Very Silly Issue - My Bougainvillea Won't Stop Blooming

[Dorian Fourie]

Hi Omar

My understanding of your situation is that you have a Bougainvillea Pixie. They do not thicken up quickly at all and that is quite a lot of growth for one season.

I have one too and I have now cut it back and let it grow out for the last 3 seasons and the trunk has only thickened up slightly.

Good luck with it.

 

[M. Frary]

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

Thanks but no thanks Grim. I don't need to have trees inside too. My wife would put her foot down I'm sure.

 

[eferguson1974]

I'd love to see some of these if you're able to upload![/QUO
I will try. I cant post a thread, but maybe here I can. I will take more pics if theyre going to post. Here's my best one as a test
It was 15' tall two months ago, as you can see chopping has caused a lot of backbudding and new shoots. If it posts I will post more,maybe in groups

 

[twisted trees]

I agree that the variety may be a pixie which blooms profusely up here in New York. As for thickening, my experience is that it grows quickly and thickens when pruned properly. Being a vine long thin shoots that take over all growth is the norm. Keep pruning to get thickening and ramification. This is mine from about 3 years ago. It's probably about 6-7 years old.

 

[Random User]

I was reading that the best way to "assist" in the plant to grow a thicker structure, was to remove all of the bracts and flowers. I did that... took roughly 40% of the canopy off doing so. I'm about 3 weeks past the trim/prune, and the weed is going to flower again.

I have done a LOT of reading on them and this is what I surmise:

- every strain is different, and will act differently depending on climate, lighting, watering (or lack of), fertilizer, pot size, swearing, exposure to bad breath, bugs, sound, wind, and pets; just to name a few things... I tend to think one could also add, the temperament or habits of the owner and differences from plant to plant, even if they are all propagated from the same parent tree.

Having a Boug, is like getting a Border Collie pup... you never know what you'll have to deal with; but I can think of a LOT of things far worse than an overly enthusiastic flowering plant... especially during a zone 3 winter, when I just finished shovelling 18" of snow off of the roof of the garage.

 

[Carol 83]

I got a little Pink Pixie pre-bonsai from Meehan's this summer. It did fine outside all summer, and is fine in my southern exposure with grow lights, but still no blooms. I've let it dry out slightly, since some suggest that promotes blooming. Still nothing. I really feel for you all that wish yours would quit blooming.

 

[Random User]

The one I am speaking of is scary dry... I lift the pot and it surprises me how light it is. However, the plant itself looks healthy (after all it is pushing blooms), but it is loosing a few leaves. I "suspect" that it is a semi-deciduous plant and this leaf drop is normal, and it may partially be due to me pruning it. Mine is in the basement under grow lights.

Having little experience with them, and finding so much contradictory information on them, I can't suggest any course you could take. I do wonder though, how old yours is... perhaps it's not mature enough to flower?

 

[Carol 83]

That could be. It's pretty small. That makes me feel better . Was getting a little pissed at everyone complaining about the blooming too much. It seems healthy enough, so we'll just wait and see.

 

[Random User]

I'm going to guess that you actually have two things going against you. 1. It may be too young, and 2. It may not be root bound.

When potting, always put them in a container just a wee bit larger than the last one... "supposedly" this keeps them happy. It's not that I doubt what anyone says about "their" boug... I just think the species is so variable that it makes the information and individual experiences so different.

 

[Omar]

I just think the species is so variable that it makes the information and individual experiences so different.

Agreed.

In late May of this year when I chopped the trunk, I grew a cutting to give to a friend. Little over a month later and the cutting bloomed. That was pretty cool.


Regarding the tree in the original post, the little bastard is at it again. The blooms persist and have now started on the other branch. Why do bad things happen to good people...

 

[Carol 83]

It's still in the nursery container it came in, which is fairly deep. So I'm pretty sure it is not root bound. It's going to stay there for awhile and grow. I wanted to start out with a little cheap one, just to see if I could keep it alive over winter, before investing in a better, bigger one. Thanks for your input!

