Bougainvillea care
Bougainvillea, also referred to as Paper flower is a native of Brazil and belongs to the Nyctaginaceae family. This tropical climber is ideal for hanging baskets and grown in containers where it can cascade its vibrant blooming vines. The flower is unremarkable compared to the brightly colored, paper-like bracts that surround the flower. 
Bougainvillea grows in a tropical climate. They thrive in full sun and heat and bloom best when kept slightly stressed and on the dry side. They are heavy feeders and should be fed regularily with 1/2 strenght fertilizer to keep them blooming all season long.
WINTEROVER BOUGAINVILLEA
Bougainvillea are tropical plants hardy in zone 8-10. It will tolerate temperatures as cool as 30-40 degrees for a short time but will need protection or it can freeze and die.
There are two ways to winterover your bougainvillea indoors
1. Treat it like a houseplant.
Keep it in the coolest, brightestroom in the house (east or north window) with temperatures between 50-60 degrees. If it gets too warm, it will grow but look lanky and pale because of insufficient sunlight. Water less during the winter allowing the soil to dry out between watering and don’t fertilize. You can prune the plant to make it more manageable but major pruning should be done in the spring before new growth starts. It may drop its leaves during this time but the idea is to keep the plant alive till spring.
2. Force it into dormancy.
Bougainvillea can be stored in a basement, garage or dark closet at temperatures above freezing (32F) . Reduce watering, cut back it just enough to make it manageable. With no light and water, the plant will drop all its leaves and go dormant. Check the soil periodically during the winter, watering it a few times just to keep it from completely drying out. Don’t fertilize during this time. In early spring, repot the plant in fresh soil, water thoroughly and bring it to filtered light.
My husband got me a Bougainvilla Tree for my birthday. I planted it in the from yard and water it everyday. We live in Ocoee, Fl. and I would like to know what kind of fertalizer we should use in our area. Do they like Mirical Grow?
Thanks
Connie
A nearby neighbour has a bougainvillea plant and this was growing inside my downpipes and guttering and just recently whilst I was having a power point installed my electrican found it growing around the electrical wires inside my walls and now the leaves have been coming out from the cornices and vents. I have tried every weed killer possible but can’t seem to get rid of it. I am really desperate can someone help me I fear this can cause very serious damage.
I live in Mississippi and planted my first boug last week. It is about 2 feet tall amd is on a small trellis. I planted it by my mailbox so it is in full sun from 11am until about 7pm. I fertilized it with fish emulsion and watered very well when I planted it. A few days after planting it got watered by a sprinkler while I was watering my grass. The temp here has been in 80 during the day. A lot of the flowers have fallen off and the leaves are droopy and yellowish. I’m scared to water it again cause I don’t want to overwater it. Is the flower drop and leaf wilting/yellowing due to transplant shock or a watering issue? Is watering it twice in one week too much?
2 new bougainvilleas transplanted from hanging pots to containers. Blooms are beautiful however leaves on one plant are drying out.. It rained yesterday, temps in 80s and windy -other plant seems fine blooming no leaf drop. Does it just need to dry out? Something else?
No blooms
I have three bougainvillea plants in one pot which I have grown indoors in Billings Mt for 20 years and which always bloomed regularly. I have since moved to a ranch where my plants have lots of leaves, perhaps less sunlight, but no blossoms in over a year. They are in a 14 inch pot. ? need to repot, or prune back. Appreciate any suggestions.
Plant bougainvillea in landscape
I just bought my first bougainvillea and have enough plant knowledge to be dangerous. Currently it is in a 2 gal. pot trained to a small trellis. I would like to replant it in the ground against my house and train it to a larger, fan type trellis. This spot is right behind a line of beautifully blooming azalea shrubs, which I do nothing to maintain, except trimming to keep in rectangle shape. I’ve been told that the lime in the oak trees around my yard takes care of it for me. Is this a good place to plant my young boug? If so, could you tell me how and when I should properly transplant it into the ground?
Thank you for any help provided
Fertilizer
Hello, I live in central Florida &, after receiving some obviously bad advice, didn’t protect my bougs (25 of them!) throughout the winter. Initially, I was convinced they were dead then noticed most are growing back from the root. I’ve cut them WAY back & given them all about 2T of Bougain fertilizer. Is there anything more I can do to help them? I’ve heard coffee grounds might be good but I’m afraid I’ll hurt them. Thanks in advance for your advice
Yellow curling leaves
I have a bougainvillea 6 months old with yellowing leaves curling inwards. What is the problem. A large Bougainvillea next to it does really well.
