did you fertilize??? if so.. what

are they in ALL SUN????

things that do not flower properly ... either have too much of the wrong balance fert.. too much nitrogen favoring lush green growth ...

or.. they are not getting the sun they need to thrive.. and offset lower light with more green ....

they are after all.. SUN flowers.. not part-sun flowers ...

if both those theories fail .. you really havent given us much other than the fact they arent setting flower buds.. so there isnt much further we can go ...

maybe a pic????

ken

Joeray.......i was wondering if your tithonias(mexican sunflowers) have bloomed yet.....
i have grown them off and on for many years...i love the blooms and so do the butterflies and hummers...
well.....this is the first year that mine are not blooming yet.!....they are the height that they usually grow(5-6 feet)......but without blooms or buds yet.
they are growing in good compost added soil.
but....the main difference this season for us is the intense heat since june.....over 45 days of 100F or more.
let me know if yours ever bloom......mine have a couple of weeks to get blooming,because i enter them in the state fair here in kansas....

No, they never bloomed, though they were 8+ feet tall and starting to yellow at the bottoms. I made them into compost today.

I love torch tithonia. This year, they didn't bloom for me until very late, and didn't get tall till late either. I was telling DH that maybe I had grown goldfinger, the 3 ft. variety, by mistake. In fact, a few looked deformed to me.

They are going gangbusters now, and I've seen lots of monarchs on them. Too bad yours didn't perform.
They can be weedy looking plants, but the flowers are so lovely, DH reminded me today to take some pictures of them this weekend while they are in full bloom.

Did you have any buds at all? I'm sure my issue was we had a very wet & cold spring here in Detroit, then the heat wave later, tho I'm sure the heat wasn't the problem, since they're native to Mexico.

Well at least your compost heap will get some benefit lol.

I had the same problem as you last year......tall 8+' plants that just got a few blooms near the end of the season. This year I have one in the same spot and one in another.......both behaving normally and blooming well. I am not sure why this happened.

Same problem here, but my case may be attributed to living in a new place. It's heavily laden with trees so the garden is only receiving 2 hours of directl sunlight while the rest of the day it's filtered light. Plus I planted late this year, June 1st in new jersey. As for my mix, it wasn't consistent like other seasons. I didn't realize it mattered that much for flowering until i read this thread. For example, an above user stated:
"or.. they are not getting the sun they need to thrive.. and offset lower light with more green ...."

What does that mean? I'm assuming it pertains to the mix. In the past i've simply followed the instructions on the back of top soil or garden soil bags. I forget the ratio but it's the recommended amount of top soil, garden soil, and sphagnum moss, but I skip the moss for no good reason other than taking a short cut. Since it's a new place with tons of deer, squirrels, snakes and moles, I decided to start the garden small and simple in case it didn't work out and figured on expanding next year if it does survive. I did a couple different ground covers, a couple different cosmos, mexican sunflowers, and a couple different climbers. Everything took and flowered except the climbers. Only two made it but are not thriving at all. I never had luck with climbers unless they were moonflowers or them other popular ones (can't remember the name) but don't like them cause they repopulate every year. I prefer annuals. I did like the moonflowers so i'll try them again next year. Sorry for hijacking the thread. i must say that Liquid Fence stuff works as stated! The deer wasted no time eating the roses and tulips this spring, but since applying the Liquid Fence monthly, no problems.

I didn't grow any tithonia this year, and really missed them. Told DH that next year, I won't forget to start some, I know they can be direct seeded but I like to start them inside for earlier blooms. Will someone please remind me in March-April to start my seeds lol.

Yep. Problem here as well. Same location, nothing different this year except for more rain, but definitely not a factor. Temps have been mildly cool since June. I have one large one that I did cut back a few times in the early summer. Now it's ten feet tall.

I do remember a few years ago they did not bloom until October.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v2Zu50enbOI/UFT-zY58mKI/AAAAAAAAEAg/kGtB7WBTCsw/s1600/mex-petunia.jpg

Looks like I have another month judging by last years date.

4th picture down after being blown over..

Here is a link that might be useful: Mexican Sunflower

I grew tithonia for the first time this year... big tall plants with a few small flowers. Hum... But the part I really didn't like is the plants splitting apart. I am not sure I'll plant them next year. Yes, I did see a hummingbird and that was nice.

This was my first summer growing the "Torch" variety. Mine bloomed all summer long until the frost hit it. It was in full sun, though I had no idea how tall and wide it could get! But it was a butterfly magnet, to say the least. We had a very hot summer, so that might be a factor.

nice pic ladyrose65! I love their flowers, they look like they've been painted w/a brush of brilliant orange.

I want Joeray to try these again. I'll agree the plant itself is not attractive but ooohhhh....the butterflies! Give it another try Joe.

Big plant, three blooms in its life.
Twice; different years, different spots, sunny.
Other plants flower well in those spots.

I have not seen any blooms yet and it's towards the end of October here in Florida plenty of sun ...I planted this around June its approx 12' tall and leaves look great I'm hoping to see blooms in November as its cooling down now...crossing fingers!! Here is a thought, the dead leaves from this are suppose to make bad soil good so wouldn't the dead leaves essentially give this bush it's needed nutrients?

No.

And the grass below/around it will take all of

whatever the leaves might supply.

me too---7ft tall and no blooms in south florida.looking for the right fertilizer combo.also don't forget-mexican sunflowers are some of the best ferilizer out there. i cut them back chop up the whole plant and mix it in the depleted soil .orchids allamanda, texas yellow bells coleus sweetpotatoe love it!. maybe i'll try some seaweed...

In central Ohio I have 2 tithonia growing about 2 ft apart, planted in the ground from purchased seed, in mid-May. One grew faster than the other, and in late July is now 6 ft tall, but with no flowers or buds. On the other hand, the ”runt” is only half as tall, but is covered in flowers. Each has received the same care. Maybe seeds from a package can have widely different potential? Someone said earlier in this thread that cutting back their plant didn't help inspire bud production, but has anyone else found that to be helpful? Any other suggestions?

I grow mine in some truly horrible soil...but it is a bit of a dilemma. For sure, I get a lot of blooms because richer soil seems to make a huge amount of foliage at the expense of flowers (not unlike nasturtiums)...but, while mine are floriferous, the leaves do look a bit starved and tatty. Always on the verge of looking chlorotic and with a tendency to get brown and sordid looking. If you could grow these in a clump of other plants which might hide the grim leaves (and possibly take up extra soil nutrients), this might be the way to go. I am trying this by growing amidst tall salvias as I still don't feel I have solved the essential dilemma of either great blooms/ratty foliage or handsome leafage and sparse blooms.

I'm having the same issue with my 'Torch' Tithonias this year: huge growth of the main stem, with little branching and no flowers as of 8/1. I've grown Tithonia for several years in the same spot (and other spots in my garden), and I've always had multiple blooms very evident by this point, although their peak bloom time for us is usually mid-September. We've had a fairly hot summer with adequate rainfall, but certainly not an overwhelming amount, so I would think the conditions have been pretty favorable for them!

I did use a new seed packet to start them in spring, so I wonder if there's some issue with this particular seed strain. A more pressing issue with them at the moment is that the deer came through last week and stripped almost all of the foliage off several of my tallest Tithonias. Given the texture of the leaves, I don't recall these ever being a deer "favorite" in the past, but they ignored numerous other things planted closely around the Tithonia and went straight for these instead!

Same here. They're in the sun, they're fertilized, they're irsigated and they hve never bloomed.

Maybe stop the ferts and water.