Bougainvillea Cutting, Fertilizing & Watering Instructions
The beautiful bougainvillea must care for maximum bloom. We have valuable care tips for you and your bougainvillea.
The bougainvillea, originally native to South America, has long had a place in the hearts of many hobby gardeners. The plant is particularly popular because of its beautiful bracts, which, with the right care, thrive again and again every year. But how do you look after the exotic bougainvillea properly? We present everything you need to know, from watering to fertilization and cutting.
Water the bougainvillea properly
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The optimal water supply for bougainvillea is essential for growth during the summer and should not be neglected. Always keep the substrate slightly moist so that the soil never dries out completely. But do not worry: if you forget to water for a short time or if nobody is found during your vacation, the plant will not die off immediately. Leaf loss should still be expected if the drought persists. Just like a lack of water, you should also avoid waterlogging in tropical plants to prevent root rot. During wintering, you should definitely keep watering to a minimum, otherwise, it could damage the plant.
Fertilizing bougainvillea: amount, frequency, and choice of fertilizer
A lack of nutrients can – as with many other potted plants – occur in bougainvillea and restrict growth and flower formation. The use of different fertilizers can therefore be quite useful. We present everything you need to know about fertilizing a bougainvillea.
How often and how much fertilize bougainvillea?
A good way to get fresh nutrients quickly is to repot the plant after it has hibernated. Commercially available, peat-free potting soil is very suitable for transplanting; adding compost or compost soil also improves the soil’s properties. Our peat-free Gardender organic potting soil is already enriched with all the important nutrients and offers your bougainvillea optimal starting conditions.
Which fertilizer to fertilize bougainvillea with?
The use of compost and other organic fertilizers makes sense for the bougainvillea in many ways. On the one hand, it is always the more environmentally friendly variant, which also provides long-term nutrients than mineral liquid fertilizers. In addition, you cannot over-fertilize in this way and protect the plant roots from being burned by mineral salts. Primarily organic fertilizer is also a very good choice for bougainvillea.
Cutting bougainvillea: this is how it’s done
The twigs are brown and the splendid bracts have faded – then for the hobby gardener, it’s time to get on with the scissors and cut the bougainvillea. It is often necessary to cut the exotic flower to keep it ready to flower. Therefore, in the following, we explain how the correct cropping works.
Cutting bougainvillea: when is it best to cut?
The first cut of the year should always be made directly after wintering if the bougainvillea has not yet sprouted. Additional light pruning can be done in the course of the year to increase the flowering potential. A final cut before wintering in autumn is also common to prepare the plant for the cold season.
Cutting bougainvillea: instructions on how to do it
When pruning the bougainvillea over the course of the year, do the following:
- In early spring, cut down leaves and shoots from the previous year so that the bougainvillea can continue to branch. Make sure that you do not cut away all of the branches, but always leave a third of the length. The colorful flowers of the exotic always grow on the new shoots of the plant, so the first cut is particularly important.
- In the course of the summer, shoots with faded and dried-up bracts should be cut off occasionally so that new branches can grow again. With this method, the flowering can be extended in summer and you can sometimes look forward to the splendor of the flowers until autumn.
- A final cut should be made to the plant in autumn so that it can be overwintered without any problems. Cut the bougainvillea a little more compactly so that it does not take up too much space in the winter quarters.
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