Your pyracantha not flowering may be due to natural causes, something in the garden environment or something that you did. A similar problem is that a pyracantha is flowering but is not producing berries. I deal with both issues in this guide, identifying common causes and detailing what to do about them to promote flowers and then berries. Your pyracantha not flowering could be as simple as the ground being too dry when flowers are developing. Or a late frost had damaged the flowers, or maybe you pruned them incorrectly and removed all the new growth that produce the flowers. Read on to learn more!

Natural causes

Establishing itself / transplant shock

If you’ve just planted or transplanted your pyracantha, it needs time to establish itself. All of its energy goes towards establishing its roots and producing foliage. This may take a few years, and at this time, they don’t always flower. This is generally known as transplant shock.

What to do

Just wait and give your plant the care and attention it needs. But check that you’ve planted it in the best location for its success. (Read Growing and caring for Pyracantha.)

Poor pollination

A cold spring may deter insects from coming out to pollinate plants. This is especially the case for plants that are in exposed and windy locations. Poor pollination may also be the case if the weather went through a wet period just after the flowers opened. Pollinating bees don’t come out in weather like that or to teh same degree they do when it’s warm and sunny. This is why it’s also important that we all do our part and encourage pollinating insects and bees in the garden.

What to do

There’s nothing you can do about this year or the weather for next year. But if your pyracanthas are in a windy spot, put a wind barrier around them to create a more sheltered place for pollinating insects to come to.

Frost damage to flowers by a late frost

If your flowers start to develop and are then hit by a late spring frost, this may damage their ability to produce the berries in the autumn. The flowers may look the same until you examine them closely and notice the frost damage on the petals and inside the blooms. Frost damage is easy to identify on many plants, but it’s not always that obvious with pyracantha.

What to do

Again, it’s the weather. But keep an eye on the temperature next spring and use horticultural fleece or bubble wrap to put around your pyracantha for protection if the temperature is due to drop overnight.

Something in the garden environment

Lack of strength

If your pyracantha looks weak and spindly, and is not growing much, perhaps something in the garden environment is not quite right. Unless a plant is healthy and strong, it just doesn’t have the energy to produce the flowers and then the berries.

What to do

Read Grow and care for pyracantha to check that your pyracantha has the correct soil, sun and is planted in the best position. This means a sunny position in well-drained soil. If the soil is particularly dry, then I recommend putting mulch around the base to help retain moisture and water more frequently. If you grow them in pots or troughs, don’t forget to water them more regularly as they dry out quickly, especially in early spring when the flowers are developing.

Pests and diseases

If the growing environment of your plant is good for it, maybe it’s succumbed to pests or diseases. Although the lack of flowers may not be a direct result of such an infestation or infection, a weakened plant struggles with both of these. Common pests include leaf miners and woolly aphids. Both will suck the sap from the plant and affect its ability to produce flowers. When it comes to diseases, common diseases such as mildew and rust can be easily treated and don’t usually affect the flowers. Fireblight and pyracantha scab are much more serious and do affect flowering.

What to do

Head over to Pyracantha pests and diseases to learn more. This guide also gives directions about what to do about what pests and diseases you may find.

Something you did

Pruning incorrectly

As the pyracantha flowers in the early spring, the next year’s flowers are contained in the buds of the previous autumn. If you prune your pyracantha too hard, you may have accidentally removed the buds that contain the next year’s flowers. And so, only a few, if any, flowers appear next year. This is a common reason for pyracantha, not flowering, which is why I always recommend only pruning straight after flowering.

What to do

As already mentioned, keep your pruning schedule to after the blooms have flowered, but leave most of the buds on. Or just prune the side shoots of the plant and leave everything else alone.

Alternatively, prune the pyracantha in the spring so that there’s still time for new growth to appear during the summer and grow flowers.

See How to prune pyracantha for details of how to prune correctly.

Lack of fertiliser

In Growing and caring for pyracantha, I said that you need only fertilise these plants once a year, if at all. So how can a lack of fertiliser be the cause of the plant not flowering?

Well, it’s not so much a lack of fertiliser as a lack of the right kind of macro-nutrients in the fertiliser. Potassium encourages flowering and berry formation, and nitrogen focuses on foliage development. If your fertiliser has an excess of nitrogen, then you get more foliage and fewer flowers. This is actually a common problem with lots of plants. The telltale sign is usually the abundance of green foliage but no flowers.

What to do

Make sure that you’re using a balanced fertiliser with equal amounts of each of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. If you’re using compost as mulch, check to ensure that it’s balanced as well. To set things right, you can add a bit more potassium until things even out. You can even use a feed like tomato feed to give the flowers a boost.

Under-watering

A lack of berries, or the berries dropping too early, can be the result of drought or under-watering. This is often the case if the plants are growing against a structure, especially a wall that retains heat and is often very dry next to the wall. This is sometimes referred to as a rain shadow.

What to do

Water your pyracantha regularly, especially in dry spells. Newly established plants need more watered regularly. Try watering established pyracantha every 10 days or so if it’s dry, but check the moisture in the soil before you do so.

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