When Does A Chinese Evergreen Bloom? (+Not Blooming Problems)

Chinese evergreens are easy to grow houseplants that endure low light levels, and the colors of their leaves are astonishing. We all know that they are beautiful leafy plants but do you know about their flowers? Yes, Chinese evergreen plants bloom. But if so, when does it flower? 

This article will solve this query by explaining when does a Chinese evergreen bloom.

Chinese evergreen blooms once a year in spring and summers. However, some varieties can bloom earlier in autumn as well. These plants only flower when they are mature enough. The flower of Chinese evergreen is small and looks similar to peace lilies, but they are not as good as a peace lily.

In this article, I will discuss when Chinese evergreens bloom along with the factors influencing them and whether we should encourage flowering or not.

Does the Chinese evergreen plant bloom?

Chinese evergreens are houseplants known for their large, green foliage. But many people are not familiar with their flowering.

They are from the arum family, which involves a group of plants like monsteras, peace lilies, philodendrons, etc. They all have flowers that form Spadix (a group of tiny flowers) surrounded by a spathe.

These plants produce non-showy flowers that are hidden under the leaves. Their blooms are different from the other flowering plants. Their one bloom is made of many flowers attached to a bract.

The flowers of this plant have a resemblance to peace lilies. It sometimes looks like a distorted leaf, so identifying them is confusing.

When the flowers first appear, they will look like a regular leaf, but soon, it becomes evident when it doesn’t spread out like a typical leaf.

It is tiny in size and is mainly found below the foliage. New foliage won’t grow as long as the flower stays. The flower lasts for ten days, and then it turns yellow. After a few more days, the flowers turn brown and dry and form seeds.

When does Chinese evergreen produce flowers?

Chinese evergreen blooms once a year when they are fully matured and healthy.

They will commonly grow during summers and sometimes show early spring blooms. Some varieties of Chinese evergreen can show blooms in August.

Don’t get worried if they are not growing any flowers. Although blooms indicate healthy and mature plants, not blooming doesn’t mean your plant is not doing well. 

But still, if you want to see them flowering, provide them with sufficient light, humidity, water, temperature, and nutrition.

Prune the damaged and old foliage from time to time to get enough energy to produce new leaves and flowers. 

Why is my Chinese evergreen not blooming?

Chinese evergreens will only show blooms when they will face favorable growing conditions. If they don’t get their necessities, they will not grow flowers.

Lets us now discuss the common reasons why your plant is not blooming.

Inappropriate lighting

Chinese evergreens are great houseplants that can easily survive and adjust to low light conditions. But they won’t grow any blooms if you keep them in such conditions.

Chinese evergreens will only produce blooms when they get bright indirect or filtered light.

They come from shaded forest beds, where they get filtered or indirect light. And if you want blooms, you need to provide them with conditions similar to their natural habitat, so you cannot keep them in low light conditions.

Low light conditions will not affect your plant’s foliage but will not give them enough energy to produce flowers.

Also, they will not do well if exposed to direct sunlight. The nutrients and water will evaporate quickly through transpiration, making the leaves dry. Such conditions will cause their leaves to turn yellow or brown.

Your Chinese evergreen will require the perfect light to grow flowers, so you need to be careful with the light you are giving them.

Also read: How Much Light Does A Chinese Evergreen Need? (Light Requirements)

Insufficient watering

Water plays a vital role in your plant’s overall health and growth. A balance of water, sunlight, and nutrients is needed to grow flowers. 

Chinese evergreens are susceptible to watering when done incorrectly.

If you underwater your Chinese evergreen, it will slow down its growth rate and use all its energy to survive instead of growing flowers.

Underwatering will cause the leaves to turn yellow, dry, droopy and can make them look quite unwell. If you find the topsoil dry and cracked, start evaluating the watering routine and provide sufficient water.

Also read: How Much Water Does A Chinese Evergreen Need? (How Often+Summer & Winter)

Inadequate nutrients

Chinese evergreens will need adequate nutrition along with water and light if you want to see them blooming.

Chinese evergreens are slow growers and don’t need frequent fertilization. Fertilizing them during the growing season is enough for them to thrive.

Also, the soil may not have essential nutrients, so fertilization is essential. Lack of essential nutrients will slow down their growth and create problems in surviving.

Also read: Does Chinese Evergreen Plant Needs Fertilizer? (How Often+Best Fertilizer)

Wrong soil mix

Chinese evergreen is picky with its soil type and prefers a well-draining, well-aerated, slightly acidic soil. The potting mix should be such that it can hold sufficient water but should also drain out the excess water.

They will struggle to bloom if the soil mix is too dense for them. Heavy soil will restrict airflow and will cause drainage problems.

The pH range of soil should be between 5.6-6.6.5 on the pH scale. The pH level of soil affects the availability of nutrients, and a wrong pH does not allow the plant to observe the nutrients properly from the soil, creating growth problems.

Also read: What Kind Of Soil Does A Chinese Evergreen Need? (+Best Soil Mix)

Sudden temperature fluctuations

The temperature range for Chinese evergreens should be between 68-77°F. A drastic change in temperatures can shock and stress the plant. 

