Bougainvillea growth patterns

[eb84327]

I bought my first bougainvillea last spring.
Just gonna say it...I think they hate the potatoe state. It did fair throughout the summer. It developed a decent amount of foilage. When I brought it inside for the winter it dumped all of it's leaves but 3!! (Early October). I thought I was over watering so I reduced the amount of water and I think it when into dormancy. October and November pass without any change. One December hit I moved it under a bigger light. Buds began to feel on the branches and now I can see new growth.

So the way I understand their grow cylce is they grow, then rest then depending on moisture it will either bloom or return to veg??

I am noticing redish pink leaves, did I get it to bloom??

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Sometimes their blooming is variety dependent. I've had one a couple of years and it hasn't bloomed very well in the past 1.5 yrs since potting it. I assumed it was my conditions, ie light water.. then I was given two cuttings that bloom all of the time. They are very temperamental with the leaf drop. I defoliate each time I bring it in or out and it generally grows new leaves immediately.

 

[Carol 83]

I bought my first bougainvillea last spring.
Just gonna say it...I think they hate the potatoe state. It did fair throughout the summer. It developed a decent amount of foilage. When I brought it inside for the winter it dumped all of it's leaves but 3!! (Early October). I thought I was over watering so I reduced the amount of water and I think it when into dormancy. October and November pass without any change. One December hit I moved it under a bigger light. Buds began to feel on the branches and now I can see new growth.

So the way I understand their grow cylce is they grow, then rest then depending on moisture it will either bloom or return to veg??

I am noticing redish pink leaves, did I get it to bloom??View attachment 221035

I have more than a few, and they all drop a lot/ to most of their leaves when I bring them in. Many of them were blooming, when I brought them in, and they all threw their bracts to the floor within a week of bringing them inside. Looks like yours is come in back. Give it as much light as possible, and be careful with the water.

 

[Carol 83]

Sometimes their blooming is variety dependent. I've had one a couple of years and it hasn't bloomed very well in the past 1.5 yrs since potting it. I assumed it was my conditions, ie light water.. then I was given two cuttings that bloom all of the time. They are very temperamental with the leaf drop. I defoliate each time I bring it in or out and it generally grows new leaves immediately.

I agree. The one I've had the longest has only bloomed once, while one of my newest, bloomed almost continuously all summer. The ones that have bloomed the most prolifically are Barbara Karst. Mine generally defoliates themselves, when brought in for the winter, no need for me to do it, lol. But they bounce back pretty quick.

 

[eb84327]

Thank you guys for the help. I have added another light to my setup. I would assume I can't give a bougainvillea too much light? I stuck a dwarf schefflera under one of my bigger LED lights and it burnt the heck out it.

 

[Cadillactaste]

How many hours under the lights are you offering? I do 18 hours...but...I also defoliated mine when I brought mine in this year. Adam Lavigne mentioned doing that for those up north. Then new leaves can acclimate to the indoor lighting. Mine has done much better this winter because of it I think. Foliage wise...

 

[cdefoe]

cross-posting from my boug's thread to show flower progression. pics taken over the course of three weeks

i defoliated my boug as the leaves were old and starting to die and now it's poppin' off


first sign of flowers:

little further along:

bracts color starting to fill in, first actual flower blooming:

pretty flowers

i have it under 2 sets of 2 pairs of 2 ft t5 fluorescent lights for 6 hours on 6 hours off

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@Razzy
I raise many orchids, and one bougie under lights. I run my lights 18 hours on, 6 hours off. According to Univ of Wisc. research on American white pines for timber, more than 18 hours of light is a waste of electricity. The photosynthesis has a ''dark cycle'' in which a process which is not dependent on light runs slower than the chlorophyll captures light. The ''dark cycle'' needs time to catch up and reset for the next day. For under lights growing every hour of light up to 18 hours is a benefit to growing.

You can to a large degree, compensate for the lower light intensities of indoor light set ups versus full outdoor sun, by using longer day length. This is the advantage of 18 hour day length. Pretty much all tropical and majority of subtropical plants do not use daylength to set blooming, as they come from areas where daylength does not vary dramatically from solstice to solstice.

cross-posting from my boug's thread to show flower progression. pics taken over the course of three weeks
i have it under 2 sets of 2 pairs of 2 ft t5 fluorescent lights for 6 hours on 6 hours off

Frankly, I have no clue what the benefit of 6 hours on, 6 hours off would be. What is the metabolic advantage to of doing equal light and dark periods, but not on a 24 hour cycle? How does this compensate for the lower light intensity of indoor set ups?

 

[cdefoe]

Frankly, I have no clue what the benefit of 6 hours on, 6 hours off would be. What is the metabolic advantage to of doing equal light and dark periods, but not on a 24 hour cycle? How does this compensate for the lower light intensity of indoor set ups?

when i started with the lights i was noticing that leaving them on for 12+ hours in a row resulted in the tips of the new growth burning as it neared the lights. since my space/setup is limited, I don't really have the ability to change the height of the lights when my trees have long enough growth (outside of twisting it back on itself like you can see above). i have found i don't get as much burning with 6 on/off and it allows me a better chance of keeping my trees watered as they don't dry out as much while i'm at work.

i am curious about the effects of growth though and might do an experiment to see if there is a measurable difference in 6 on/off vs 12 on/off

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

when i started with the lights i was noticing that leaving them on for 12+ hours in a row resulted in the tips of the new growth burning as it neared the lights. since my space/setup is limited, I don't really have the ability to change the height of the lights when my trees have long enough growth (outside of twisting it back on itself like you can see above). i have found i don't get as much burning with 6 on/off and it allows me a better chance of keeping my trees watered as they don't dry out as much while i'm at work.

i am curious about the effects of growth though and might do an experiment to see if there is a measurable difference in 6 on/off vs 12 on/off

If you are having trouble with leaf burn under lights, you need to add a fan to your set up. An inexpensive, 6 or 9 inch diameter fan, set to blow across your plants. It can be a fairly indirect breeze. A ceiling fan, left on 24/7 would also work. You want enough of a breeze that a thin leaf plant will always have it's leaves waving a little in the breeze. This will allow higher light intensity and yet keep leaves cool. Adding a fan will change how often you have to water. Be certain to observe and adjust your watering frequency.

Second, except in a very high tech light set up, indoor set ups never get close to the intensity of outdoor sunlight. You should take advantage of the possible longer day length you can provide through adjusting your timer. Every increase in day length, up to 18 hours per day shows an improvement in growth. Bougainvillea do not use day length to signal to them the seasons of the year. They use other environmental signals. They come from wet-dry tropics, their native range is fairly close to the equator, where daylength does not change significantly from season to season. SO running your lights 18 hours on, 6 hours off will maximize Bougie photosynthesis. Try it. Get a fan first to prevent burning. Again, changing daylength will change watering frequency, you will have to be observant for a while to discover the new pattern.