Bougainvillea questions

[AaronThomas]

Hi there!
Today I (hopefully) rescued an established Bougainvillea from a landscaper and have re-potted it. I have never cared for a Bougainvillea bonsai before.... Not even sure if this one will make it. I know they have a sensitive root system... I had to trim some roots back in order to get it to fit in a large pot... not to mention the broken roots caused by the landscaper. It was originally growing in a pot but its roots popped through the bottom of the drainage hole in the pot and traveled a few feet underground. All the branches have been cut back and only a 2 foot section of trunk remained. I cleaned up the cuts the best I could, removed the broken roots and re-potted with a well draining soil made up of organic compost, course sand and decomposed granite.
This may be a lost cause but wanted to give it a shot..... wondering if there is anything I can do to help the vine along? Should I start giving it sun right away or wait? Currently its in the garage (I live in Arizona) because of the cold temps at night these past few weeks.... but its in the 60s and 70s during the day.
Any advise would be helpful!

 

[Cadillactaste]

The root thing is an issue with bougainvillea with established roots. They rot easily in heavy organic substrate if kept to wet. But lucky for you...they root very easily. How thick a trunk do you have? They are known to root well. Even on a thick section.

I would keep any collect material out of direct sun...to help it along...a heat mat if your really concerned. 60's would concern me...but, you never know. They are much hardier than given credit for.

Love bougainvillea...if you could share a photo...would love to see it.

 

[milehigh_7]

Here ya go... they are best transplanted in the summer but you do what you have to. http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/PPlants.html#Bougie

 

[AaronThomas]

Thank you both for your replys!!!
@Cadillactaste... at the very base its close to 3.5" in diameter. Tonight is supposed to be the last real cold night for awhile at 28. The garage will probably hover around 45.... maybe Ill it bring inside. Good news that they root easily. Been reading all kinds of mixed messages about cutting and how the roots grow!
@milehigh_7.... I read that too... but kinda had to grab it while I could.

Heres a pic... I wasn't sure if I should cover up the cuts but went ahead and did anyway. Keeping my fingers crossed

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I have them growing in my yard, and I can say that they take a little while to get established, during which time they can be finicky. However once established they are EXTREMELY hardy. One thing to add (other than roots comment) is they need 100% full sun. If they get shaded - at all - they will die back.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Thank you both for your replys!!!
@Cadillactaste... at the very base its close to 3.5" in diameter. Tonight is supposed to be the last real cold night for awhile at 28. The garage will probably hover around 45.... maybe Ill it bring inside. Good news that they root easily. Been reading all kinds of mixed messages about cutting and how the roots grow!
@milehigh_7.... I read that too... but kinda had to grab it while I could.

Heres a pic... I wasn't sure if I should cover up the cuts but went ahead and did anyway. Keeping my fingers crossed

View attachment 93792

Moving inside is wise...that's rather cold for roots that are now stressed I would imagine. I live in Ohio...so mine winter indoors. They didn't even have a hiccup this year when I bumped my indoor setup with a grow cart. Keeping those internodes tight and close. Which was the plan. Come winter they would get leggy on me.

You didn't keep any branch structure...which is fine. You can grow it to your liking. Blank canvas you have now. You don't want those roots to get cold...that would be the biggest hiccup of decline if you ask me. Lost some amazing cuttings from a hiccup one winter...had a faulty regulator in our propane tanks. When artic air moved in...it froze our tanks. Because moisture had settled in them. My tropical area got down to 42F. All my bougainvillea cuttings and a lantana died. My established bougainvillea dropped a few leaves but that was all. Even after moving them into the front room with the fireplace going...wasn't enough to pull them from that hiccup of the cold night they suffered through.

Now, I have heard they love full sun as Greg mentioned. I personally have mine in morning...or I had to water more frequent or get leaf burn. (I assumed it was a watering issue) And my schedule wasn't allowing the water schedule I needed. Haven't seen issues with leaf burn with the change in location. Nor...die back. But...it's still getting a good fair share of hours in sun. So maybe that's why. With some afternoon as well but more filtered by then.

 

[AaronThomas]

@Cadillactaste ... thanks for the heads up on the cold temps... put a thermometer in the garage last night and it was 39 degrees at about 5am. (Totally dont get up that early... dog had to go out) It spent the night in the laundry room where it was nice and toasty.
Complete blank canvas! All the branches were chopped before I got there.... instead of leaving gnarled branches I clipped them back. I'd be so thrilled if this guy survived!
@Bonsai Nut ... I will place it outside in the sun as soon as it warms up a bit... thank you! As part of a discussion in the ROR forum... I've been doing the bonsai shuffle for the past week! I'm getting use to moving my pots from the garage to the yard lol

 

[Starfox]

Around here we are getting 60-70 degrees F during the day and about 40 at night, the bougies love it and are in full display still. They haven't stopped for 6 months.
I took one cutting and it's in full sun and has promptly withered, I have no idea if it will root or not.
You have roots so that is a good thing, like you say wait for the warmer nights and I think outside is a good idea.