 

[Random User]

Because they like it to be dry, you could cautiously slip it out of the pot and look for obvious roots... don't disturb them though. If you can't see any, or very few roots, I'd be fairly certain that NOT being root bound is your problem. Once mine kick into what I think is "spring growing season" I'm going to re-pot it (them) to see how sturdy they are... if they die, they have no room near me anyway and that will be that.

 

[Carol 83]

You're right. I slipped it out of it's pot and don't see a lot of roots. Like I said it's a pretty deep nursery pot. I'll just let it grow and maybe let it dry out a bit more than I have. Thanks! @Omar, I sincerely apologize. I did not mean to hijack your thread. Sorry yours won't stop blooming.

 

[Omar]

You're right. I slipped it out of it's pot and don't see a lot of roots. Like I said it's a pretty deep nursery pot. I'll just let it grow and maybe let it dry out a bit more than I have. Thanks! @Omar, I sincerely apologize. I did not mean to hijack your thread. Sorry yours won't stop blooming.

Dude no worries please chime in whenever.

Because they like it to be dry, you could cautiously slip it out of the pot and look for obvious roots... don't disturb them though. If you can't see any, or very few roots, I'd be fairly certain that NOT being root bound is your problem. Once mine kick into what I think is "spring growing season" I'm going to re-pot it (them) to see how sturdy they are... if they die, they have no room near me anyway and that will be that.

I don't think you have to worry about killing it. In my (very brief) experience Bougies are absolute beasts, I've absolutely abused this poor thing. This and my F. microcarpa are my "learning trees" as I call them.

 

[GrimLore]

It's still in the nursery container it came in, which is fairly deep. So I'm pretty sure it is not root bound. It's going to stay there for awhile and grow. I wanted to start out with a little cheap one, just to see if I could keep it alive over winter, before investing in a better, bigger one.

Good idea and one I suggest to all starting with a new species I tossed pretty much everything I have read on them with our first one this year. The mother plant and two small cuttings are all kept at no less then 60 percent humidity, 73 degrees F, mild air circulation, 16 hours a day of light. They are all kept DAMP, never allowed to dry.

The Mother plant which was cut from over 4 foot to 8 - 9 inches when brought in. It has been cut back 3 times since and is due again as it is approaching 29 - 30 inches. Grows like a weed and likes fertilizer -



Two month old or so cutting grown same way and in obvious health. Has not had bracts as the tip was cut off when the cutting was taken. It was rooted in my nursery mix and is compacted -



Second cutting, tiny with tip left intact, no more then an 1/8th of an inch at the base. This one was started in water and took a few weeks to show root knuckles. On Christmas Eve it tossed Bracts which are dried a bit in this picture today. Also grown damp and warm. Please excuse the Banana leaf in the upper right



Said all that to say this - "My plants do not read books"

Grimmy

 

[Random User]

Using the "law of averages" a higher percentage of the things that are written about any tree or plant, tends to have some relevance (unlike any Presidential election race). So, for the most part, I take everything that I read into a degree of account. HOWEVER, when dealing with the bougs, I could never quite connect the people (or plants) that say you can take a cutting out of any part of a Bougainvillea vine and plop it in a pot and it will root, with the people who say that the roots should not be disturbed... somehow this information is wildly contradictory, thats why I wrote this statement above; "- every strain is different, and will act differently depending on climate, lighting, watering (or lack of), fertilizer, pot size, swearing, exposure to bad breath, bugs, sound, wind, and pets; just to name a few things... I tend to think one could also add, the temperament or habits of the owner and differences from plant to plant, even if they are all propagated from the same parent tree."

I have absolutely no doubt that (at least some of them) are as bulletproof as you have experienced Grimmy, AND, I still stand with my philosophy that if a plant of any kind cannot survive my gardening or horticulture practices, it has no place around my home.