Ice plants are gorgeous and they are grown in many gardens, typically as a ground cover. They are not only beautiful, with their lovely flowers, but they also work by preventing erosion of the soil. Some people also like to grow them in their rock gardens. Ice plants are famous for their daisy-like flowers that come in several attractive colors.

It is also possible to grow your Ice plants in the pots, as trailing plants. They are among those plants that are equally attractive when grown indoors and outdoors.

Ice plant is a succulent originally from Africa. It is very cold-hardy, which is how it got its name. There are many different varieties that you might wish to grow in your garden or home. The most cold-resistant of them all come from Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa. Another cold-resistant variety is the one coming from the Great Karoo desert.

Ice plants are famous for their beautiful flowers, so it might be a problem if they refuse to bloom. While many people grow these plants as ground covers, it can be very frustrating if your Ice plant refuses to give flowers. This is why it's so important to know how to get Ice plant bloom.

How to Make Your Ice Plant Bloom?

Ice plants are famous for its flowers. The flowers typically come in several gorgeous colors, namely purple, orange, scarlet and yellow, but there are also bi-color flowers. Many times, Ice plants will grow different shades of these colors.

But what if your Ice plants won't give flowers? How to make an Ice plant bloom? In order to solve this issue, it is important to understand why the plant refuses to give flowers in the first place.

Generally speaking, Ice plants need adequate conditions to thrive. They may be cold-hardy, but they still need specific conditions to grow. A plant can survive under inadequate conditions, but as long as it's not thriving, it will not have enough energy to produce flowers. In other words: to get your Ice plant bloom, you need to provide it with adequate conditions that will make it thrive.

One thing to understand about Ice plants is that what they need to bloom is not necessarily what the other plants in your garden might need. Keep this in mind when trying to ensure that your Ice plant blossoms.

Tips For Making Ice Plant Bloom

Here are some quick tips on how to make your Ice plant bloom:

• Provide enough sunshine. Ice plants are cold-hardy, but they still need light to grow. It is best to position them in a place that gets enough sunshine. If they are in a shade, or if the weather is cloudy and rainy, they might not flower properly.
• Give proper fertilizer. A fertilizer too rich in nitrogen may be the culprit. To make your Ice plant bloom, you need to give them only feeding that is low on nitrogen. A nitrogen-rich fertilizer or soil will result in your plant growing too much leaves and other green growth, but no flowers. In order to make your Ice plant bloom, make sure that the soil or the fertilizer are not nitrogen-heavy. If the fertilizer is the issue, switch to something with less nitrogen. If this doesn't help, test your soil to find out if it contains too much nitrogen.
• Stop watering for a while. Remember, Ice plants are succulents. If they are watered regularly, they will only develop green growth but no flowers.
• Check for pests and diseases. These can be a big problem for any plant, even if they are not visibly causing any issues. Your plant might appear to be perfectly healthy, but any hidden disease and pests can weaken it. A weak plant does not have enough energy to produce flowers. This can happen even if it doesn't look visibly weak or unhealthy. Make sure to inspect your plant closely. If there are pests, get rid of them immediately. Some pests will attack buds, which means you will not have flowers from your Ice plants. Other pests will attach the plant as a whole, which may deprive it of energy needed to produce blooms. Similarly, check for any signs of a disease that could be causing your Ice plant to weaken and not to be able to produce flowers. It is important to react as quickly as possible, so you can save your plants and ensure that they are strong enough to start producing blooms.
• Make your plant a bit stressed. If everything else fails, try a different tactic. Instead of trying to make your plant thrive, make it a bit stressed. This seems like a counter-intuitive advice, but your Ice plants will sometimes produce brighter and better flowers if they are stressed a little. This doesn't mean neglect, but shaking them a little sometimes does the trick. Just make sure not to overdo it!

Photo credit: Doug McAbee