I have repeatedly read, with regard to Bougainvillea, that one should not disturb the rootball. From Gardener's World, the first link I Googled: "When planting your Bougainvillea, make sure you do not disturb the root ball. It is very important that these plants be transplanted with extreme care. "
Look out, Mythbusters. Last fall, I pulled my one and only Boug from it's 24" pot. The plant had become unmanageable and extremely heavy.
Original rootball, pic #2
I took a serrated knife and shaved about 4" from all sides, and I shaved about 6" off of the bottom. Here is the carnage.
Then I put the hose to it. I suppose I could have added thermal or chemical injury, but it would have been hard to add any further physical insult to this rootball. I repotted in a styrofoam pot 2-4" smaller that the original pot in my standard bark mix. Then I stuck it in the GH.
Well, today, the plant is covered in blooms and new growth.
Does anyone else have a mythbuster experience with bougs or anything else?
SB
Yeah: "Cast Iron Plants are only hardy to USDA Zone 9" (American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants).... I just had 2 Cast Iron plants survive the worst winter we've had in 10 years outside (with at least 2 days of temps at or below 0 and two more days of single digit temps), and all they have is some tip and leaf burn on the outer leaves... The rest of the plant is fine.... To give an idea of how cold it got, one of my supposedly hardy (not to mention native) American Hollies (Ilex opaca) that was not more than 10 ft away in a sunnier (warmer) location was defoliated by the cold!
Uh, OK, I don't know where they got their info, but this makes totally no sense to me- if you want a bougie to bloom well, starve it for nutrients and water which is basically what you did by trimming the roots, just goes to show you can't believe everything you read :(
Ya... bougs are tough, tough plants. The thrive on abuse and neglect. Too much care will give you lots of lush foliage, but no blooms. Don't overwater them when not in gowth, tho! Plus, the start easily from cuttings - and larger cuttings are easier than smaller ones!!
I will say, that is care for the "extreme" south. The further north you go, it might get more finicky - these guys LOVE heat and sun. Dunno.
I just read this "don't disturb the roots" again recently on the GW.
My experience is the same as Carter and azreno, the plant can take a lot of abuse.
Mine sure got alot of abuse. I dug mine up from my Dad's front yard because I thought it was dead. In zone 8a, I never thought it would survive the winter with no supplemental water. Well when I dug it up I discovered tiny new branches at the base. I stuck in a plastic sack with some of the dirt on it and most of the root system still in the ground. Put it in a pot when I got home and eventually planted it in the ground in my back yard. It dies down every winter and by July, it's up to the eaves on the house or higher. I don't water it either.
Hi guys...I have a Bougie story too.
I had gotten one about 4 years ago. It grew well and bloomed. After blloming I transferred it to a larger pot...being very carefull not to disturb the roots as I had believed in the myth too.
It did fine for the next several months, then just before the next bloom time it up and died, or at least I thought so.
Dh moved it to another part of the yard pot and all and I forgot about it. It sat there for 2 years looking like a leafless dead tree. Last summer I walked by it several times and each time I said out loud..."we have to get rid of that thing."
It must have heard me!!!!
The very day I finally got Dh out there to throw it out I looked and there were 2 tiny leaf buds on the main branch!
This after 2 years of looking completely dead and no water except rain . We can have some long dry spells here even in Fla. I couldn't believe my eyes! This year it leafed out and bloomed nicely.
So maybe in some cases the opposite of the myth is true....disturb the rootball, abuse it and your Bougie will do great!
LOL Yeah, you really can't abuse them too much, that TLC will kill'em :o)
Great story!!
i am new with bougies and would like to know the best way to root a cutting...someone was generous enough to give me a cutting and i would love for it to survive...thanks, lynda
Hey, lynda, just stick it in a small pot of well draining soil. Keep it barely moist (too much water will make it rot). They root easily from cuttings, but we are entering cooler weather which might make it more difficult. If you can give it bottom heat, that would be a big plus and a humid environment (such as a humidity dome or something like that) even better.
thanks!
A couple of years ago while working in a clients yard they mentioned that they hated the color of their bouggieV vine and wanted it removed.
It was fairly young and recently planted so I just reached down and pulled it out of the planting hole.
The rootball just dangled back and forth as I tossed it over my shoulder and threw it into the back of my pick up truck.
It sat in the back of my pick up trunk for a day or so then I planted it in my garden.
It is doing just fine and blooms beautifully.
I took some pretty awful abuse yet is still ticking .- I call this B. variety "timex".
hahahaha....good for you.
I brought my bougainvilla to the porch when the weather turned cool. It was blooming great but eventually the nights on our porch were getting down to the 40's so I brought it in the house in a south facing window. First it lost the blooms and now the leaves are falling off. Anyone have any idea what I can do for it.
Thanks...Peg
Before I got a GH, I brought my bougainvilla inside. It always dropped leaves, sometimes it dropped every leaf, but it always bounced back.
i brought my bougie in for the winter and put it under a plant light. it has lost almost all it's leaves
Mine always goes dormant when I bring it in. I water sparingly through the winter and it comes back in the spring.
thanks lou
Peg, the leaves on mine (which are in containers) always fall off with cool weather and diminishing sunlight. In the spring, I prune them way back and add fertilizer. I have used Nutri Star Bougainvillea fertilizer (17-7-10) for years. Bougainvillea need a high first number. I water mine when they first start to wilt. After each flush of blooms, I douse them with ferlizer.
Thought you might want to see a wall of bougainvillea that I observed in Maui. You can tell that I am taking the shot while pointing up. Hawaii is a bougainvillea paradise. Bougainvilleas are shaped into all sorts of hedges there.
Here's a not so good photo showing the size of these plants.
Htop....Thanks for the beautiful pictures. How I wish my bougainvilla looked anywhere close to that. It is still losing blooms and leaves. By spring all I will have are some twigs. I am doing what everyone tells me to do, water sparingly. Should I give it any fertilizer now or wait?
Peg
Peg, how I wish mine looked like that too! I am happy I could share them with you. Do not fertilize them now. Try not to worry. Mine have looked like they were dead by the end of the winter. They are losing their leaves now. When spring comes, I fertilize them and they "come back to life" very quickly.
