I have noticed in the last few days that some of the leaves on my bougies are turning yellow. Too much water? Not enough? Pests? I can't figure it out because it is extremely hot here now - in the high 90's with high 90's humidity- and the plants' foliage starts to droop quickly and the soil seems pretty dry even down a few inches. They also get a lot of wind on them, but they always have because they are way up on a porch.
The Rapsberry Ice aren't turning yellow, nor are the Purple Robe, etc. (which are trellised) Just the Juanita Hatten and Helen Karst pots. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks.
Kaye C.
Bougainvillea Question
Even though bougies love it hot and like things on the dry side, if it's hot and windy and they're in pots they might need more water than they're getting. If you're sticking your finger down a few inches and it's feeling really dry, I'd probably try increasing the water a pinch and see if that helps.
ecrane: As usual, you came through. I think you are right and I think I'll try that. I just won't give them too much.
Thanks!
Kaye C.
Kaye C, I've dried out my Raspberry Ice several times and it is surprising how fast they will grow back new leaves. Nice and full just like it was before.
kayec, I water my bougainveas every day. 100*+ days that we are having now i water twice a day. Jerry
Holly Ann: Don't you just love the Rapsberry Ice? Mine are growing like weeds and bloom and bloom. Now that they are through blooming for this period, I will probably trim the 3-4' stems back some to prepare for new growth.
Texas: Beautiful photo! Don't I see some gold bougies, some Juanita Hattens and some possibly Imperial White in that group? I also have some Royal Purple or is it Royal Robe? I forget. Those and some Jamaica Whites are in potted trellises.
You are right - when it's 100+ I have to water them twice a day - once in the early morning and once in the very late afternoon. ecrane gave me this advice about watering a little more and it worked. I had just let myself be deterred by everyone saying they don't like water, but my baskets and pots have sufficient drainage so that water doesn't collect in the bottom of the basket or container.
Thank y'all for responding.
Kaye C
Here is a picture taken last winter. I just love mine. Had to laugh I sent this picture down to my FIL in Florida and he sent me back a picture of his. It's eating the whole corner of his house. LOL
When you water your plant, you should give it enough that a little water drains out of the holes in the pot. In other words, water thoroughly. Let it dry out a bit between watering. Have you given it any fertilizer? You might want to do so. They respond well to being pruned. Remember, bougainvillea blooms on new growth, so pruning and a little fertilizer should promote new growth and more blooms.
HollyAnn: How very beautiful to see that bougie growing against the SNOW background! You must take very good care of it. I have to put mine away in a greenhouse-type thingy under my raised house for the winter.
amygirl: I water just as you suggested. I have given them the fertilizer made by the Bougainvillea Growers International (or something like that). They have finished their major bloom for the spring, so I have, today, cut them back about 1 foot. They had trailers about 3 feet long. However, they also have been growing a lot of new wood from the main stem, so I'm satisfied that I'm doing something right.
I passed a new nursery today and found absolutely huge Rapsberry Ice baskets for $14. I had to get one. I am going broke buying bougies and mandevillas, but I love them so much it's worth it to see their beauty.
Thanks for the advice.
Kaye C.
Hey Texas,
Are yours in pots or in the ground? Trying to find out all I can about this plant.
Your's is beautiful.
Lynda
LYNDA _ 45, All of my bougainvilleas are in pots. I have to cut them back to get them into greenhouse. And i hate that. They are realy blooming now. Jerry
Another boug. pic.
Another one.
Texas: Wow! Beautiful bougies. Don't you think they are one of the most beautiful plants? It looks as if you do a great job with yours.
Kaye C
Which of the Bougs has the richest purple color (leans toward the blue range of the spectrum). Whatever it is - I love it and want it to mix with my Orange King!
Jungle: You might want to check the Plant Files on Davesgarden. I have the Purple Robe (which I didn't see a photo of) and another purple one that I don't know the name of, but which is a lighter true purple. I see there are several listed as "purple" rather than the other cultivars that lean more toward the magenta range. The Purple Robe is beautiful (mine is on a trellis in a pot), but I've never seen the other deep purple ones. I, too, have the orange next to one of my purples. Very pretty!
If you can't find one you like, go to net and search, or maybe, "ecrane" will respond to this thread. She (Liz) knows a lot about bougainvilleas and will usually help out.
