Prevent Crepe Myrtle New Leader From Flowering

[RobertB]

I have three crepe myrtles that were trunk chopped in later winter and had their roots significantly reduced, almost to nothing, this past spring that I am trying to grow the next section of trunks on. These trees are sooooo vigorous after recovering from the repot! I have removed the flower buds off the leader two times now trying to force vegetative growth but the leaders keep pushing flower buds only. It only splits the 1 flower bud into several, every time I remove the bud from the leader.

Should I just let the dam things bloom? I just really wanted to try and keep the tree growing at the pace it was before it started trying to flower. Any tips on this?

 

[RobertB]

any comments from anyone?

 

[just.wing.it]

That's weird....never heard of this problem before.
I have one that I trimmed a few times this year, not a bloom in sight.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

You probably didn't cut back enough when removing flower buds. Cut back to include removing a little more vegetative growth.

 

[RobertB]

Ok, I will try to go full flower bud plus 5 nodes or something.

 

[JudyB]

Stressed plants do tend to try to propagate themselves, as it's a sort of survival mechanism. I imagine once the tree has bloomed it will settle down some, cutting back harder is also a good option.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I cut back to the first two leaves. Not a flower bud in sight