No, I wouldn't do that. Never pour on any strong fertilizers without a soil test showing these may be called for. Stewartia are usually raised from seeds and may take years to reach flowering size, same as many other trees. When it's about head high it may start to bloom.

Likely still too young.

Resin

The tree is about nine feet tall and six feet wide. Should'nt it be blooming now?

in my opinion.. trees NEVER need fertilizer ... short of a soil test as noted ...

i have conifers i have been waiting 10 years for cones ... feeding them is not going to change their genetic predisposition for coning when they are darn well ready too ... lol ...

if flowering is genetic .. as i presume it is.. nothing you do to the soil... is going to change that ...

perhaps it is taller than it should be... because of prior fertilization .. which you are noting.. is not making it bloom faster ... excessive vegatative growth can be indicative of over fertilization ....

and google says .. and you probably know this.. its not supposed to bloom 'now' ... it says summer flowers ... but you probably know that ...

my best advice.. patience .. ken

Yes, it may be taking a little longer than usual. If it is in full shade it may be affected by that, otherwise it's just going to take longer to start blooming than some do.

Does it have the right buds, branches and leaves for a stewartia, or is it possible you have the wrong item? Some kinds of trees, when raised from seed may take 10 or 20 years to get old enough to flower.

It is also possible, given that buds are frequently "set" for next year's flowering during the previous spring or summer, that the late freeze at Easter, or else adverse conditions over the summer, destroyed any flower buds there might have been. However, I am much more inclined to think that the tree, while large and vigorous looking, just isn't "old" enough to flower. Patience....

I have one that is about knee high and it has bloomed. It was planted three years ago. I fertilize it with Scotts Top Dress Special, 18-5-10 with IBDU & minors, which is a 4-5 month formulation. I do this early March.

If you grow your trees and shrubs in a forest environment, then I would not worry too much about fertilizing them. But, most of us grow them in a development that was once a worn out farm field or on lots that have had all the top soil sold off by the developers. Even if you were lucky and had your house custom built in the forest, the earth was still moved around. All of the top soil in front of my house was moved to the back when the lot was given its final grade.

Yes, trees do need fertilizing.

"Yes, trees do need fertilizing"

But only after a soil test has demonstrated that it is needed!

Yes it is a Stewartia. I think I would like to try a soil test. How does one go about that?

I have a Stewartia and it bloomed the year after it was planted (2001) - at 3' tall (1 meter).

My tree is in full sun and it did not like its position at first.

Due to my just slightly acidic soil, I have given the "tree" one dose (a few gallons) of an acid fertilizer in the early spring just as the tree is leafing out. This past year was the first time the tree didn't look like it needed the acid fertilizer and so it didn't get any. The tree bloomed just fine this year, although the fall color has not been as good this year as in previous years.

As the others have said, just have patience, your tree will bloom when it is ready.
Good luck,
Mike

My stewartia took a couple of years to bloom after planting.
It also had some dieback the first year.

Man, these trees are really slow growing. This season I just see about 2 inches of growth on the end of each branch. I don't see much crown growth maybe because I had to trim off
the top dieback.

Can I expect some crown growth in the coming years?

Also this year the fall colors were literally non existent. Most of the leaves dried out. Probably because of lack of rain.

Marc00, you can get a free or low-cost soil test through your county extension agent - look in the phone book under county ofices, or google for agriculture extension agents for your state and county - the office should be in your county seat. Otherwise, there are labs that offer soil tests, from the basic to the comprehensive - again, google for soil test laboratories in your state. Don't use one of the home-test kits - while they may give a good reading for the soil pH, they are notoriously unreliable for almost everything else.

".. nine feet tall, six feet wide". Is it healthy, robust and in a sunny exposure or spindley, open, and stuck away in the shade? What species do you have?
I have S. malacadendron, a shrubby native. They start blooming at about 3'. Exclusively grown from cuttings, never known of seed to be available.
I wouldn't care if S. monadelpha never bloomed. This is a tall species with a soft, layered habit and cinnamon bark, scarlet fall color. It also blooms quite young but flowers are small.
Don't know about other states but my state's university soil lab closed down many years ago. Their testing was mostly for lawn, garden and agricultural application ie tons of lime per acre.
How would a soil testing lab know the specific phosphorus requirements for a given tree species? Under the best of circumstances the lab will provide some general information such as pH, P, K, and micronutrients if you request them.
I am familiar with several Stewartia species. In general a healthy, robust tree, 9' tall in a sunny spot should have several flowers.
Sam

My pseudocamellia bloomed the frst year planted it, at about 4' tall. It's in part shade/woods and has put on several feet a year, and has bloomed other years but not this one. In speaking to a local nurseryman who has a lot of them, he noted that his either bloomed sparsely or not at all this year, which he attrbuted to the late cold snap.

I have a Japanese Stewartia about 6 feet tall first year I planted it plenty of blooms the second year no bulbs at all any ideas

TJ, that's a great answer.....another year or three. I had same thing happen with mine, bloom the year after planting, and it was years before it bloomed again. Once it reached a certain size (quite larger than I would have expected for it to finally reliably bloom) it has been blooming each year. The first few years the bloom was sparse. It does seem this tree takes a while to "get going". I have a pink stewartia, Stewartia rostrata, that has been in for probably 5-6 years and this is the first year it is blooming. It is actually much smaller than my Japanese Stewartia was for bloom, so I'm really pleased with that! Stewartia is worth the wait in my opinion!

Thanks all - my Japanese Stewartia bloomed the first year but not this year. Good to know it's a normal reaction from transplanting :)

My stewartia blooms heavily every other year. Alternate year blooms are more sparse; there are flowers but nowhere near as dense. It is still a lovely tree and worth growing for the bark, branching and fall color. I have a kousa that has a similar bloom pattern.

I have a Stewartia that is approx 18 years old. It has NEVER bloomed ! Really disappointing. It's in full sun in zone 5b. Any suggestions?