Starting bougainvillea from large cutting

[namnhi]

About 4.5 months from initial cutting and they are definitely starting to pick up speed. I added some Bougain fertilizer and they seemed to respond very well, even threw out some colors for me. I was thinking about trying to repot this summer but I think I'll just let them grow until next spring/summer. 2 of the containers have a few smaller plants so I'm a little concerned they'll grow together but I'll cross that bridge next year.

So far been a pretty fun experiment plus it's nice having a something with a 2"-3" trunk after only 5 months. My plan is to let them grow wild until my wife says they are taking up too much room then I'll trim them down a little

Succeed!

 

[Flipkronikz]

Great post. I have some azalea and hibiscus in my backyard that I'll be propagating next spring. Just brought in my bougainvillea as I'm in zone8b. Bougainvillea wasn't doing too well with temps dropping down to under 10C.

 

[LuZiKui]

Quick update on my bougies. Still growing well. They threw out a ton of blooms towards the end of summer, quite beautiful. Going to hold off on any shaping or major pruning until spring but I'm looking forward to it since I've basically got 7-8 "free" trees I can play around with now!

 

[thebonsaiproject]

Well I checked on them today and it looks like they’re starting to get some mold or something. I had them covered with plastic bags which I took off to see if they would dry out. Too late to save these things? Can I just keep the soil moist without the bags on them?

They look happy now! Same thing happened to mine, I'll have to spray them next time. Also not sure how you are pruning the bottom to plant. I tried what I am terming "banana peel" which gave pretty good radial roots.

 

[LuZiKui]

They look happy now! Same thing happened to mine, I'll have to spray them next time. Also not sure how you are pruning the bottom to plant. I tried what I am terming "banana peel" which gave pretty good radial roots.
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Interesting, so did you just peel back the bark an inch or so when you planted them? Did you dip the whole thing in rooting hormone? I haven’t checked the roots on any of mine curious what they’ll look like. I just straight cut the sections then trimmed at a 45 degree angle around the botttom edge to expose cambium. I’ll have to give your method a try next time.

And the hydrogen peroxide did the trick. The mold disappeared the next day.

 

[thebonsaiproject]

Yeah pretty much, except you also put a bit of wood or stone to keep them apart. Yeah I dunked them in hormone! Unfortunately most died to the fungal so I couldn't compare roots that well.

 

[LuZiKui]

Yeah pretty much, except you also put a bit of wood or stone to keep them apart. Yeah I dunked them in hormone! Unfortunately most died to the fungal so I couldn't compare roots that well.

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Super interesting, I'll have to give that a try next time around. Maybe I can do a control and one that method to see how they each behave. Thanks for the info and better luck next time on yours!