 

[Cadillactaste]

@Bonsai Nut...newly collected trees go into full sun?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

@Bonsai Nut...newly collected trees go into full sun?

That's a hard one. I live in really dry conditions. I found that I had to protect them until they got established (in landscaping) and this took more than a full year. Once established they can stand full Southern California desert conditions with zero supplemental water.

Here's the weird thing. I treated all the landscape plants the same way. Planted them at the same time, watered them at the same time. They were all the same cultivar (I planted them along a landscape wall). Only the bougies in full sun thrived.

Case study II. I have a well established bougie in my backyard. Really big. I also had a large Canary date palm. The date palm got so huge that it started to shade the bougie in the afternoon. Any part of the bougie that got partial shade dropped leaves and refused to regrow. Just last year I had the palm really trimmed back. Now the entire bougie is budding leaves all over - including some sprouts that I thought were long dead.

So if it were my tree, I would make sure it got sun, but didn't dry out. I would try to create an environment like what you would find in Miami, FL or Hawaii. Really sunny, really humid. I am sure tropical peeps will speak up... I'm thinking mini greenhouse or humidity tent or something similar...

 

[Starfox]

That's true, even the established one I have at the back doesn't like this time of year because it is in more shade while the others still have fresh bright bracts, they just love sun, no water and tight places.
Plus the OPs is still a trunk so there is not much to protect really, I imagine it will do it good but do wait for warmer nights.
If it had foliage going by my cutting, in hindsight I would of put it in a shadier place and as soon as you know it's alive put in full sun.

 

[AaronThomas]

@bonsainut I could do a tent... would that be something I kept it in during the day and took out at night?

 

[AaronThomas]

Get out your microscopes... We have buds!!! Probably not out of the wood yet but definitely a good sign! Been chasing the sun around the yard for a week and lugging it in the house at night.... temps still too cold. Sooooo ready for nights to warm up!

 

[aml1014]

This bougie at ny work saw 4 nights of around 20°f weather before we brought it into our grow house and it's doing fine, just taking its time.

Aaron

 

[AaronThomas]

@aml1014 NICE! I'm actually super surprised this one is pushing buds already. It really got hacked up by the landscaper... and myself! aml thats pretty cold... was there much die back with it? Curious...

 

[Starfox]

Here is one in ground that was chopped right back, the pic doesn't show it but it is larger than it looks like maybe twice the girth or a beer can. I counted a minimum of 8 rings on it.
It was chopped back to a bare stump in late summer and then pushed this new growth that you see in the pic.

Now it is in winter and on the shady side of the house and has lost the green leaves but it is still supple and attached it creeper to the wall so I'm hoping it is still alive and was not just stored energy.
If it pushes new growth in spring a will wait until summer and dig it but it will be a tricky one and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't survive that. But they are extremely hardy.

 

[AaronThomas]

So interesting that they can handle a brutal pruning but there roots are so sensitive to being disturbed.... LOL kinda like some people I guess!!!

 

[Cadillactaste]

Here is one in ground that was chopped right back, the pic doesn't show it but it is larger than it looks like maybe twice the girth or a beer can. I counted a minimum of 8 rings on it.
It was chopped back to a bare stump in late summer and then pushed this new growth that you see in the pic.

Now it is in winter and on the shady side of the house and has lost the green leaves but it is still supple and attached it creeper to the wall so I'm hoping it is still alive and was not just stored energy.
If it pushes new growth in spring a will wait until summer and dig it but it will be a tricky one and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't survive that. But they are extremely hardy.View attachment 94474

What varity...the leaves seem...off to the bougainvillea that I'm familar with.

 

[Stickroot]

Here is one in ground that was chopped right back, the pic doesn't show it but it is larger than it looks like maybe twice the girth or a beer can. I counted a minimum of 8 rings on it.
It was chopped back to a bare stump in late summer and then pushed this new growth that you see in the pic.

Now it is in winter and on the shady side of the house and has lost the green leaves but it is still supple and attached it creeper to the wall so I'm hoping it is still alive and was not just stored energy.
If it pushes new growth in spring a will wait until summer and dig it but it will be a tricky one and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't survive that. But they are extremely hardy.View attachment 94474

Not a bougy

 

[aml1014]

Here is one in ground that was chopped right back, the pic doesn't show it but it is larger than it looks like maybe twice the girth or a beer can. I counted a minimum of 8 rings on it.
It was chopped back to a bare stump in late summer and then pushed this new growth that you see in the pic.

Now it is in winter and on the shady side of the house and has lost the green leaves but it is still supple and attached it creeper to the wall so I'm hoping it is still alive and was not just stored energy.
If it pushes new growth in spring a will wait until summer and dig it but it will be a tricky one and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't survive that. But they are extremely hardy.View attachment 94474

That my friend is a trumpet vine, impossible to kill.

Aaron