Hi, I live in Hong Kong and I have been away on vacation for two weeks. I have two bougainvillea and unfortunately was not able to water them during this time. My older plant with pink flowers now looks as if it is in a terrible state. All the leaves have curled up and it has dropped a lot of its flowers, and the ones which have not dropped feel very dry and the colour has faded. What can I do to bring my beautiful plant back to life? I also have some indoor palms and one of them looks like it has almost collapsed; some of the leaves have gone very brown and its colour is not the bright green that it was when I bought it, it is much paler and more brown looking. I have also noticed that there are some small black insects crawling around near the root stems…
I look forward to any advice you may be able to provide to help my poor plants.
Prune bougainvillea
I live in Southern California and I have a beautiful, decades- old, gigantic boug on my carport, but it needs to be cut back and detached because we need to fumigate the house(carport included). Any suggestions on how this can be done without damaging the plant? Thanks
I have three bougainvillea plants that were planted in the ground last year. We are in central California, where temperatures are usually ok for bougainvillea, but we had a few frosts and the plants dropped all their leaves, the stems looked bad, and I thought they had died. With very little hope, I left them in the ground, and late in the spring, they came back, but never flowered this season. Last winter, I wrapped them in Christmas lights that went on at dusk and off at dawn (but not until after the first frost, which I thought had killed them); is this enough to keep them alive, or is there another method of protecting them from the occasional cool spell during the winter? Can they be wrapped, and with what and how? Thanks for any advice you can offer!
I live in Oregon,(zone 8 )right off the columbia river & its very windy & can get very cold,my Elizabeth Angue is in the ground & to big to move,How do i save it over the winter?
Bougainvillea looper, powdery mildew
Hi,
I have a boug in a corner with privacy fence to one side and house to the other. We are in Orlando and the plant gets about 6-7 hours direct sunlight per day. It appears to have grown, but is now seeming eaten, with leaves falling off and no growth. Additionally, there is now white spots on the leaves. What can we do? Thanks!
Wintering bougainvillea
I live in the Sacramento area and last spring bought a beautiful boug. I learned the hard way that bougs do not like a lot of water. And I also learned, throuhg previous bougs,that they don’t like the cold Sacramento temps of winter (we can get to 32 degrees F.—even though I covered them). The one beautiful boug I have now (Sept) is in a pot—how do I help it survive to next spring?
This is a terrific site. Anyone with a bougainvillea should put it on favorites. Thanks for all of the information.
Yellow leaves dropping
I have two Mandevilla potted plants outside which purchased this past spring and replanted with potting soil. They get watered from sprinklers at least twice a week. Some leaves are now turning yellow and falling off. What could the problem be?…Linda
I live in Connecticut and was thinking of using bougainvillea an an annual groundcover in a very sunny well drained location. How much growth do you think I would get in a season? Do you think bougainvillea would work well in this capacity?
Flowers turn brown and drop
Hi, thanks for all you do on this site. I live in San Diego and planted my Boug about 4 or 5 years ago. It is crawling up our neighbors ugly shed just as I wanted it to do. I left it in the pot when I planted it and just cut the bottom of the pot open so the roots could grow down. I was afraid of disturbing the roots. It gets full sun all day. Problem is, it will bloom all over and then drop all it’s flowers and takes ages to re-flower. We haven’t over-watered but also have not fed it. Your suggestion? All the flowers just turn brown suddenly over the entire plant and drop. Oh, and the gardner also had trimmed the branches at the bottom of the plant end of July. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so so much.
My bougainvillea has everything wrong with it you can imagine. I’s large, dull, eaten up, has web appearance on leaves, no flowers, I’ve put bougain fertilizer on it in the ground. stopped watering it every day, powdered it with insect powder. sprayed with organic mould care,sprayed for grasshoppers. I really dont know what to do. I’m thinking of getting rid of it and planting something else. I love bougs and hope you can help me with a solution. Im sure its deseased and bug eaten. I’m in Florida. It gets plenty of sun. Help !!!! Susan
Hi Susan
It sounds as if the plant is more trouble than its worth. It’s obviously in a stressfull state that makes it great fodder for insects and disease. I would cut it back and wait and see how it responds. If things don’t improve-move on.
Overwatering
After reading these comments I fear I have overwatered my bouganvelia. I live in NE Florida. It is constantly wilted and I thought it needed water so I watered daily. Can I reverse the damage I have done?
Hi,
I live in Brisbane, Australia and recently
was given what I would call a stump with no roots.
The friend who gave it to me said that he has
grown many bougainvilleas from stump with no
roots whatsoever. He just treats them like an oversized
cutting. Am I being led up the garden path here? (pardon the pun)
or is there merit to this?
