Well, there is a lot to respond to in your two posts, and before I continue, I'll remind anyone who may read this, that I am NO bougainvillea expert!... you may be better off not reading it at all.
For substrate: I made a few less-than-ideal choices since I got the plant 18 months ago, and got to the point where either I was going to kill it mucking about, or I was going to make certain that it survived by reverting to a natural substrate. The potting soil and sheep shit has worked really well and the plant is doing quite well now (health wise). I intend on leaving the roots alone for 2-3 years to develop a thick root-pad before deciding on any other substrate change.
For veg/flowering; It turns out that I counted 11 flowering positions on the plant (this morning) that I'd guess would be about 15-20% of the new growth... so really, it is pretty well balanced despite my earlier comment.
The container: I like terra cotta bulb-pots for in doors, and use those green Scotchbrite scrub pads from the dollar store as a cover for the drain hole in the bottom of the pot(s)... even with an organic substrate, they seem to allow sufficient drainage, without the loss of soil each watering, but still don't tend to plug up... they work really well with smaller inorganic "bonsai type" substrates.
Flowering: I found that clipping the bracts and flowers as soon as they began to show colour, did have "some effect" on encouraging veg but not enough to employ as a way to prevent flowering. I am undecided if the plant is trying to flower because it thinks its going to die (and wants to throw its seed before this happens), or if they just flower when they have available resources (I tend to think the latter in the case of bougs). I "should (and have intended to)" get a tiny paint brush and try to pollinate the flowers by hand... it "may" cause the plant to slow or stop it's flowering phase like roses and other plants do once it knows that the pollination was successful. I have not heard of the "flowering on growing tips" line with bougainvilleas, but I'm sure that it does apply to some plants. I do know that cutting roses back to a position where there are 5-7 leaves on a branch will cause a new flush of growth.
My intentions: The trunk on this plant is 3-3.5" across (depending on the viewing angle) and about 6-8" high. Will make a good formal upright, if I can get the veg stage straightened away. However, I now realize that it won't ever have good branch structure, so the best I can do is fill in the canopy with vegetative growth to have a fuller looking appearance... the plant is on track to do this now.
Thoughts: No matter what plant I buy, I spend a considerable amount of time researching different aspects in hopes of getting the best results sooner. I have never encountered a plant that seems to have so many different growth patterns from region to region, cultivar to cultivar, gardener to gardener, etc. I have had some sound advice from more than a few people here on B'nut, but due to circumstances in my particular situation (growing indoors in zone 3, etc) , I haven't always heeded that advice. (I think it was Leo in Illinois who said to leave the roots alone for a couple of years after the first repotting.) I want those people to know that their advice wasn't ignored outright. No matter what anyone says, I do give it consideration, but I did what I thought to be the best course, at that moment in time, with the experience that I've gained with other plants, and the resources that are available to me... I think FINALLY all those particulars have come together to get an outcome that will be sufficient for me... will it ever be worth showing; "hell no"... but that was never my intention anyway.
"If I were you"; I'd leave one of those cuttings to do whatever it wanted to do and see what the results are. You are fortunate to be in the best place (possibly) in the continental U.S. for this plant's natural growth habit, so I'd take advantage of that. "In my mind" just the term "vine" conjures thoughts of something that grows helter-skelter... you can't push a rope or herd bumble bees, so letting it do what it wants "might get you something worthwhile", but continually messing with it/them, might ensure that you're never satisfied with it on any level.
I don't know if it's my eyes, the lighting, the particulars of how and where it is growing, or the cultivar, but the bracts on mine are 1/2 way between purple and pink (which is kind of "a good thing" since I don't particularly like either colour)... any ideas on what cultivar it might be?
