Bougainvillea infomation page

Just thought this link might be useful to someone ...
http://www.houstongardening.info/bouginfo.htm

Hazel, thanks that is super. I just bought a Barbara Karst that I'm hoping to grow into a standard and this has great how to information.

I am glad it proved to be helpful to you. Barbara Kurst is a great looking bougainvillea. I hope it does well for you.

YES thank you so much for the information.

Angela

Angela, you are quite welcome. I learned a lot about from this webpage. It answers just about any question about bougainvilleas that anybody might have.

Great webpage! I have a bougainvillea that's several yrs old that I'm growing into a tree form. I braided 4 "trunks" about 3 or 4 yrs ago and its really looking good, although last weekend's (2) 28 degree nights got rid of all the new flowers (it was loaded). I'm counting on NO MORE COLD this season!

dogmansisi, braiding the bougainvillea is a great idea. I bet it looks great. Is it in the ground or in a container? I wishing for now surprise freezes in April. Last years freeze on April 3rd did a lot of damage and sure set my plants back for a while.

htop, My bougainvillea lookED great, but its looking pretty sad right now! Its in a pot, as I've heard they like to be slightly root bound. I have faith that it will be ok...Never say die!!

A lot of bougainvilleas will not start perking up until it becomes much warmer than it has been.

I have one in a hanging basket that is the most delightful shade of lavender. I thought I lost it in the 2006 30 min. freeze because it looks mostly pitiful, but it is absolutely full of green knubs, so I know it's coming back. Don't give up.

I never really considered growing bougainvilleas myself, but I saw this a couple of months ago while I was traveling for work (I always take my camera just for such occasions.) I got a great deal on a pot a little later, and I think a bougainvillea would be really pretty in it. Do they cost a lot? Where do you get yours?

I got mine at Lowes at a reduced price late last fall. Now is not the time, they are at peak price now.

Oh well. There was something else I was considering for that pot, I'll just go with that. Then I'll keep my eyes open this fall for good prices.

M, don't you just hate those "rain in your parade" answers? lol. thank goodness you have a plan B for that pot. Also, if you don't mind the wait, you can always look for a small specimen, they grow fast. sprinkle fert. for tropical flowering plants (a hibiscus fert. will do) and bougie will go crazy.

Yeah, I was hoping to find a small one. I'm so cheap, I hardly ever buy anything in larger than a 4" pot, lol. All I ever see of bougies is hanging planters or two gallon pots, always at least $20 ($19.99, same thing.) I'm willing to pay $10. Am I dreaming?

I bought my plan B, hope it will work out. A Curly Juncus http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/95360/ . Went from one extreme (drought-tolerant) to another (bog plant), lol. If it looks good I'll post a picture.

Mary I dont know how easy their root, but I can try it. I have a really hardy one. It's in the ground and grows way past the eves of the house by July. I would take cuttings now, but it's still dormant.

Oh thanks! I would really appreciate that, you're a doll!
:-)

some people can root bougies in their sleep and for others it's an impossible task.
Maggie, the curly juncus is so cool. I need to buy another plant as the orig. one died from not enough water.

This message was edited Apr 3, 2006 12:53 PM

Mary, when mine finally put out something I can cut, I'll take some cuttings to Schumacher's and see what happens. :)

HELP!

I purchased one of these beauties at HD about a month ago. It was filled with blooms and pretty expensive, but I have always wanted one of these and this one was large already and I couldn't help but spend the money. I could imagine the perfect place for it and picked out a pretty pot for it. That weekend I repotted it into it's new pot---about 2x the size of the original pot.

I was happy to see htops posting with the link.

I figured out that it was my fault that it has lost all of it's beautiful bracts and they are all over my yard. Also, the leaves have started getting a light greenish color and they even seem to be smaller. The article says that they like to have their roots fill up the whole pot. OOPS....I should have just left it alone and left it happy in its pot. :-(

What should I do now? Should I leave it alone and continue to give it my best care possible? Should I try to take it out of the container and put it into the ground? Should I take it out and try to put into a new pot the same size as it's original pot?

Any advice would be great. I am not sure what to do now that I have figured out why it is doing what it is doing.

Thanks so much!

Well I'm not sure what to tell you. I think it might depend on what kind it is. If it's a hardy one you could put it in the ground I think. If you do though, be sure it has something really substantial to lean on. As I said before, mine gets to be atleast 10feet tall. And it's not a light weight vine. It's very heavy.

