Very Silly Issue - My Bougainvillea Won't Stop Blooming

[Omar]

I chopped my B. glabra in May of this year. It responded well and bloomed for the first time in late July. It's been nearly 4 months now but the bracts just keep falling off and growing back. I removed them all manually once and they grew back with even more gusto like the heads of Cerberus.

Not a huge deal admittedly but I'm annoyed because the new branch I've selected as my leader hasn't grown at all for the last 4 months and I don't want to prune it as it hasn't reached the desired thickness yet. Do I just have to wait this out? Is it normal for blooms to persist this long? This is my first experience with a flowering species. It's currently indoors for the winter in my greenhouse.

 

[petegreg]

Do not take it wrong, please, but you've received enough growth in NY climate for a season.

 

[Omar]

Do not take it wrong, please, but you've received enough growth in NY climate for a season.

 

[Omar]

Do not take it wrong, please, but you've received enough growth in NY climate for a season.

Not offended at all, thanks for contributing.

It should still be able to put out a little growth since it's growing under fluorescent lighting. Not a substantial amount of course but growth shouldn't halt as it's not going dormant. Am I incorrect in that assumption?

 

[petegreg]

I keep bougies as subtropicals, maybe more for space issues. It means cold dry winters. They drop almost all leaves. When the spring is behind the door and the temps rise they start growing again.
Not saying it's correct, it's the matter of opportunity.
I've seen many posts of people keeping them as tropicalcs, under lights. I hope they will share it.
BTW wonderful answering picture.

And I really meant you received nice growth after chopping.

 

[AZbonsai]

That is one angry baby!

 

[petegreg]

I know this expression, I've got two daughters. Miraculous.

 

[just.wing.it]

That baby is a straight up gangsta!

 

[Carol 83]

A tree that won't stop blooming. That's a bitch.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Not offended at all, thanks for contributing.

It should still be able to put out a little growth since it's growing under fluorescent lighting. Not a substantial amount of course but growth shouldn't halt as it's not going dormant. Am I incorrect in that assumption?

I've had my bougies grow in the winter. Without lighting their internodes become an issue as it becomes leggy. Last winter...I offered lights since my sunroom didnt have enough to keep those internodes tight. And...it grew well for me. Not leaps and bounds...but moved along for winter storage growth that kept me still content.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Bougies come from a wet-dry subtropical savanna region, larger specimens can tolerate 3 month droughts if it is cool and dry. However they are opportunistic, and grow any time they have water, light and some heat, say above 60 F. in the daytime. I have a bougie in with the orchids in the light garden. It is under a 4 lamp fixture with T5 HO lamps at 5500K. My bougie sits there all year, never goes outside, and blooms usually twice a year. Flower bracts last a long time, but eventually new growth starts again.

For yours, I would not worry, just enjoy the flowers. It will grow again.

Have you done anything to it? Like hormones? or heavy repeated applications of Epsom salts? (magnesium sulfate). If you haven't, the blooms are just a sign of good health. Once I ''forced'' a pomegranate into blooming, and then it went an entire year doing nothing but blooming, no new growth, every shoot quickly produced flower buds. It wasn't until what I had done to force it wore off that it reverted to normal growth again. Took a year, but eventually it reverted back to normal.

 

[eferguson1974]

Here they bloom year round. But their name here is veranera, which implies summer, verano. And they do bloom more in the summer. I buy every type I find, and there are a lot of types. Some with three bracts, some dwarfs, and veriagated. I put them up close to the fence. Someday the thorns will be a natural fence. It will look nice, the collection all im bloom with all the colors. But I have some in colanders that are growing like crazy. My phone says it doesnt have enough memory to post pics, but if I can I will
I have around 30 of them. Here they survive 4-5 dry months, bloomimg everywhere. There are some old, gmarly trunks in peoples yards, and are one of my fav trees, closely after ficus.

 

[Omar]

Bougies come from a wet-dry subtropical savanna region, larger specimens can tolerate 3 month droughts if it is cool and dry. However they are opportunistic, and grow any time they have water, light and some heat, say above 60 F. in the daytime. I have a bougie in with the orchids in the light garden. It is under a 4 lamp fixture with T5 HO lamps at 5500K. My bougie sits there all year, never goes outside, and blooms usually twice a year. Flower bracts last a long time, but eventually new growth starts again.