Kaye C
Jungleman: Addendum to my note. I looked on Bougainvillea Growers International and they have a cultivar Elizabeth Angus that they show and is described as "neon purple." Might want to look there.
Kaye C
I'm partial to the hot pink ones myself! I did have a purplish flowered very vigorous one at my old house, but it was there when I moved in and didn't have a tag so I have no idea what cultivar it was (I wish I knew though, it was very vigorous and handled frost a lot better than some of the ones I've bought so I'd love to get one for my current house!)
HollyAnnS,
How did you get your bougies to bloom in the middle of winter? I have two right now and the one is blooming while the other one isn't. Both of them got the same amount of water and fertilizer, but I hard pruned the blooming one more than the other. Could that be the problem?
Tina-A, Mine always blooms in winter, not really sure why. I hardly ever prune it and only lightly when I do, but I do have a lot of winter light as my house is passive solar and it sits right in front of a floor to ceiling glass door. I put it outside for the summer this year it did bloom but not any more than it does in the winter, but the leaves really filled out a lot. I sometimes am a little lax on the watering and it's not unusual for it to start dropping leaves on me. It was a little bare when it went out this spring. It was looking the best it ever had leaf wise until we went on vacation a few weeks ago. I'm afraid my DIL didn't realize that even thought it was outside the eaves of my house protect it quite a bit from the rain and she didn't water it thinking it was getting enough with all the rain we had so it is dropping leaves again but I know that it will fill in again as always. I just brought it back inside today. I spent a good bit of the day cleaning and moving furniture and re-potting and cleaning plants in preparation of coming back inside.
This was taken this morning when I first started. These plants were the ones that stayed inside this summer. I have about 12 more plants including the Bogie to bring inside about half of those are pretty good size.
Oh, I like them all - just want to find a good strong purple to combine with the orange. Hot pink would look good too!
Wow HollyAnnS,
I like your setup in your house. I have an upstairs bedroom that has light coming in from the south and southwest side, but I'm thinking that maybe they just aren't getting enough light during the winter. We have short days here were all we get is about 7-8 hours of sunlight in the middle of winter, plus my window is covered by the roof for the porch. I didn't think about it or I would have put the bougies upstairs. Oh well, now I just have to protect it during the move.
Thanks Tina_A, It's still hard no mater how much space you have, I try not to fill up all my windows so I have a nice view of the bird feeders and mountains. My windows (really they are sliding glass doors) are mostly south facing. The first one on the left side of the house picks up the early rising sun in the east and the last two on the right get the last evening light from the west. The floor is an insulated concrete slab that holds the heat collected during the day. The eaves of the house are rather wide so in the summer when the sun is higher up in the sky they somewhat shade the floor and then in the winter when the sun is lower it streams right in.
There are about 20 plants in this picture I took this morning and about a doz more to come in. You can see the Bougie in the back near the window. I have been enjoying the pictures and would very much like to get a few more in different colors. I have plans to put in a greenhouse hopefully next year and may have some room then to get a few more then.
Added: I actually got rid of an old chair this week so I would have more space in the living room for all the extra plants I picked up this summer. LOL
This message was edited Sep 23, 2008 9:23 PM
HollyAnnS,
Are you bringing the plants in for the winter or taking them out everyday still? Tina
I've started to bring them in as the weather is changing. I've move a few in every couple of days but once they come in I don't take them back out. It must be getting very cold where you are. Big difference between your Zone 3 and my Zone 6. I was at a nursery just today looking at a beautiful rusy orange bougie. The leaves were pretty plain but the flowers were very pretty.
Actually we are having our fun part of the year, you never know what to expect from day to day. Most of my plants are in the garage so that it is easier to take them in at night. Most of the time tho I just open the garage door for them, being lazy.
I wasn't expecting to bring home another Bougainvillea but......... Just loved these Rusty colored ones I found while vacationing in Fl. and just had to bring one home. It's called Sundown Orange.
Oh, BTW my son and DIL brought in the rest of my Tropicals while I was away. I have some work to do with these have to find a few spaces in the rest of the house for some of them. I can't keep all of them in the living room. Remember that nice clean reasonably empty shot of my living room well this is what it looks like now. I think there are about 40 pots in this space and 3 or 4 more to bring in yet.