Fluctuations in temperature might be the factor not permitting them to bloom. They are from warm areas and won’t bloom if the temperature falls below their tolerance level.

On the other hand, they will face difficulty exposing themselves to too hot conditions. Such conditions will make them lose moisture quickly and drain their energy, making fewer possibilities for growing flowers.

Also, cold drafts, air conditioners, and heating appliances can undoubtedly harm them, so you should be pretty careful with your plant.

Also read: How Cold Can Chinese Evergreens Tolerate? (Chinese Evergreen Cold Tolerance)

Poor humidity

Chinese evergreen is a subtropical plant that grows and thrives best in high humidity levels. The best humidity level for them is around 60%.

Low humidity will cause them to have wilted, yellow leaves, so they may not produce blooms in such conditions.

Also read: Should I Mist My Chinese Evergreen? (+Humidity Guide)

Young Chinese evergreen plant

If your Chinese evergreen plant is too young, do not expect blooms. They will only bloom until they have attained age and are fully matured.

You need to have patience and provide ideal conditions until you find them blooming.

What can I do to make my Chinese evergreen bloom?

If you want your Chinese evergreen to produce blooms, support them with proper growing conditions. Consider the ideal factors for a healthy, blooming Chinese evergreen plant.

Provide sufficient light

To get a blooming Chinese evergreen, you need to keep it in a place where it will have bright, indirect light. Avoid keeping it in the dark.

Provide conditions that are similar to their natural habitat. Like you can place them near a window with curtains so that they will get filtered or indirect light. And ensure that they are not getting any direct sunlight. 

If the light is not the problem, look for the other factors.

Do proper watering

Water your Chinese evergreen adequately if you want to see their blooms. They prefer evenly moist soil. So keep this in mind and the Chinese evergreen until you find moderately moist soil. Make sure the soil is 25-30% before watering.

Let the soil dry between watering as heavy watering will create root rot problems. Water them once in 7-10 days when the topsoil becomes dry.

During the winter season, reduce watering. It is their resting period, so they do not require much watering.

Also, plant them in a well-draining pot so that the excess drains out quickly. Maintain a proper watering schedule by understanding the plant’s moisture requirements and watering them accordingly.

Fertilize them well

Fertilization will give them nutrients needed for their healthy growth and flowering. You should fertilize them once a year during their growing season.

Fertilize them with balanced dilute fertilizer (20-20-20) every 2-3 weeks during the spring season. You can also give liquid kelp or fish emulsion to your plant. Water the plant well after fertilizing it, so the fertilizers spread properly in the soil.

Don’t fertilize them in winters and fall, as it is the plant’s resting period. Avoid over-fertilizing them as the excess salts from the fertilizers can burn the roots of your plant.

Provide the ideal temperature and humidity

Chinese evergreen comes from the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and New Guinea that have warm temperatures and humid conditions.

To keep a warmer environment, maintain the area temperature between 65-77°F. During winters, keep your plant away from frost and cold drafts.  

Also, maintain your Chinese evergreen plant’s humidity range above 50%.

You can follow specific methods to increase humidity, such as:

• Mist the leaves of your plant in a spray bottle 3-4 times a week. This trick will provide moisture directly to the leaves in a short time.
• You can keep a humidity tray below the plant.
• You can group many plants to increase the humidity level in the air.

Are Chinese evergreen flowers harmful to the plant?

There can be two different opinions. Some say that flowers do not harm their growth. Flowers are the symbol of happy aglaonema.

It indicates that the plant is getting proper lighting, watering, and nutrition and sending out flowers out of love. Also, they really won’t take a lot of energy to grow.

Some say that leaving the flowers behind can have adverse effects on the plant’s health. The blooming takes up the energy and nutrients from the plant. Due to the flowers, the plant’s foliage becomes smaller, sometimes distorted, and lacks in color.

The flowers later turn into seeds, and they serve no use to the plant. Cutting them off will be better to use the energy to grow more beautiful leaves. Removal will give space for the new leaves to grow out.

But in my opinion, I don’t feel that flowers are hurting the plant. They will emerge like the icing on the cake. After the day passes, they wilt and go back. They don’t stress the plants.

Also, the seeds of the flowers can be used for propagating a new plant. But it’s proper due to the flowers, and sometimes the foliage doesn’t grow well.

Although you can cut them, the plants get space for the new foliage to grow.

Also read: Do Chinese Evergreen Bloom? (How Often+Why Not)

Final words

• Chinese evergreens will only produce blooms when they fully mature and get proper ideal conditions.
• A Chinese evergreen without blooms is entirely healthy, so don’t get tensed if you don’t get blooms on your plant.
• The blooms grow once a year during summer and sometimes in spring or autumn.
• If you want to see blooms, provide them with sufficient light, watering, nutrition, temperature, and humidity.
• The flowers of Chinese evergreen are not harmful to the plant, but you can cut them as they give space for the new foliage to grow.

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Reference: Wikipedia, Nasa clean air study, Missouri Botanical Garden, The University of Kansas, NC State University.

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