Step 1
Bougainvillea branchlet have retentive thorns shroud with a potentially irritating meaning . photograph to them may stimulate a painful skin rash . The University of California categorizes bougainvillea as a Class 4 toxic plant .
Bougainvillea Soil Preparation
Remove all weeds from the planting area . If you must practice a commercial-grade herbicide to vote out mourning band , follow the recording label instructions regarding how long to wait after program prior to planting .
Step 2
turn over into the territory to a depth of 6 inches using a spade or long - handled horticulture crotch . Turn and crush the dirt and polish off any rocks or other debris .
Step 3
Amend the grime by fuse in a 3 - in bed of compost to a depth of 6 inch . graze the territory until it is level and tranquil and you are ready to plant the bougainvillea .
How to Shape Bougainvillea
cut back away the longest stems and branches by as much as one-half to influence the bougainvillea into a shrub . Remove these stems at any point in time along the stems with the pruning shear .
Clip off some of the underside of the bougainvillea to make it into a topiary configuration , if you desire . Make the top of the bougainvillea round or square to extend the topiary form .
Pinch back the flabby stems as they develop during the growing season if you hope a shaggy-haired plant with lateral ontogenesis . take away only the top ½ in from the newfangled growth by twinge it off .
Tip
Prune a bougainvillea in late winter while the plant is not grow actively . Remember that whatever growth you trim aside may be cut blossoms for the upcoming growing season .
Warning
Wear gardening mitt to protect yourself from the crisp thorns on the branches of bougainvillea .
Things Needed
How to Grow Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea Fertilizer Directions
dust the slow - release granular fertilizer over the soil in early springiness . Consult the fertilizer package for recommended amounts for the size of your growing area , and tot the plant food over the soil carefully . Do not let the fertilizer to touch the stems or the leaf of the bougainvillea . Work the fertilizer into the land with the hand blood , and water the soil munificently to help the granules soak into the grime .
Fertilize the bougainvillea with the piddle - soluble fertilizer twice a calendar month during April , May and June . Mix the fertilizer with body of water according to software program recommendation , and pour the plant food cautiously over the soil .
lessen the fertilizing frequency to once a month between July and September to turn on the bougainvillea to increase blossom production .
Step 4
Repeat the slow - release fertilizer lotion again in August using the same method you bulge out with in March .
Step 5
Suspend fertilization from October through February while the bougainvillea is inactive .
Types of Bougainvillea Plants
How to Train Bougainvillea
opt three small-scale bougainvillea plant that are only a few inches long and do n’t have many side outgrowth .
Fill the pot with good timbre potting soil . Put the wager in the center and tamp the surround territory to hold the interest in place .
Space the bougainvillea works evenly around the stake , as close to the stake as possible . Water well .
Braid the stems of the plant around the stake at the centre . Cut off any side branches , depart the two closest to the end of each vine .
Step 6
As the bougainvillea vines grow , cut off the side branches so that only the two at the end of the vine continue at any one time . Continue to pleach the stems around the stake . When the vine get through the height you desire ( no higher than the top of the stake ) abstract the emergence crest of each vine , leaving at least three sets of leaf at the end the vines . This will have them to branch out and make the " canopy " of your standard .
Bougainvillea Pest Control Products
How Tall Is a Bougainvillea Tree?
Also called Chinese flame tree , the bougainvillea goldenrain tree ( Koelreuteria bipinnata ) develop at a temperate to dissipated rate to 20 or 30 foot , with a spreading , 15- to 20 - foot - spacious tip . It has expectant clusters of yellowed , late summer flowers with pinkish seedpods . Its green leafage become yellow in fall .
How to Re-Pot a Bougainvillea
Fill the new planting pot midway with soil . H2O the soil until it is saturated , and earmark the mint to drain completely .
Remove the bougainvillea from its current great deal by topple it on its side and skid it out . If the works is stay put , rap sharply on the side and bottom of the locoweed to loose .
Place the bougainvillea ’s rootball on the grime in the fresh stack . Add or remove soil so that it will sit at the same deepness as it did in the old pot . Backfill with grunge and pee until the excess water run out of the bottom of the pot .
Bougainvillea has thick , needlelike thorns , so wear heavy gardening mitt when working on it .
Bougainvillea Plant Colors
Reds
Bougainvillea comes in a broad compass of reds and pinks , including magenta , deep red , tomato , spicy pinko and light-headed pink . Some of the red varieties are ' Crimson Red , ' ' La Joya ' and ' Tomato Red . ' pink admit ' Imperial Delight , ' ' Helen Johnson ' and ' Pink Pixie . '
Purples
From lilac to lavender to fuchsia , bougainvillea also comes in purples . empurpled varieties include ' Vera Deep Purple ' and ' Twilight Delight . ' Violet change include ' Queen Violet ' and ' Sao Paulo . ' Lilac miscellanea include ' Formosa , ' ' Easter Parade ' and ' Texas King . ' For fuchsia , there ’s ' Barbara Karst ' and ' Miami Pink . '
Other Colors
Orange bougainvillea varieties include ' Afterglow ' ( Salmon River ) , ' Sundown Orange ' ( set out orange , then turns salmon - pink ) and ' Hugh Evans ' ( coral orange ) . For a yellow variety , try ' Golden Glow , ' ' Yellow Glory ' or ' California Gold . ' White variety include ' Shubra , ' ' Singapore White ' and ' Java White . '
How to Trim Bougainvillea
Put on a brace of cubitus - length gloves and use pruning shears to shape the bougainvillea to your taste . Trim away the subdivision from the tops and side of the plant life .
write out off any discolored branches that you find . These dead limbs take over space and food .
Look inside the plant and take away any limbs that present inward or push up against each other . The removal of congested branches helps improve melodic phrase flow .
Locate new root growth and squeeze off the top 1/2 inch from these young branch . Pinching off the pourboire encourages raw appendages with vibrant flower .
Continue to repeat steps 1 through 4 to conserve the var. that you want and maximize bloom output .
For well consequence , await until after the bougainvillea flowering cycle before trimming the plant .
How to Pinch Bougainvillea
Look for new growth , which will have pale dark-green bow . Old growth stems turn woody with historic period .
Locate a growth shoot 1/2 - in down from the stem ’s point , off to the side . Snip the explicate shoot off the bougainvillea plant with your pruning shears . Alternately , catch the shoot with your thumb and forefinger and squeeze it off .
Repeat this process along other unexampled growth stems on your bougainvillea . pilfer plants germinate more new increment , which results in more colour .
Pinch the bougainvillea regularly , working in this manner . How much you twinge is up to you ; there is no limit to how much pinching is acceptable , allot to the Houston Chronicle .