I live in Southern California, and have a 5-year-old bougainvillea in a large pot in the backyard. It is in full sun (temperatures get very hot here), and for the past few months it has been doing wonderfully–lots of deep pink blooms. Now, all of the sudden all of its flowers have turned yellow and fallen off. It’s leaves are still there, but they are sparse and small. I stopped watering because I thought that might be the problem, but its been 2-3 weeks and the plant only looks worse. I don’t want to kill it, but I just can’t figure out what went wrong. Please help! Thank you.
Bougs in Colorado
I live in San Diego and have 5 medium sized boug’s in pots. We are moving to Colorado. Will they survive? Can they be houseplants? If so will it be a huge mess?
Thanks!
Yellow spots on leaves
I have three bougalvillea’s planted about 3 to 4 ft’ apart in my yard. They were all doing so well,but yesterday i saw that alot of leaves fell off one of the larger ones.It also had yellow spots.I watered them.Now this afternoon when i came home from work, I checked them and the smaller one has yellow spots now.The third one looks great and is a very full plant.Any suggestions on the reason for spots will be greatly appreciated. Also, should they have flowers right now.Because even though 4 out of the 6 plants I have all together look great and are bushy.They have a few to no flowers. Thanks. JO H. Ponchatoula,LA
About 3 weeks ago, I moved a bougainvillea from a large plastic pot into a 3′ x 7” rectangular wooden planter. I definitely hurt the large root ball in order to fit it into the new narrower box. Within two days, all of the flowers and leaves shriveled up and began to drop. The grower told me to trim it back about 1/3 (it is growing up a trellis on my deck), including all the dead branches with the leaves and flowers. That was nearly two weeks ago, and the plant is showing no sign of regrowth. Should I water it more or less than normal? Should I fertilize at all? I live in LA, and the plant gets full sun (southern exposure). Thanks!
I live in Michigan and would like to know if it is possible to grow a bougainvillea in this climate.
I have a Red San Diego Bougainvillea, it’s an evergreen but looses almost all its leaves, why?
shed their older leaves in late January
Hi. We live in Qatar, and I’ve overwatered my purple bougainvillea plant in a pot.
The leaves are all dried up and still on the stem, but the plant looks dead.
I’ve since moved the plant to a sheltered spot and stopped watering, safe for a very little bit (gauging by giving the dead one a quarter of what I give my other thriving plant)
How do I know if it’s still alive? And if it is, what should I do? Thanks for any advice.
Do leaves curling up mean to much or to little water?
In fort worth, texas: I bought 2 huge hot pink bougainvilleas that are about 6 ft. tall. I put one of them on the side of the house against our brick wall which faces southwest, and the other on the northeast side of the house. The one on the southwest receives sun from about 11am-sundown & northeast side receives full morning & afternoon sun. I’ve kept both in their original pot they were purchased in for fear of disturbing the root (& terrible, clay, rocky soil), so for the southwest side dug a hole in our bed and put it against the wall. The northeast one is potted inside another big pot. Right after purchasing, we had a week long rain with very high winds. The southwest facing one was VERY unhappy, as it gets hit with the south wind almost all day. Many leaves & flowers have fallen off, it’s very leggy looking, and has a few blooms on the top but yellow on the leaves. I’ve since moved it to the southeast, a bit more protected with full sun. The other one is just as I bought it, happy as a lark on the northeast corner. I’ve fertilized both with 20-20-20 (given by the store i bought it from). What to do??
Mold on trellis?
I have two twenty year old Bouganvilleas in San Jose, Ca. that are trained to climb up a garage wall. The leaves are fine but where the roots are coming out of the ground they are covered with a white powder. It even seems to be on the wooden trellis holding the plants up. Is this powdery mildew? I would expect it on leaves but not on the wood.
Leaf curl
I have a type of Bouganvillea plant that has very dark red flowers and grean and white leaves. Ive had it about 2 months and transplanted it into a larger pot. It doesnt seem to grow at all and the leaves are curling up. The one next to it is doing fine but its the other kind.
I live in Nothern California. I have a four year old boug that has been great. I keep it protected during the winter. Last fall it dropped it leaves. This spring it is blooming well however there are no leaves. What do I need to do?
Yellow leaves
I transplanted 8 bouganvillea plants 3 weeks ago in my back yard. I have been watering them constantly,by hand, I noticed this week some of the leaves are turning yellow, and almost all the flowers fell off of 5 of them. I live in zone 13, the very last city in Southern California. Also, 4 weeks ago, I transplanted 5 other bouganvillea plants in the front of my house, those are doing great, blooming and growing like crazy, those are watered by the automatic sprinkler system every day.
I would appreciate any advice you could provide, since I do not want to lose my investment.