For yours, I would not worry, just enjoy the flowers. It will grow again.

Have you done anything to it? Like hormones? or heavy repeated applications of Epsom salts? (magnesium sulfate). If you haven't, the blooms are just a sign of good health. Once I ''forced'' a pomegranate into blooming, and then it went an entire year doing nothing but blooming, no new growth, every shoot quickly produced flower buds. It wasn't until what I had done to force it wore off that it reverted to normal growth again. Took a year, but eventually it reverted back to normal.

I have my plants in the same setup. In addition to sparingly using chemical fertilizer I used Rhizotonic since I applied a tourniquet during the summer for a new root base. It's too tall for its trunk size and the nebari is nonexistent. I recently started using a mix of 1tsp of vinegar with 1gal of water to gradually lower the pH but other than that it's been business as usual. Very much appreciate your input Leo I'll just wait it out.

 

[Omar]

Here they bloom year round. But their name here is veranera, which implies summer, verano. And they do bloom more in the summer. I buy every type I find, and there are a lot of types. Some with three bracts, some dwarfs, and veriagated. I put them up close to the fence. Someday the thorns will be a natural fence. It will look nice, the collection all im bloom with all the colors. But I have some in colanders that are growing like crazy. My phone says it doesnt have enough memory to post pics, but if I can I will
I have around 30 of them. Here they survive 4-5 dry months, bloomimg everywhere. There are some old, gmarly trunks in peoples yards, and are one of my fav trees, closely after ficus.

I'd love to see some of these if you're able to upload!

 

[GrimLore]

Not a huge deal admittedly but I'm annoyed because the new branch I've selected as my leader hasn't grown at all for the last 4 months and I don't want to prune it as it hasn't reached the desired thickness yet. Do I just have to wait this out? Is it normal for blooms to persist this long? This is my first experience with a flowering species. It's currently indoors for the winter in my greenhouse.

The one we have seems to bloom, and bloom, and did I mention bloom? We cut it way back a few months ago and brought it in for Winter, chopped it back from 4 foot to 8 - 9 inches, it defoliated, it then grew, and some 8 weeks after is back blooming and probably will all Winter. It is kept at 72 degrees, 60 percent humidity, constant air movement, 16 hours of light daily.
If you want to thicken it lower leaders do a better job though and you can have several with a little trimming every few days(at least here). Take a look at this thread explaining it in post 12 or 13... http://www.bonsainut.com/threads/trunk-thickness-on-bougainvillea.25281/#post-400318

Grimmy

 

[M. Frary]

Send them up here. They'll quit blooming.

 

[GrimLore]

Send them up here. They'll quit blooming.

For certain Actually I am surprised I am able to grow them at all, much less inside in the Winter. Ours came from Alabama and I am actually getting another from the same grower when I am down there in April.

Grimmy

 

[Omar]

The one we have seems to bloom, and bloom, and did I mention bloom? We cut it way back a few months ago and brought it in for Winter, chopped it back from 4 foot to 8 - 9 inches, it defoliated, it then grew, and some 8 weeks after is back blooming and probably will all Winter. It is kept at 72 degrees, 60 percent humidity, constant air movement, 16 hours of light daily.
If you want to thicken it lower leaders do a better job though and you can have several with a little trimming every few days(at least here). Take a look at this thread explaining it in post 12 or 13... http://www.bonsainut.com/threads/trunk-thickness-on-bougainvillea.25281/#post-400318

Grimmy

That's a very good method thanks for posting. The trunk size is good I'm just growing that leader out. Slowly.

Send them up here. They'll quit blooming.

lol i'm sure they would

 

[M. Frary]

That's a very good method thanks for posting. The trunk size is good I'm just growing that leader out. Slowly.



lol i'm sure they would

I don't think it even gets warm enough in the summer here for them.

 

[GrimLore]

I don't think it even gets warm enough in the summer here for them.

Sure it does - you would just need to bring them in a lot earlier then me and keep them in a bit longer. How many you want after my April trip? You could certainly build a room like we have by then

Grimmy