It will probably be fine in the new container. I repotted one this fall into a much larger container and it looks a lot better than it did in the very small hanging basket it had been growing in for years. There was no more soil in the contaier ... just roots. They do produce more blooms if rootbound. It may be in shock from repotting it. But, the bracts falling off is part of its natural cycle. As soon as they fall off, I fertilize mine with a bougainvillea fertilizer. If the potting soil you used to repot it had fertilizer in it, this sometimes can cause a problem. It is the wrong formula. It won't hurt your bougainvillea, but it willl cause it to produce lots of foliage and few bracts. I think your plant will be fine as the daytime temperature warms up. The one I have that died to the base in the freezes is just putting on new growth after we have had some 80 degree weather. Do not repot it back into the original container. Do not plant it in the ground at this point when it looks sad. Give it some bougainvillea fertilizer and water it in well. Then, do NOT water it until the leaves droop a bit indicating it needs water. Bougainvilleas produce the bracts after being "thirsty" for awhile. You may be watering it too much especially since it has been cool. I do not water them until they droop, then flood them with water. Be sure it receives full sun for a good part of the day. I hope it perks up for you and I am pretty sure it will.

This message was edited Apr 4, 2006 11:07 PM

Thanks for the info - I have one in a hanging basket that I am planning to repot soon, so the timing was perfect :-)
Sharon

Sharon, some of mine that are in hanging baskets stll need repotted too. There is hardly any potting soil in them. I am glad that the info from everyone has been useful to you.

I had repotted all of my bougainvillea tha are in hanging baskets into new and "better" hanging baskets.a few years back Now the plastic is disintegrating from UV damage. The hanger wires are cracking the plastic and/or the rims of the containers are cracking and falling off. These are mainly the white ones with rope hangers that are sold at Home Depot and are more expensive than the plain green ones. I had to replace some of the rope hangers with wire ones because the white clasps that attach the hanger to the container have broken. They don't hang too well in this condition. :o) You know, plastic hanging basket containers used to not fall apart. I have some that are 35 years (or more) old and they and the plants are still doing fine. I guess the companies that make them sell more of them nowadays because they have to be replaced more often.

Htop-

Thanks for your info. My bougainvillea is looking much better. I quit watering it daily and will only water it now when the leaves begin to droop, as you said. Thanks for the tip. The tag that came with it said to keep the soil moist and when I purchased it was very moist, so I thought that it would need daily water in the sun. It has new growth with this hot weather we have had recently and it still has just a few remaining blooms that haven't fell off yet. I haven't purchased any bougainvillea fertilizer but will head to the nursery to get some before watering again. So I am hoping that since it has a tiny bit of new growth, that it will survive in it's container and be happy and bloom again this summer. I will have to save that link for future reference for it.

Thanks again and happy gardening!

Merae

This message was edited May 17, 2006 4:15 PM

Merae, you are quite welcome. I am glad that your plant is looking much better. It is a good sign that it is putting out new growth. Let me know how it does.

Today I went to a landscaping place to purchase soil and they were selling 1 gallon bougainvilleas for only $5. I decided that I had to get another one at that price. :-) I looked for Bougainvillea fertilizer today at Home Depot and I wasn't sure what to purchase. Is there a specific type of fertilizer I should use or is a general purpose flower blooming type going to be sufficient? I will definitely need to water my bougainvillea tomorrow the leaves started drooping today in the heat.

Oh, and I forgot to put the sunscreen on today. The shoulders and neck are pretty pink tonight. It sure was a beautiful day though!

Merae

I started using Rose Glow fertilizer this year. It's for just about everything that blooms I think. My roses look better than they ever have. It's got the cornmeal, molasses, alfalfa and everything in it already.

I have used Nutri Star Bougainvillea fertilizer (17-7-10) for years. Bougainvillea need a high first number. Rose Glo is an great organic fertilizer that I have used on my roses too. It is a 6-8-4 formula which is not best suited for bougainvillea.

silverfluter and htop-
thanks for your responses. I really appreciate your help and experience.

htop- your barbara karst bougainvillea posted in Plant Files is so pretty and full. Very beautiful. Do you fertilize on a schedule or do you wait until the bracts fall off and fertilize again?

Thanks again,

Merae



Merae

Merae,you are quite welcome. Bougainvillea can be a bit tricky if you don't know what to do to make them happy. I don't own the Barbara Karst bougainvillea that I photographed. I wish I did. I don't water mine until the leaves start to wilt a bit. I fertilize them in the spring, then each time all of the bracts are gone to encourage new growth which produces more bracts.

Hazel, is the nutri star fertilizer organic? I have never heard of that one. What will the Rose Glo fertilizer do to my bouganvilla? This is the first year I've used it. Should I use the Nutri Star stuff now or wait awhile?