Thank you!
Hi there!
I live in Northern California, and recently fell in love with bougainvilleas. I now have 3 potted plants in full sun on my porch. The beautiful pink color they had when I first got them has not turned into a deep red. I LOVED the bright pink color, and would like to know if you have any suggestions on how to get that pink color back. I saw in one of your other comments you suggested Miracid. However, as a recent gardener, I’m not sure of how much to use, and if that is all that is needed to bring that pink color back to these wonderful plants. Can you offer any advice?
Winter survival
Live in central FL. Cut back our plant last fall late and so far we have seen anything coming up. It was a beautiful plant last year, but we did not move the pot indoors during the cold winter. What chance do we have with it still being alive? Thanks for you help
I live in Redding, CA, (zone 9) where we had an unusual frost in Dec. 2009 with temps down to 18f. five nights in a row. A Barbara Karst bougainvillea, growing up a west facing stucco wall under an eave, seems to have died. I bought a new one yesterday and am considering using a pot in the same location, though the goal was to have the branches fill an iron trellis on the wall, so moving the pot, if we have another deep frost, will be difficult. We may rig up some sort of blanket system for Dec. nights. We could include an outdoor lightbulb for heat. Can you tell me which bougainvillea best endure frost? Would I need to cover the entire plant or just the pot and say, 36″ of plant? Should I just plan to move it inside the garage for Dec-Jan? Thanks, Susan
Replanting bougainvillea
Living in South Africa I have 2 Bougainvillea, perhaps 3-5 years old, that have been standing in plastic pots on a lawn for the past two years. The roots have since grown down into the earth. I would like to move them but am afraid of damaging the roots beyond repair. Any help would be appreciated.
I have several plants in large pots, after a colder than normal winter they show no signs of coming back. They were bought into garage during the cold snap. The stems are turning black, but the root feels rigid and when scraped with fingernail it shows some green. What to do? I live in southeast Texas
I live in Florida, but we have had a very cold winter. My bougainvillea (planted in the ground) are leafless and scraggly looking. they are about 5 feet tall. How low should I prune them?
Is it alive?
I live in Houston. I have several large beautiful bougainvillea. Two are in the ground, the rest are in pots. We had a very cold winter this year. So far I have not seen anylife on any of the plants. How do I tell if they are still alive?
Tan/yellow spots
Help! My Bougainvillea bonsai tree was so beautiful at the nursery only 2 weeks ago, I live in Kuwait and the weather has been up and down lately between 70 and 95 degrees. I water well every 3 days and it’s in a sunny location, however, I am seeing a change in leaves as well as the flower. There are some portions of the plant that look very healthy and then some areas have yellow spots on the leaves and the flower. See here…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12628738@N08/sets/72157623493878868/
Please help!
Browning flowers
I bought a beautiful bougainvillea in a pot a few weeks ago. It’s hanging on a sunny porch. Some flowers are turning brown and the others are just falling off. The leaves are fine. Would over watering or too cool temps. be the cause? What am I doing wrong?
Pruning bougainvillea
I live in NW Houston and have a bougainvillea plant I bought with money my grandmother left me. I love the wild nature and persistent red blooms outside our kitchen window. It reminds me of my grandmother. I find I have to prune it every few weeks to keep it from ruining the window screens. I hope to form it on some supports to keep it off the house.
I plan to prune it almost to the ground in a few weeks. It faces south and even in the winter receives sun all day.
We live in Seal Beach, CA and planted several bougainvilleas in a row along a wall about 2 1/2 years ago. Most of them became bare sticks within a month and have stayed that way. We’ve had a couple gardeners look at them and they say they are still alive and to wait while they establish their roots. Well, we’re about to give up. We thought these plants grew quickly and easily. They are in sun for about half the day and we are watering them with a drip irrigation system. They are in the ground in a space about 2 feeet deep between a wall and the tiled patio. We’d love some advice!
Thanks!
Wintering indoors
I have a 2 year old bougainvillea vera purple plant. I have it planted in a clay pot. This past summer, I put it in my backyard. It may beautiful flowers. In October I brought the plant indoors. Now it is making new leaves. But these same new leaves are falling off. I have gas heat in my house. I use a hygrometer to measure temperature and humidity. At this time of year the plant receives approximately 4 hours of sunlight. I have it facing the southern exposure to receive the most sunlight. I water the plant when it starts to wilt. Then I give it a good drink. Should I give it some fertilizer?. I use a 15 15 15 formula. Thank You.
how tall do they get i want to know
Hi – I’ve read your advice for trying to keep bougainvillea safe (wrapping, adding mulch) but don’t see you recommending plant covers. I live in Sonoma, CA and we have some cold nights and wanted to try these. I can’t move mine indoors, unfortunately. They are just thriving and I would hate to lose them.
