them. First, take a knife and cut your peonies at a sharp angle. This will help water to go deep into the stem and hydrate it fully.
Garden clippers or scissors will do a perfect job. You can also use them to remove peony leaves; I typically leave some leaves on the top.
The easiest way to hydrate these plants is to use a bucket filled with warm water; you’ll need just enough water to cover the peony stems. Also, add a pack of flower food to the water.
Put your peonies in a bucket and move them to a warm and sunny location. It would be best if you could repeat these steps every 3-4 hours.
It typically takes a day for the buds to open after this procedure. If they fail to open, you can submerge them in water. This method aids in melting the waxy coating on peony buds.
You can go one step further and give your peony buds a gentle massage. Honestly, I didn’t believe in this technique but after my peonies failed to bloom, I gave it a try! And the results were great.
Of course, to keep these wonderful plants fresh, you need to refresh the water in their vase approximately every 2-3 days. The main purpose of this technique is to prevent bacterial growth and hydrate the plants.
That’s it! These methods will force your peonies to bloom and you can enjoy their breathtaking appearance!