Perennial
How to grow lupins
Lupinus polyphyllus hybrids
Lupins need full sun and a light, free-draining soil that is neutral to slightly acid; they sulk on chalk and rot in wet clay. Sow nicked or soaked seed in March or April, or plant young plants in March to May, and they flower from May to July. Protect the new shoots from slugs in spring, check the spikes for lupin aphid from May, and do not feed them nitrogen: they make their own.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Full sun to light shade
- Soil
- Light, free-draining, slightly acid
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 6.8
- Water
- Low to moderate
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting lupins
WhenSow Mar to Apr or plant Mar to May; flowers May to Jul
Starting off
Nick or soak seed for 24 hours, then sow Mar to Apr 1 cm deep in 9 cm pots at 15 °C; germination takes 10 to 14 days. Plant out May to Jun for flowers the next year; a direct Sep sowing also works. Named forms come from basal cuttings 8 cm long taken Mar to Apr with a sliver of crown, rooted in grit.
Spacing and planting
Plant 45 to 60 cm apart in groups of three; sow 1 cm deep. Dwarf 'Gallery' types are fine in a 40 cm pot of loam-based compost with grit.
Varieties worth growing
- 'The Governor'
- Blue and white bicolour from the Band of Nobles seed strain; 90 cm spikes and easy to raise from seed.
- 'Chandelier'
- Clear yellow from the same strain; lights up the blues and purples and comes largely true from seed.
- 'Masterpiece'
- A West Country lupin, purple with an orange fleck, grown from cuttings; dense, long spikes and strong stems.
- Gallery Series
- Dwarf plants to 50 cm in blue, pink, red, yellow and white; no staking, and the only lupins suited to a pot.
- Lupinus arboreus
- The tree lupin: a fast, short-lived evergreen shrub to 1.5 m with scented yellow flowers, for poor sandy soil and coastal gardens.
Lupins month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Nothing to do.
- February
Order seed. Clear old debris from the crowns to expose slugs.
- March
Start slug control as shoots show. Sow soaked seed in pots at 15 °C. Take basal cuttings. Plant.
- April
Sow. Take basal cuttings. Plant. Potash feed only for plants that flowered poorly last year.
- May
Plant out seedlings. First flowers. Check spikes for lupin aphid twice a week.
- June
Main flowering. Cut spent spikes to the first side shoot before seed sets.
- July
Finish deadheading. Water new plants in a dry spell.
- August
Second, smaller flush. Cut down mildewed foliage.
- September
Sow direct, or plant out pot-grown seedlings, for flowers next year.
- October
Collect ripe seed from any pods left on.
- November
Cut back to the ground.
- December
Nothing to do.
Feeding lupins
Needs no routine feeding. Lupins fix their own nitrogen through root nodules and scavenge phosphorus unusually well; added nitrogen gives leaf and no flower. They also do not form mycorrhizal partnerships, so mycorrhizal powder is wasted on them.
Fixes its own nitrogen. Dislikes lime.
Feeding plan
Planting and every spring, normal soil
No feed
None. No manure, no balanced fertiliser, no lime.
April, only if last year's flowering was poor
100 g/m², the bottom of the label range, once. A plant at 45 to 60 cm spacing covers 0.2 to 0.36 m², so 20 to 35 g scattered round it.
First season on a new site, if plants are pale and slow
1 g per litre of water as a drench every 2 to 3 weeks until growth picks up. The nitrogen nodules take a season to establish.
May to July, pots of dwarf types
1 g per litre of water every 2 to 3 weeks in place of a plain watering. Nothing else.
Lupins need no routine feed and are non-mycorrhizal, so Mycorrhizal Fungi Powder is deliberately not recommended. The PK feed contains calcium; it is listed as an occasional corrective only, at the lowest label rate, because lupins dislike lime.
Signs to watch
Leaves yellow between the veins on chalk
Iron locked up by lime
Grow in acidic compost or add sulphur and an acidic mulch
Lush leaves and few flowers
Excess nitrogen from feeding
Stop feeding; it fixes its own
Pale stunted plants on a new site
No nitrogen nodules yet
Water with seaweed and wait a season
Pests, diseases and problems
Large grey-white aphids packed along the spikes and under the leaves; plant wilts and may collapse
Lupin aphid, active from April to September; heavy colonies make the whole plant wilt
Check twice a week from May and squash or hose off the first colonies. Cut off and bin badly infested spikes. Natural predators often arrive too late in spring to stop a colony building, so do not wait for them.
New shoots eaten to stumps in March and April
Slugs and snails; lupins are among their favourite plants
Torch patrols from the first sign of growth, wool pellets or grit round the crown, and slug nematodes once the soil is above 5 °C. Raise seedlings in pots until they are sturdy.
Brown sunken patches on stems and leaf stalks, which twist and coil, then die back
Lupin anthracnose, a fungus spread by rain splash in warm wet weather
Dig up and bin affected plants promptly; do not save seed from them. Space plants 60 cm apart and avoid overhead watering.
White powdery coating on leaves after flowering
Powdery mildew in dry late summer
Cut the foliage to the ground after flowering, water once, and clean new leaves follow.
Crown soft and rotten in spring, no regrowth
Winter wet on heavy soil
Plant on light soil or a raised bed with grit dug in. Keep replacements coming from seed or cuttings, as plants only last four or five years anyway.
Pruning
Pruning and care
Cut spent spikes to the first side shoot by late Jun for a second flush in Aug. Stake only in windy sites, with a single cane. Cut back to the ground in Nov. Plants fade after 4 to 5 years, so grow replacements from seed or cuttings rather than dividing the deep tap root, which resents disturbance.
Good to knowDeadhead for a second flush; short-lived, so let some seed or take basal cuttings.
Growing lupins in pots
Only the dwarf Gallery types are worth growing in a pot; tall lupins have a deep tap root and blow over. Use a pot at least 40 cm wide and as deep, with loam-based compost and a quarter grit, and do not add fertiliser to the mix. Stand it in full sun, water when the top few centimetres are dry and never leave it in a saucer over winter. Pots make slug control easier, which is a real advantage with lupins. Expect two or three good years, then replace.
Lupins: common questions
Do lupins come back every year?
Yes, they are hardy perennials, but short-lived: expect four or five years before a plant fades. Keep young plants coming from seed or from basal cuttings taken in March or April, as old plants do not divide well.
Should I cut back lupins after flowering?
Yes, cut each spent spike down to the first side shoot as soon as the lower flowers set pods, and a second, smaller flush follows in August. Leaving the pods on stops flowering and shortens the plant's life. Cut the whole plant to the ground in November.
What is eating my lupins?
Slugs and snails if the damage is to new shoots and leaves in spring, and lupin aphid if the spikes are smothered in large grey insects from May. Deal with slugs by torchlight and with nematodes, and squash or hose off aphid colonies as soon as you see them.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.