Thanks so much for your help.
Pruning
Hi, I have a bougainvillea in our conservatory in London, UK, which flowers well in summer and again around Xmas once the underfloor heating has been put on, but at the moment it has lost most of its leaves and looks really sad and straggly. It threathened to take over the conservatory, so I’m wondering if now is a good time to prune it?
My aunt has a bouganvilia which is over a year old. The plant did not bloom at all this year, despite fertilising with Miracle Gro during spring and summer. It has sat outside on the deck basking in plenty of sunshine, so I can’t imagine what could be wrong! The plant is still healthy, with lots of green leaves, and my aunt plans to bring it in since temperatures tonight will drop to 0C. She lives in Nothern Canada, in the Muskoka region, and will definitely overwinter the pot indoors.
Any comments on what can be done to ensure the fabulous pink blooms of last season?
Thanks.
Hi Ray,
Here are some cultural suggestions that bougainvillea needs to bloom. It requires at least 6-8 hrs. of full sun. They respond to blooming when they are slightly stressed- crowded roots and the soil kept slightly dry. In addition, blooming occurs on new growth so a light pruning will stimulate new growth. Lightly fed your plant 2-3 times a year with a balanced fertilizer. In general, lack of flowering usually happens from not enough sun, too much water, too much nitrogen. There are also varieties of bougainvillea that bloom in the fall in response to short days
Overwatered bougainvillea
I have a young boug potted last year on my patio in So. California. I have a feeling I overwatered it, as there were mushrooms growing in a the periphery on the surface of the soil and yellow spores just under the surface and in the root holes of the pot. The plant is still growing very small leaves and flowering sparsely. Is it salvageable?? Thanks.
HI,,WE LIVE IN SOUTHERN SPAIN AND HAVE A LOVELY BOUGENVILLA TREE BUT WE PUT IT IN THE SUN AND ALSO HAD A LOT OF WIND AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE ARE LOSING IT..NO WEBS REALLY TALK ABOUT THE TREE,,WE NEED HELP AND ADVICE,,SHOULD THE WIND HAVE AFFECTED IT??CAN IT HAVE TOO MUCH SUN?? pLEASE GIVE US SOME ADVICE
THANKS IN ADVANCE
Red leaves
I have a fucshia bourgie that I have had for about seven years. It is huge. I live on the Coast of NC and put in in the garage every winter. I prune hard at that time. This year the leaves are coming back red from the trunk. ?????Any idea?????
I live in Singapore. I bought 2 pots of bougainvillea plants while they were in full bloom. I re-potted one after the existing flowers on it dropped. But while doing so I accidentally pulled the plant out from the soil which held its roots. The main roots were exposed. After replanting it in the new pot for more than 3 months now, it still does not flower while the other pot has not stopped flowering. I may have hurt the roots while re-potting. What must be done to remedy the situation?
kc
I got my bougainvillea trees last summer. They were beautiful. I have checked and they look like they are still dormant or dead? I scraped near the bottom on the trunk and saw green and there is kind of a yellowish / green in the middle of the branches when they are cut. I am hoping for the best I really love them. Right now they seem really dry and growth is very little to none.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12117297@N06/?saved=1
I have several bougainvilleas with leaves that have been chewed but I have not seen the culprits. I read about moths affecting them. Please advise.
Transplant shock
I live in Arizona & I just planted 4 bougainvillea’s in my yard 2 weeks ago, they are showing new growth but some of the leaves are wrinkled & the flowers have yellow on the edges & look as if they are wrinkling up. At first they had yellow flower buds in them & whatever it is seems to be taking life from them. I am hoping they will survive. I water them every day & sometimes every other day. Help, what can I do? I dont want to lose them. Thankyou
Grow upwards on pergola
I have a deep pink bougainvillea which we hoped would grow very quickly up the pergola on our terrace. While it is very healthy and flowers well and with many lateral branches , it is not growing up the pergola as intended. Any tips on how we may direct the branches upwards?
I have just planted two bougainvillea in large seperate pots on my roof terrace in Spain. Both are in full sun and I am keen to ensure that they grow well. I have read somewhere that boungainvillea like cold tea, is this true.
I would like any tips you can supply. All my pots are on an automatic watering system, would you reccommend that I do not put these bougainvillea pots on the system and instead water them by hand
Boug fertilizer
I bought my boug last spring and it only gave me a few blooms. Through the advise that I read here, I brought it in over the winter, leaves fell but surprised to see some blooms. I placed it by the door where it gets full sun. Can you recommend a good fertilizer brand to encourage more blooms. When is the best time to bring it out in the spring?