Glory be, I found a bouganvilla at Lowes today - 1 gal for $7 something, so I grabbed it! Okay, now what?
:-)

Mary Lee,

Don't know it Nutri Star is totally orgainic. It does derive some of the nutrients from bone meal and blood meal. It also contains epsom salt which is not really a salt, but magnesium sulfate which provides magnesium which plants need for a stronger root structure and to facilitate the uptake of chlorophyll). It provide organic. The Rose Glow will not hurt your bougainvillea. Bougainvillea need a higher percentage of nitrogen to stimulate growth because the new bracts are produced on the new growth. With Rose Glo, a higher percentage of phosphorous is available to stimulate budding and blooming which is necessary for your roses ( as well as other types of flowering plants). As an example, SuperBloom has a very high phosphorous ratio which stimulates buddding and blooming more so than it stimulates the growth of the plant. You should probably wait a few weeka before fertilzing your bougainvillea again so that you do not over fertilize it. Is your bougainvillea in the ground? I was thinking that you may want to sprinkle a little blood meal around the base of the plant now and water it in well to add a little more nitrogen.

maggiemo, what a great price. Are you going to plant it in the ground? I have some tips, if you are.

Oh. no. I just noticed that I left the "r" out of "information" in the title of this thread and I can't fix it. ... Having been a teacher for so long, I am soo ashamed.

This message was edited Apr 10, 2006 3:00 AM

Hazel, LOL it's OK, we'll let it go this time.:) Thanks for the info on fertilizer. I should know all that stuff by now. What about corn gluten meal? Isn't it supposed to be a good source of nitrogen? I vaguely remember Malcolm Beck talking about using corn gluten meal to fertilize grass, but I may be confused again. I have a huge sack of that stuff, but I have no blood meal

Mary Lee

Bouganvillas are used as patio covers in Aruba. They have no rainfall virtually.

Lol, Hazel! We should be ashamed too, because we never even noticed (at least I didn't, and I usually notice that stuff.)

I don't think I'll plant mine in the ground, the spot that I think will work best for it is near the AC unit. I covered that whole area in newspaper, then a layer of marble chips to keep grass, weeds, and dust away from the AC fan (and to discourage ants, they used to periodically gum up the contact points and cost me money to have someone come out and fix it.) I have several large containers arranged on the chips so they can be moved if any (shudder) AC repair is needed - several with lavender, my Meyer Lemon, and now I have to find a container for this.

Since the info says they kind of like to be root bound, I was thinking I would buy the size container I want, pot the plant up in a plastic in-between size pot, and just set that pot inside the larger one (does that make any sense?)

What do you think?

Mary Lee, you are correct. Corn gluten meal is 10% nitrogen by weight in a slow release form. You could apply some to your bougainvillea which would bring the nutrient ratio to about what Nutri Star has (excapt for the higher percentage of phosphorous).

Speaking of corn gluten meal ... (here I go off topic again)
Also, as a 10-0-0 fertilizer it can inhibit weed germination and feed your lawn nitrogen. As an organic pre-emergent weed and feed, it has no detrimental effects on the environment. Expensive corn gluten based weed and feeds are marketed under several trade names including Amazing Lawns, Bio-weed, Earth Friendly, Pro-Pac, Safe ‘N Simple, STOPS WEEDS, and W.O.W. It is much less expensive when corn gluten meal itself is purchased. It can be found at some feed stores, lanscape soil businesses, places that sell bird food. It has to be applied in the 4 to 6 week period before target-weed germination occurs. But, if adding to garden soil, it can inhibit the germination of some seeds that you have planted as well. Seeds will not germinate for 60 days after it has been applied. Wait until young seedlings are established before applying corn gluten meal to flower or vegetable gardens where seeds were sown directly into the soil. For lawns, apply it (usually in late February through March) with a drop spreader set for 10 pounds per 500 square feet. For flower beds, apply 2 pounds per 100 square feet and work into the top inch of soil It must be watered in. The more years you use it, the better the weeds are controlled. After about 4 years, a lawn should be relatively weed free. Warning: it should not use if you are attempting to establish grass from seed or have a lawn of native grass that you allow to naturally re-seed. There may be other nutrients that your lawns need that are not in corn gluten meal such as phosphorus and potassium A balanced organic fertilizer such as Bio-Form dry 5-3-4 or BioForm liquid 4-2-4 is one that is highly recommended by several organic gardening sites.

Corn gluten meal is also used to inhibit certain types of fungi in the soil from spreading to plants like zinnias and stock.

caraboof, that is so interesting. They must be planted in the ground and have deep roots. Mine that are in containers sure need a lot of water. :o)

maggiemoo, my first bougainvillea grew up and over my house and produced very little blooms because I had planted it in the ground and did not bind the roots, overfed it with the wrong type of fertilizer anda overwatered it. I dug it up and threw it away. :o) I ahve several plants that are planted containers that I have placed inside larger containers. I put bricks in the bottom of the larger containers upon which the smaller pots sit so that the roots don't grow into the ground and so the tops of the 2 containers match. I think that this would work just fine.

Some of my bougainvillea ...

This one has some light pink and light salmon bracts mixed in when the weather warms up some.

This one is orange and some of the bracts turn pink.