TomM
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Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 7:28 am
Location: Cedarville (SE of Utica) NY, USA

bougie question

I have a bougainvillea "Glabra" that is beginning to flower profusely - far more than it ever has before. Should I pinch off the branch tips now in order to keep compactness and direct energy into flower production?

In the past (I've had it about 5 years) it has only produced a couple bracts at one time. Must have done something right this year. :wink:

kdodds
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Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:07 pm
Location: Airmont, NY Zone 6/7

That or the early spring. Can't help you on the bracts, I've had mine 3 years and it's not flowered once. Supposedly, flowering in pot, unless everything is ideal, is not usual, especially not profuse flowering. I'd enjoy the show, dead head as they fade, and do your real trimming just before the end of summer (to get some growth in before the tree takes a vacation for fall and winter.

Mine's going down to Florida in a couple of weeks, and good riddance. Not that you cant keep them healthy indoors, they're actually pretty easy. But they grow tight and don't lignify quickly, but when they do, snapping is easy. So, wiring is a bear sometimes and trying to cut back to two or four leaves in the hopes of getting some more branching is pointless. If it's not growing so compact (starve it of light), the cutting's not the problem. Getting more than the last node to bud is. So, IMO, Bougies are chop, grow, chop, grow, their entire lives. "Fine" branching is pretty much non-existent unless you're shooting for a 2-3' tree.

TomM
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Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 7:28 am
Location: Cedarville (SE of Utica) NY, USA

I think that you're saying don't bother pinching back while it is in flower, just enjoy the show, prune hard later on. That's been my 'norm' anyway.

kdodds
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Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:07 pm
Location: Airmont, NY Zone 6/7

Yep. ;)



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