Bougainvillea help

15 years ago

Bought a Bougainvillea (Bambino)a couple of months ago and have a couple of questions. It was a neglected "orphan" at a local supermarket and was not in the best of condition. It has been left in the nursery pot (10" diam x 9" height)until I felt it was in better condition. The plant itself is about 15" wide x 13" tall and has a trunk diam of about 1".

Now the questions: I would like to place it in a deep pot, about exactly the same size, for now.(I have the pot) Is this a bad time to just slip pot it - if that's the term -? Realize that spring would be better. Also would like to prune out a couple of low branches, and if I understand correctly this can be done at anytime.

It will have to be kept indoors this winter. The weather here in the Black Hills can drop or climb 25 to 30 degrees in a matter of minutes and can get to -15Â°.

Would love to post a picture if I can figure out how.

Thanks

Comments (3)

lucy
15 years ago
Hi, slip potting can be done anytime, but if you cut lower branches, you'll be defeating a major method of fattening the lower trunk for eventual taper and an aged look. Such branches are often called 'sacrifice(s)' as they may well be cut off in time, once the final design is achieved but they don't fit in, but if you want the trunk to develop well, let them just grow out where they are and don't worry about how they look now (unless the present look is more important to you than the eventual one).
marshm
Original Author
15 years ago
Hello - Thanks for the reply. Nah, I don't need to cut the branches. Just got a little eager to see some progress. Poor little tree was in pretty bad shape, guess that's why I got it for 75% off. Looking really pretty good now, after being babied for a bit over two months. Did take out some small dead wood branches just to clean it up.

Major concern is coming winter and keeping indoor humidity high enough to bring the little gal thru.
Oops - forgot to mention - all my little trees have been ladies, just a quirk on my part, with the exception of one I named George. Got him on a visit to Dallas so he was my little Bush from Texas.

Another concern is changing pots. The planting medium in the pot seems to be pretty sandy and have a bit of a concern about it crumbling when the move is made. But we shall see.

Thanks a bunch, again.

marsh
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head_cutter
15 years ago
The first poster pretty much fixed you up. I will only add that they are pretty much a 'weed' as far as growing goes and will take a LOT of punishment. Here in Viet Nam they are spectacular all year round and grow to tree size. I have one large one, multiple trunk, that is probably 10-12 years old and was pot grown. The soil is the typical 'soil' for here--sand and cow manure (not much of the second part) the pot drains well and I only water it once a week or when the leaves begin to droop a little.

In your area and climate--even indoors in the winter--it will probably decline, get leggy and suffer some. In the summer, in full sun and with some care, it bounce back with no problem. Just keep it well drained, feed it heavy and you'll have a nice tree.