I live in Phoenix, AZ and have just bought my first potted Boug. It was gorgeous at the garden center but after only a week, the pink bracts are starting to dried out and have brown edges. It gets full sun most of day and is on our drip system. The soil seems moist but not wet. What could be going wrong so fast? Thanks..Susan
.
Tree shape
I live in Florida and have a beautiful bougainvillea that is planted in the ground ..it was so woody and too big so I had it pruned back to about 4 inches and its starting to get good growth but I would like to train it to be more tree like than bushy..please advise..thank you Sharon
We have a villa in the Algarve, Portugal where there is a beautiful purple mature (at least 20 years old) bougainvillea.
This year the leaves have developed a white sticky powder and many of the branches appear lifeless, it is a sorry sight.
Has anyone come across this problem and is there a solution.
Hello,
I live in Fort Lauderdale, FL and I have a beautiful Bougainvillea that I planted about one and a half years ago. It had blooms on it when I planted it. It has grown over eight feet high and vines over beautifully, lush and healthy. It has not bloomed since the initial flowers fell off. My neighbor has the same colored Bougainvillea and it blooms a lot. I know that they do not like much water, so the only water it gets is when it rains, which it does a lot during our rainy season (but still does not bloom during the dry season). I cannot understand why mine and my neighbor’s are both outside, get the same rain, but mine does not bloom. I love the color and planted it with love to bloom. Please help!
Thank you – Will try both of those things. Sun umbrella’s are going up for my sensitive bougainvilleas.
TRANSPLANTING BOUGAINVILLEA
I need help!
I recently replanted two bouganvillea’s from a pot into the ground in my Los Angeles garden. There were two plants in the same pot which I separated and planted in different spots. After a week in the ground neither are looking very happy and I’m worried I damaged the root ball’s when replanting them. I’m hoping there is something I can do to rescue these???? Any help would surely be appreciated – It is so sad seeing these once bountiful plants looking so droopy…. Thanks in advance.
Charlie
I live in southwest florida. When should I prune, fertilize and water the bougainvillea? Thank you.
http://hendry.ifas.ufl.edu/HCHortNews_Bougainvillea.htm
I live in Palm Springs, CA (desert) with no gardening experience. I just returned from a two week trip. Most of my boug’s new growth leaves have been munched. Also, there is some fine webbing on some leaves and there was a lot of black soot on the pavement below. I haven’t detected bougainvillea looper when I looked close, but that’s what it probably is. Can you confirm? I didn’t know if it was something else because of the webbing and all the black soot on the ground. Thanks.
Scale
I live in San Diego CA and have 3 boug vines espaliered on a wall. They are 30 yrs. old. For the past 2 years the central plant has dropped its leaves, new growth appears, then drops while immature. The leaf surface appears ‘bumpy’. The adjacent plants are healthy and vigorous. We sprayed with Spinnosad. Deep watered. No joy. To break this cycle we recently cut the plant back to bare trunks. Any idea what is happening?
.
I brought two very small Bougainvillea plants back to Massachusetts with me, planted them in full sun, in a large pot, and gave them some plant food and a little manure. They have grown like crazy in two months, and are nearly ten times their original size with huge, lush, dark green leaves. The problem is that there is not a single fuschia flower on it. It’s growing so well, but why no flowers? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
i have a boug tree & want to transplant to another location in the yard, when is a good time of the year to do this? It is on the south side now,but does not get enough sun,I want to put it on the north side where it will get more sun.
I received an old Bonsai Bougainvillea today and when it was unpacked, found only a few (under 5) leaves attached. The entire tree, save the 5 leaves is bare. It is mid-summer here in SW PA. I watered the plant and placed it in a moderately sunny location. What do I need to do to promote new leaves, if anything.
Yellow leaves
I have 2 bougs vines on each post of my pergola, in late spring they were doing great beautiful dark green leaves and loads of fuschia blooms, now one of the vines is doing bad, it’s leaves are turning yellow and no blooms. I live in zone 9 and they get full sun. I water and feed both of them the same. I have loam soil over the clay. Why is one of them doing bad? Thank you
I live in northeastern Oregon and purchased a bougainvillea and the leaves are yellowing and falling off. The blooms are beautiful. What do I do? Thank you
In the postings, it is suggested using 1/2 strength fertilizer to boost growth of the bracts/flowers on Bougainvillea. At one point, 10-10-10 was noted and at another 20-20-20 was noted. So, does this mean taking a 20-20-20 solution and dilute it by half according to the package directions? i.e., 1/2 t instead of 1 t to gallon of water? Thanks.
