New to gardening and need some tips on Bougainvillea

[Rayleigh]

Hi. I'm new here and also new to gardening. My mom had a few potted bougainvillea and they have not been taken care very well for the past few months. A couple of them do bloom but only a few flowers do bloom. Others do not bloom at all but the leaves are still growing.

All of the pots had very little soil (around half pot) so I decided to refill them with some soil that I bought from a nursery nearby my area. After refilling them, I noticed that water seems to drain out quite slower in some pots. When it's raining, those pots would be flooded with water and it takes some time for it to drain out. Is it normal or do I need to do something about it?

As I mentioned earlier, these bougainvillea were not really taken care of properly in the past. Some of them look almost dead as it has very few leaves growing on them and the branches look kind of dried up. I don't really know whether it's really dead or still alive as I have no experience in gardening. So maybe someone here can be kind enough to enlighten me on this matter.

Another thing. I also notice that there was this another dead looking plant but it has some leaves still attached to it. The thing is, I think that there is a hole on it's stem near the roots and it seems to me that some ants have made it's nest in it. I remembered seeing a lot of ants crawling out of that hole. Will that be the reason why the plant looks dead?

One more thing. Can a moderator help me delete the post in the link: [url]https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19187[/url] as I decided to move it to this section.

[a0c8c]

I'll give you some tips, and then hopefully others can chime in for better tips. They need a good amount of room, I'm making that mistake now. They should be in the ground, not in pots. They can get quite large, infact I've seen some at around 8ft tall. They need well draining soil, so once it gets cold I'd repot them completely(in the ground!). They like to dry out in between waterings, so if it doesn't drain well the roots will rot quickly. Mine only seem to grow when I forget to water them(I left for a week, and they never got watered, but doubled in size). Your's sound like they need to be cut back, so that they can regrow stronger, but I'm not entirely sure. The one with the hole with ants in it its probably not going to make it. Hope his helps.

[Rayleigh]

But I read before in some websites that Bougainvillea do well in pots.

Btw, in my country, it's rain and shine the whole year. There is no four seasons here.

[rainbowgardener]

I will delete the duplicate post.

In the meantime here's what I said on the other one:

Some pictures would help, but no containers should not have water staying in them for more than a few minutes. Sounds like you just piled new soil on top of what was there. But what was there could be full of roots or completely packed down, with the drain holes all clogged. Need to dump the whole thing, put a layer of gravel or broken flower pots in the bottom and then fresh soil. If the plant is potbound (ie the pot was full of roots with the outside ones running in circles around the pots) it needs a bigger container.

I'd trim off dead, dried up branches. If the plant is still alive, you will get back to where the branches are green inside and flexible.

Water standing in pots is the fastest way to kill most plants!

[Rayleigh]

Thanks for deleting the other thread.

Firstly, how do I differentiate dead and dried up branches from an alive one? I'm talking about those alive branches which are just old.

Is there any tip on taking the plant out from a terracotta pot? It's quite heavy to turn it over. And, if I were to repot the plants, can I reuse the soil that I have just filled in? It'll be a waste if I have to dump the new soil away too.

[Kisal]

The first thing I would do is get the plant(s) into pots of appropriate sizes. Consider yourself fortunate if the plants are in plastic pots. In that case, you can just lay the plant on its side and press on the pot as you roll it to and fro. That's usually enough to loosen the root ball, so it will just slip out.

If the plants are in pots made of ceramic, clay, or some other hard material, and they're root bound, it can be difficult to get them out. You may need someone to help you. Usually, you can use a blade ... perhaps a knife, or even something like a root saw or pruning saw ... to cut all around between the root ball and the sides of the container. After that, lay the container on its side and try to get the plant to slide out. Be careful about pulling on the stem of the plant, as that can break it away from the roots, which will kill it. I have, on occasion, even had to resort to breaking the old pot to remove a plant. (If you have to do that, save the pieces of broken pottery. They can be used when repotting other plants, as a way to improve drainage.)

Once you've successfully repotted the plants, you can test the stems to see what is living and what is not. Dead wood is brittle, so if you very gently bend a branch and it snaps off, you know it was dead. Then, using your pruners, cut it off close to the main stem of the plant. Sometimes, just scratching through the bark is sufficient, because you will see green. In that case, the branch is alive. If you're in doubt about a branch, just leave it alone. Eventually, after several months, you will see new growth on the plant. Any stems that are not putting forth new growth are probably dead.

[Rayleigh]

I hope I wouldn't need to break those pots as those are my mum's. Wouldn't want to get a long lecture from her. Like I said earlier, I just topped up my half-full pots with fresh soil about a week ago. Can I just dig them out and reuse them for re-potting instead of wasting them away?

After I trim my plants, is it advisable to just leave trimmed parts in my pot or should I just throw them away. (Btw, I do not have a compost pile and not thinking of having one for now as I won't be around to watch over it in the near future for a long time.)

Some pictures would help, but no containers should not have water staying in them for more than a few minutes. Sounds like you just piled new soil on top of what was there. But what was there could be full of roots or completely packed down, with the drain holes all clogged. Need to dump the whole thing, put a layer of gravel or broken flower pots in the bottom and then fresh soil. If the plant is potbound (ie the pot was full of roots with the outside ones running in circles around the pots) it needs a bigger container.

Before I piled new soil on top of what was there, most pots were only half-filled. So even if I the plants are pot bound back then, will it be considered pot bound if I re-pot them in the same pot? Logically, pot bound means roots covering the whole soil but now it's just half the soil, if you get what I mean.

[a0c8c]

I'd keep them, you can start a compost pile even if you're not there much. Thye take time anywas, usually months, so it's still a possibility. Or you can start one at home, and bring the branches home. We like reusing things here. As for being pot bound, you will always need a larger pot, even if the first was only half full. It' not just a matter of height, but width, so even though you double the soil in the pot it might not be wide enough and could easily get root bound again. If you can get a picture we can help you make a decision on pot size

[Kisal]

You need to remove the plants from their pots and put the new soil underneath the root ball. In other words, remove the plants, put fresh soil into the pots, place the old root ball in the pot, and fill in fresh soil around the root ball as needed.

To place the new soil on top of the old root ball can suffocate the roots, because they need air as well as water. The need for air at the roots is also why you have to have soil that drains well. You don't want large pockets of air around the roots, but air has to be able to get into the soil.

And I agree with a0c8c that you should use new, larger pots for the plants, even if the old pots were only half full. You still need to put the new soil in the pot first, though. Roots will grow out horizontally and/or down. They tend not to grow upward.

[Rayleigh]

btw, if I move the plants to a larger pot, it means that the plants will get bigger. But I wouldn't want a large bougainvillea. All I want is a bushy type which, in my opinion would be easier to maintain then a large one. So should I still re-pot it in a larger pot?

I'd keep them, you can start a compost pile even if you're not there much. Thye take time anywas, usually months, so it's still a possibility. Or you can start one at home, and bring the branches home. We like reusing things here

I will be going off in 3 months and wont be around for 2 years or more. So if I start one, then no one will be around to do the turning and moisturizing. So I think it's better not to start one yet. Maybe when I return then I'll do one.

I'll try to get a picture later as I do not own a digital camera. I'll need to borrow my sis's.