Lighting: | Likes full sun, but move from indoors outdoors gradually to prevent leaf-burn. |
Temperature: | In its native climate, and locales of similar warmth, Bougainvillea is an evergreen species. In colder climates, it becomes deciduous. It may lose most of its leaves, even if indoors. Should be kept at 49-54F if possible, but never below 45F. If it does not get a rest period during the winter followed by a warm, sunny summer, it will probably not flower. |
Watering: | For the most part, bougs like it dry, and should be watered sparingly. It may be necessary to withold water for up to a week at the beginning of summer, to encourage flowering. During the flowering period, bougainvilleas need an increased amount of water. |
Feeding: | Feeding recommendations on the Boug are all over the place! All the experts agree that the boug needs more food while flowering. The recommendations range from every week to 10 days to two weeks. During its rest period, recommendations range from feeding monthly to every six weeks to not feeding it at all. It may be best to experiment, for what will work will vary with your climatic conditions (for example, whether you are growing it as an indoor or outdoor plant). I've been using " Flower Cracker," a gentle, low-nitrogen fertilizer which is supposed to encourage - you guessed it - flowering. Other recommendations include using Superbloom (similar to Flower Cracker), Miracle Gro, Miracid, ordinary 20-20-20, a bonsai fertilizer such as Pokon etc. etc. etc. It looks like almost everything will work, except I would NOT recommend using a high nitrogen grass-type fertilizer (put that on your bamboo instead!) |
Repotting: | Every 2-4 years - roots will grow more vigorously in sunny climates, requiring more frequent repotting. The best time is in spring, before new growth, although Lesniewicz says early fall is possible also. I've read both that it dislikes severe root pruning, and that it can take a loss of at least 50% of the root ball. My suspicion is that if you are growing it outdoors in a sunny area, the roots will grow more vigorously and it can take extensive pruning. If you are keeping it indoors any part of the year, I would recommend being more conservative. The soil should be rich in organics, but also very well-drained. |
Styling: | May be pruned at any time, but flowers sprout from the tips of new growth, therefore, if flowers are desired, avoid pruning all the shoots. Lesniewicz recommends waiting until after flowering, then cutting back hard, into old wood. I've heard, however, that some bougs flower almost constantly, which would make this plan a little tough to carry out! Follow up by pinching new growth back to 2-3 leaves. Wire young branches during growth, as older branches are hard to shape. It can thrive with jins and/or a hollow trunk. |
Propagation: | Cuttings in spring or summer, which need 72F bottom heat to root. Also by seed or air-layering. |
Pests etc.: | aphids, scale, greenfly, chlorosis |
In tropical and sub-tropical climates bouganvillias will flower almost all year. Boug growers in Bundaberg figure that if you let them do this they will become stressed out. We allow them to flower for some months, cut the flowers off and give them a high nitrogen fertilizer for some months to let them recover and then give a high PK fertilizer to bring them back into flower. To get a massive caliper quickly, grow them in the ground. From a small potplant to 20cm diameter at base 4 years. Try it. It will blow your mind!
Probably the best boug for bonsai is "Smartipants" -small leaves & compact flowers. Trunk caliper 9 inches field grown 4 yrs. Propagate by cutting or preferably air layer spring or autumn. After flowering cut off flowers and feed high N fertilizer. We do this in Oz for half the year and then give high PK for flowering. They will flower all year if you let them but we figure that if they do this over a period of time they become stressed. That's why we give them a rest from flowering and let them grow for some months to recover.
This is the best and most comprehensive information I found on the subject. Congatulations and thanks a million!
I have a beautiful bougainvillea rosenko with flowers that start out golden and turn bright pink.Profusive flowering with small leaves. I try to keep the roots out of the sun and the branches in full sun. i water daily and the flowers keep coming. I use miricle grow feretilizer and pinch back only as needed, downgrowing branches and flowers and the shape keeps beautifully.
I fertilize my bougainvilleas with Fertilone Fish Emulsion (smells terrible but the bougs love it. I also have good luck in producing blossoms with a good 20-20-20 with a tablespoon of Epson Salt every two weeks. Along with lots of sunshine and water my plants continuously provide beautiful flowers. I have about 20 bougainvilleas but don't have a yellow one yet. Will get one eventually though. It is nice to talk with other folks who love the bougs like me.
================================================================= When I did the research for this, I came across the passage about losing most of its leaves, even when indoors. Mine did this last year. At the time, I thought the plant was sick! It budded back vigorously round about February. So I can personally vouch for this information. I follow Ainsworth's feeding schedule (its the first book I got!) of feeding every 10 days in warm weather, every 6 weeks in cold, and using a low nitrogen fertilizer. It seems to encourage strong growth, but I haven't had flowers yet. But then again, it's only a two-year cutting, so it may just need to get a tad bigger before it's ready. Sabrina Caine c/o rcaine@acsu.buffalo.edu ================================================================= Here's what I can offer about bougainvilleas: Watering: They can be allowed to become somewhat dry. Some enthusiasts have told me they have to let them get fairly dry, to the point of stress, to get them to bloom. I haven't had that problem and try to keep mine just slightly moist. Feeding: Weekly during the growing season. I alternate with Miracid, MiracleGro, and 20-20-20 fertilizers. Again, those that have had problems with a lack of flowers, report good results after using a high-phosphorous fertilizer, like Superbloom. Temperature: Mine have tolerated very mild frosts but a freeze will damage even those planted in the ground. Light: They like bright light and can tolerate full sun. Repotting: Bougainvilleas can withstand very severe root prunings, which should be undertaken after temps are staying above, at least, 50F and can survive with very little root system. In warm climates, they should be repotted about every two years. They are tolerant of varying soil conditions and, probably, most any well draining bonsai soil will do. Styling: They can, and should, be pruned throughout the growing season. Frequent pinching of new growth will help keep internodes short. They are best trained through the clip and grow method as the wood can be extremely brittle. They can be wired but this should be done with a lot of care. Many of the growers down here incorporate a lot of deadwood into the design. However, bougainvillea wood rots easily and needs frequent retreatment with lime sulphur. A season or two in the ground will considerably thicken the trunk on bougainvilleas. Propagation: I haven't done any propagating of them until I placed an air-layer on one about a week ago. Supposedly they cuttings root easily. I have no idea what cultivar I have. One of our local club members has some B. brazilinensis (Pink Pixie) they dug from their yard that have about 8-12" bases. "This post may be incorporated into the Tree Care FAQ to be republished for general distribution." Hope this is helpful. Rick S-most, Tx
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