I received a bougainvillea hanging basket for mothers day and it was beautiful then. But, it hasn’t had many new blooms. Just a bunch of long spindly branches with old spiky shoots on them. Do I cut the whole branch back, or just the spikes?
THRIPS
I live in Mexico and have various different bougainvilleas. I have discovered that they are all infected by thrips, as are most other bougainvilleas in neighboring gardens. How can I get rid of them and will they kill the plants? Sheridan Sansegundo
I live in Dallas and have a beautiful fuschia boug that I take in the garage every winter. It bounces back in the spring and looks great all summer. This spring it was magnificent until the first hot day in the low 90s. Knowing it needs to be a bit stressed, I was watering every 2 days and had given it 3-month food about a month ago. (It also sits in direct sun.) After the first hot day (when several of my petunias wilted and died), it dropped all of its flowers. It still has leaves. Will it bloom again? What can I do to prompt more blooming? Is this normal?
I have 2 Bougainvillea vines in red that are about 4 feet tall. I originally was going to train them to be on a trellis, but cannot do that. Can I train them to be bushes and use in the landscape that way? Thank you
Scale
I have a bougainvillea that is a couple of months old, showing new growth, but with the new leaves have black spots (small black raised dots, looking like bugs), as well as beige colored flakes sprinkled all over the stamen and leaves???? What is it?
Yes, and they are definitely tiny bugs. When I scraped them, they came off easily and are dark green, but also there are light green ones, which I couldn’t detect until I scraped them off.
I have a pink bougainvillea but i live in Glasgow, Scotland. the Weather is normally cold and wet. I do not have a garden but my kitchen gets allot of sunlight. It was fine for a week but the pink leaves are falling off. any ideas of what i should do??
HI Claire
I need a bit more info. Is this a new plant that you just recently purchased?
Yes. only had it about 2 weeks now. its quite small but had a bunch of pink flowers at the top and the bottom. all of the bottom flowers have fallen off and a few of the top ones. i live in a flat so there is no option of me putting it outside.
I live in Athens Georgia and have just purchased 4 hanging boug. baskets. The temps are supposed to go down to 44 and 42 the next couple of nights. Should I bring the baskets into the garage or will they be OK in those temps? I don’t want them to lose their blooms – they are beautiful right now and we are having warms days.
Leaf spot disease
I live in Scotland and I have my bougainvilla in the conservatory, I have noticed that there is small brown spots with a reddish brown colour circling the spots on the leaves I have been doing what the care instructions tell me, please help?
Hello,
I live in Marseilles, France, and am going to plant some Bougainvilleas into the soil. Would it be OK if I use a trellis or pergola for support, are this plant wind-sustaining? We have strong winds pretty often.
Thank you,Tanya
Bougainvillea care. I live in San Diego, CA. My bourgainvillea is being eaten by something, perhaps called bougainvillea looper. What specifically is the best treatment?
I live in Spain and now have an apartment with a garden. The soil is clay. Our neighbours have several bougainvillea that are only two years old and are thriving and in full flower even though their garden gets just as waterlogged as ours. I have bought six bougainvillea but after two months they have dropped all flowers and leaves and all that is left is three foot stems on each plant.
What do I do now? I would be grateful for any advice.
This is the best site I have come across after days and weeks of searching.
Trish
Cold damage
Bougainvillea care
I am in Orlando, FL. My potted bougainvillea was flowering beautifully until a frost. I moved it into my garage for the cold nights but it still dropped a lot of its blooms and leaves. Now the blooms are coming back, but the leaves don’t seem to be. Should I just leave it alone, or fertilize, or prune, or what?
I live in Singapore and have got 2 pots of orange bougainvillea plants on my balcony. They get healthy amount of sunlight but are not growing well recently. Despite fertilizing and pruning, the new leaves come out wrinkly and remain so even when they grow bigger. I’m not sure if it’s a problem of over-watering or if there are bugs (no white spots so far though). Pls advise!
PLANTING BOUGAINVILLEA
I live 30 miles west of Houston in the Fulshear TX area. In early November ’07, I purchased 8 beautiful Red Bouganvillea plants already trained up in tree form. Ranging from 6 ft to 3 ft heights. They are in good healthy condition and blooming. They currentlly are in the large plastic containers I purchased them in i.e., 65, 35 and 20 gallon containers per tree size. I want to plant them in the yard in full sun. The grower told me to use super phosphate and Lime to neutralize the alkalinity of the soil in this area to treat the holes for planting. The grower is located over 100 miles from me. Two questions. How exactly do I go about treating the holes for planting and should I wait until spring to transplant them in the ground in this climate area. I still have them in movable state in the pots. Any tips for protecting my investment appreciated.
