Bougainvillea

[FireGoddess]

Anybody good at growing lovely bougainvillea around here? I know we''ve got a lot of green thumbed members on PS. I just got a bougainvillea bonsai tree (so cute!!!!) and I also have a plant at home that has been through the ringer. I had neglected that thing down to veritable STICKS, and decided to mend my gardening ways, so to speak. It has come back beautifully and now I have these long, gorgeously flowering arms on this thing! I just ordered a tripod stake off ebay to hopefully train my plant to grow up on. But other than watering, full sun, and feeding occasionally in the water, I know NOTHING about these guys...especially pruning. I haven''t pruned a plant in my life!!!

Anyone who has tips, I''d love to hear them...not only for the outside plant (it''s in a big pot, and will have the tripod stake in it when it arrives), but also for my new bonsai.

TIA!!

 

[FireGoddess]

Here''s a picture of what the bonsai sorta looks like. It''s from the seller''s site, so it looks much more flowery than mine looked when it arrived today. Mine is mostly green but there are some pinky purple blooms scattered around.

 

[jcrow]

i have one outside. i can''t offer too many tips though because i really don''t take care of it- it just does it''s thing. i love that.
i bought it at least 3 years ago. it was a couple of feet tall. i repotted it and it''s doing very well. i bring it in in the winter and every summer it blooms such a vibrant deep fushia. oh- but i do use miracle grow

 

[jcrow]

i forgot to say that i''ve never seen these bonsai boug. trees! love them!! i guess they would need to go outside though, no?

 

[FireGoddess]

The bonsai definitely is going to need full sun for a few hours a day, and I just get indirect light at my desk so I may have to put in on my balcony for a few hours each day so that it is encouraged to flower. I have no idea how to prune it to maintain its shape though! One thing at a time I guess.

I was reading online about pruning the plants so they grow bushy as opposed to anywhere they want, but most of it was over my head as I haven''t ever pruned anything. I also don''t know how to get it to climb the stake. Will it just do its thing or do I have to tie it to the stakes?!

 

[jcrow]

hum. i guess i''m not the best person to ask. i haven''t done anything with mine. it came with bamboo stakes but they are shorter than the plant is. it hasn''t wined onto anything yet. i have even have it against a metal fence and nothing has happened. guess i need to look into pruning too.

 

[movie zombie]

all i know is that anything that is done as a bonzai requires lots more attention. more frequent watering and more pruning. for these reason i just haven''t ''gone there'' with plants.

movie zombie

 

[Mara]

be careful with boug, because though it''s beautiful to look at it, it can grow like a WEED (literally!) and if it grows on your house or similar, be careful that the weight of the plant does not tear away parts of your house (or an entire wall of your house)...esp if you have stucco. i love it, but have not decided if we''d ever actually grow it...maybe on an iron fence, it can''t do much to that (except maybe bend it)...hehee. i love the look of it over buildings and stuff but it''s pretty strong and can grow quickly so just be sure to keep it under control if it starts to go crazeeee!

 

[eks6426]

I think success on growing the bougainvillea depends on where you live and your climate. In my zone 5b climate, it''s a real pain...basically a houseplant that can live outside in the summer. In the winter it needs my sunniest southern exposure window and it still looses most of it''s leaves. Even after I move it outside in the summer, it never does all that great. I get new leaves and the occassional flower.....then it''s time to move back inside again....

 

[hoorray]

I have TONS of bouganvilla since I live in the desert and they love heat and sunshine. Most varieties are very hearty in the right setting. Some take a while to get established. You have to be VERY careful to not disturb the root ball when you are lanting them. The roots are easy to tear off, and it will kill the plant.

The ones of mine that get the most direct sun are the healthiest. You can do lots of things to them. The local gardeners typically use their chainsaws and make what I call "bouganvilla balls"

a couple of times a year -- typically after a bloom cycle. I prefer to hand prune mine for a more natural shape. I usually prune after most of the blooms have fallen off (and are in the pool

), cutting all the twiggy growth out, and cutting the healthy stalks back to a little smaller/shorter than I want the plant to be. You can usually see buds on the stalks, and it is a good pratice to cut just above a bud, but they are so hearty, they don't really seem to care. Pruning them back hard makes for a nice bushy bush. You can shape them -- I have made them into a hedge on one end of the yard, or leave them more natural. My climbers are tied to wires attached to the house. I haven't had trouble with them pulling off the stucco, but they do tend to get heavy and start pulling away from the house as their limbs start to droop over, so keeping them well tied helps. We have to make sure to keep the roof drains clean from the leaves when it gets too high. I let the gardeners cut the climbers back HARD with the chainsaws, and it's amazing how quickly they recover. You can always tell when I've been pruning -- my hands and arms end up looking like I've had a fight with a cat!



This is a pic of one near the doorway that I call "Seymore" (ala Little Shop of Horrors). It grows like a weed.

 

[FireGoddess]

Lop, your boug is gorgeous!!!! Mine is a little fetus compared to yours. It''s in a round pot with a diameter of maybe a foot. But the plant has 3 reallllllllllllllllly long arms and not much else. I''m afraid if I trim the arms back down I''m just going to end up with a stump. How do I get the thing to throw off more shoots from its branches? Will cutting the arms help with this? It is sending shoots from its little woody center.

 

[hoorray]

Thanks FG, Seymore is the granddaddy of all the boungainvillas in the yard, and we love him!

I don''t think it will hurt your plant to cut the long stalks to a healthy point somewhere on the stalks. They will probably sprout out from the buds on the stalks instead of putting all their energy into growing those stalks longer. I always believe in cutting things back to pomote bushier growth. For a container plant (which I am not good at,) you probably need frequent watering, good drainage and some miracle grow. I think we water at least 3 times a day in the summer since it''s so hot in the desert. Thank goodness it''s automatic! I would find the sunniest place you can find for it, even if it isn''t where you ultimately want it to go. You need to get it growing and healthy.

They are strong plants if you give them what they crave. I don''t think you can really hurt them with pruning. Good luck!

 

[FireGoddess]

I will try to prune those long arms back. The climbing rods I got for the plant should arrive any day now so maybe I''ll do all that at the same time. Thanks for the advice!