Maybe instead of a stick, use twine...or even fishing line?

if you check this link you notice that pots are not deep and blooming is apparent. MG hate transplanting, love poor soil and decent watering. Shallow windowsill trays need to be watered once a day or even twice a day.
http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/Asagao/Yoneda_DB/E/slides/slide140-158.html

Kilngod, I've tried both the twine and the line. The problem is the concrete 'cap' on top of the wall while both worked temporarily, the wind and rubbing action on the twine and vine, against the concrete broke the vine.

What was working but was ugly to look at was a bamboo stick stuck in the ground, painted gray that was higher than the cap. I then tied several strands of fishing line to the top of the stick (above the cap) to bring it over to the fence.

It's just that a) just not pretty to look at until everything else gets tall enough that you don't need the sticks and it takes the vines 5' to get to the fence and s-l-o-w-l-y start flowering.

Lindalana - nice link! Mine have always been way more rangier than those. Mine did bloom, just did not thrive and I just hate it when seedlings die for no apparent reason. I did have a tray underneath and watered both top and bottom.

My initial thought was that the window boxes were just not deep enough - standard 6-7" boxes and that I should do something deeper.

The dirt 'was' enhanced potting soil, so i am suspecting that it was just too rich

Thanks!

I've grown MGS in a 6" pot (3 plants) and they flourished! Granted, they were toatally root-bound and it seemed like I was watering them every minute, but you can't argue with this, can you?

{{gwi:348091}}

This homemade trellis (bamboo stakes) was about 8' above the pot, and you can see that the vines grew way past the top of the trellis. The watering issue? I ended up making a "collar" of water (frozen) in a plastic bag for the pot; put tiny pinholes in the plastic. As the sun melted the ice, the plant got water all day and I didn't have to come home in the evening to a totally wilted plant.

I've also grown them, successfully, in windowboxes that were even shallower than yours.

PV

PV - yahoo! What nice plants and in such a little pot! Must have been something I did or didn't do, then

what kind of dirt did you use?

I used Miracle-Gro - guess that would be considered rich soil. But in that small pot, that soil had to feel pretty lean to those plants! That was my first year of WS, and the 3 plants were extras that I hadn't the heart to toss out. Sometimes, ignorance IS bliss (that was the first time I'd ever grown MGs)!

I didn't feed them, just watered - often. Also, perhaps the variety of MG had something to do with it - they were 'Granpa Ott's' and 'Blue Tie-Dye'. Of the MGs I've grown over the years, those two were the ones that flowered most profusely for me, especially the 'Granpa Ott's'.

PV

I have had MGs grow and bloom in small styro cups... Yep- I did not get them planted out soon enough- and they must have thought the end was near so they really hurried the blooms- they were the earliest blooming MGs ever! They did not get very tall- but they sure bloomed nicely!
I would think if you watered well and often- without additional fertilizer, they should do fine.

I have grown morning glory's in the past in all types of containers/pots on my porch deck. The containers were fairly deep, I can't remember just how deep off the top of my head but they weren't really large containers either. What I found helped my plants out as far as keeping them watered was adding water crystals to the soil before planting the morning glorys. I used these crystals in a lot of my containers, I even added them to the 5 gallon containers that I planted tomatos in and had really good luck with the plants.

Linda