Thorns on my Bouganvillia

How do I stop 20-40 mm ( 3/4 -1.1/2inch) thorns growing on my Scarlett O'Hara Bouganvillia? Is it water ,nutrient, variety or what?????

Well, nobody seems to be answering, so I will! I had the deep rose colored one, don't know the name, but, it had thorns also!

Don't know if they all have them, but I've never had one that didn't. Jeanette

Mine has them too, a good 3/4 inch as well...they hurt!! I didn't know it was possible to get one without.

Not all have as many or as bad. It probably goes back to parentage same as on roses. I have always thought that since they are vines, some will climb more than others, that the larger thorns helped in ability to climb. Just my thoughts.

I have a small Rasberry Ice a variagated one that cascades from a hanging basket.. but it doesn't have the thorns.. and another small dwarf that doesn't either..
Last week I gave away a tall 7' tall one that had plenty of thorns.. I gave it up after growing it for years.. the last bit as a standard .. of sorts.. I just tired of it.. and it got replaced by a few dozen other things...
the thorns along with makeing it grip as it climbs must surely slow down the forageing animals .. looking for lunch...
Gordon

Maybe its only the hybrids(if there are hybrids) that don't have thorns
I have some with thorns some without

Well Yall,

I'm a house painter, inside and out, and I never met a bouganvilla thorn that I didn't hate. I also never met one that didn't have thorns, certainly the larger bush and tree sizes.

But their flowers are beautiful, so tissue thin and delicate.

Molly
:^))))

Actually I don't think there is any such thing as a thornless bougie. However, the thorns grow harder and longer on older woody parts of the vine. So newer plants, dwarfs, and those keeped potted and root bound or pruned severly and frequently to keep them small would produce fewer, smaller, and softer thorns.

Mine also have thorns.

They grow into huge plants up to 50 ft tall down here with trunks like trees. They all have thorns and the older the plant, the bigger the thorns. Some of the baby plants sold at the nurseries don't have sharp thorns but give them time and they will, lol.
Lots of the citrus growers down here plant them around the orange groves to keep people out. Works better than a fence!

Wow....I would love to see those "fences" in bloom. It must be spectacular! Ours are trained to a wooden fence (ok..so maybe only partially trained...they do still flop forward some). We cut them back to within about foot every winter and they grow back to about 12 feet tall and wide each year.

I will take a pic tomorrow on the way to work(I drive by the orange groves and in spring it smells so good thru there). They have been pruning back, but there are still lots of flowers to see. Folks down here plant more red and purple, but there are some pale pinks and peach ones. They say the darker the color, the hardier it is.
I just pruned mine in the back yard so I could mow close to them without the thorns scratching my arms and legs. I'll try to remember to take a picture of their trunks.

I have never met a bougie without thorns either. You have to put on full body armour and a welding helmet to trim them. I did not plant any at this house. I will admire others.