Hey, great site. I live in Bali and I have 2 mature Bourgainvilleas which I recently repotted. Unfortunately both have responded badly with all leaves falling off and new ones emerging only to die off a few days later. I think the roots may have been damaged in the repotting exersize. Can anyone offer any advice on how to recover a plant with damaged roots.
Many thanks
Russell
Wintering bougainvillea
I have 2 beautiful Bougainvillea, I live in the very north east of Louisiana, can they be planted in the ground? Or do they need to remain in containers?
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My husband and I bought 4 plants in hanging baskets in Winston Salem, NC. I want to keep them in pots but I am not sure they will grow in this climate. Any help is much appreciated. Tammie
Pruning bougainvillea
I have a Bougainvillea that survived the Katrina flood. It’s been almost 2 years and the plant is bigger and more beautiful than ever. I want to move it to my new house but it is growing in a wooden tub that is about to fall apart. What is the best way to move it. Will I ruin it if I cut it down before transporting? I has spread all over the back yard. I would love to move it as is but it seems impossible. Any suggestions?
Rosemarie, St. Bernard La. Now in Hammond.
Color change
I am trying to pot perfectly red bougainvillea. I’ve been told B. Karst is best and have bought a few. Have noticed that when brackets are young they are red and then mature to a pinker color. Is soil ph an avenue to explore to keep them on the redder side?
CAN I MIX SOIL AND EPSON SALT AND BUT TO THE ROOT OF THE BOUGAINVILLEA FOR FOOT?
Color change
I have a large pot of fuschia boug. that I bring inside every winter. I get two bloomings inside. I took it outside this spring and it is now raspberry/red poppy colored. (Which doesn’t go with my hot pink garden) How do I get the fuschia color back. Miracid? Thanks
Propagate bougainvillea
can you cut off a branch of the bougainvillea and get it to root….what is
the proper way to get it to root from a
cutting? thanks
NO BLOOMS
We planted a Bougainvillea last August in our backyard. We live in Mexico in the mountains where there are some very beautiful Bougainvillea plants. It bloomed right away but hasn’t flowered now for some time. It looks like it may have bugs because the leaves do not look healthy-curled and shriveled. However, I did notice that there is some new growth. Should we spray it with a pesticide or leave it and hope for the best.
I got my bougainvillea in Florida and It was in full bloom. We planted it in the yard in M.S its very tall now but has no flowers what so ever but has alot of large green leaves…and lots of thorns, other than that it looks good! Just no blooms.
It may be the new location-not enough sun. In addition, they bloom under stressful conditions; need to be root bound and dry. The rootbound part is difficult if planted in the ground but you may be able to control the amount of moisture(unless its raining all the time). Let it dry out between watering to much moisture will promote green growth and no flowers. If your plant is dry, try using a bloom boost fertilizer to stimulate blooming.
I got my bougainvillea in Florida and It was in full bloom. We planted it in the yard in M.S its very tall now but has no flowers what so ever but has alot of large green leaves…and lots of thorns, other than that it looks good! Just no blooms.
rd.stick@yahoo.com
DIANNA
1
I am in Phuket, Thailand and would like advice on care of Bougainvillea in this climate which is tropical. I have an automated 10 min twice a day sprinkler system for the garden and the soil has good drainage.
My gardener is watering the leaves of my plants – is this a good idea?
Can you share tips on dividing Bougainvillea. Mine is quite large (pot size is 2′ and I am worried it is getting root bound and would like to divide it properly) thanks
Pruning bougainvillea
I have a potted bougainvillea that has lost a lot of leaves and the branches that lost those leaves have dried up and died. It also has a fair amount of new growth in other areas – making the plant quite spotty. (some new growth some dead spots). What should I do so the plant is full of new growth?
MJF ( filla@sbcglobal.net / ) (IP: 70.255.0.195 )
Pruning Bougainvillea
We live in Houston, Texas. Our very mature bougainvillea has always bloomed great. But is was getting out of control size wise. I pruned in back hard in late March, after our last freeze. The leaves have all grown back, but no flowers yet (we usually had full flowers by now). Will I get flowers this year? Or did i prune too hard or too late?
John Vasi ( johnvasi@cox.net / )
I live in Southern California. I have a bougainvillea (red) in full sun. It’s at least 30 years old. I tried to get it to extend over a porch area by allowing branches to grow in that direction. After several years, the branches got woody and I get very sparse leaf growth. Can I prune back to the wood on these long branches (maybe 15 ft) to promote growth, or should I cut them off and promote new branches to cover the area I want?