Bougainvillea Care – Enjoy the lush and colorful blooms from your bougainvillea plant by following these guidelines in bougainvillea care:
Bougainvillea Care require
Re-potting, soil, watering, weather, fertilizer, pruning
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Re-potting
When you purchase a grafted bougainvillea plant, be extra careful in transferring its root ball to the ground or pot. Its roots are fragile and easily damaged; improper handling may cause few blooms or insufficient growth of the plant. You may leave the grow pot on, and just slit the sides and bottom to allow room for root growth. It is best to plant Bougainvillea in the spring or late spring in colder areas.
Soil and watering
Bougainvillea plant is a drought tolerant plant. Overwatering can cause root rots and discourages flowering. Give small amounts of water to the plant every other day. A bougainvillea plant that receives too much water can become comfortable and may not feel the need to flower as part of its reproductive cycle.
Although Bougainvillea tolerates many types of soil, it prefers loamy soil that contains equal parts of sand and silt. Also make sure that the soil where you plan to put the plant drains excess water well and doesn’t hold moisture for too long.
Weather
Bougainvillea loves warm weather and hates cold temperature. It needs a sun exposure of at least 5 hours a day to thrive well. Exposure to cold weather and frost tends to inhibit growth in bougainvilleas. If you live in an area where the winter is too cold and you want your Bougainvillea to continuously bloom through the cold season, plant it in a pot so you could bring it inside your house before the first frost.
Nourishment
Bougainvillea plant typically does well on its own without any fertilizer. If you would like to increase its blooms, focus on nourishing your plant with phosphate and potassium and adding nitrogen only when the leaves looks less green than it usually is. Remember to avoid too much nitrogen. Excessive amount of nitrogen tends to produce a Bougainvillea with lots of luscious green growth and no blooms. Fertilize your Bougainvillea during the spring and summer with about a tablespoon once a month.
Pruning
The best time to prune your Bougainvillea is at the end of autumn before the start of winter. One good marker when to trim is after a bloom because heavy pruning will reduce the amount of flowers it produces. Prune long stems and inner dead branches in the early spring to encourage new growth. The bougainvillea plant loves to bloom on new growth so remember to cut it back to a length of 20 to 30 inches. And since this plant is a great climber, you may want to plant it near a wall or apply trellis to support its growing vines.
Remember, Bougainvillea is a hardy plant almost similar to weeds. Given that case, it needs to be treated as such, neglect them a bit for them to bloom beautifully into their own potentials. Too much comfort tends to inhibit the growth of the Bougainvillea plant.