zeeshan112
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Leggy Bouganvillea

Hello Friends

This is my bougainvillea. As you can see, the plant is a leggy one.

1) Can anyone please advise me how to make it bushier?
2) Will it be fine if I cut the side branches (marked in yellow arrow) in an attempt to make it bushier? Since the branches are jutting far out from the main stem, I kind of find it unsightly.
3) I want my bougainvillea to climb and produce more bracts. Can I achieve this by probably tying a thread or something to one of the branches so that it can climb?

Please help.
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john gault
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Location: Atlantic Beach, Fl. (USDA Hardiness Zone 9a)

My advice would be exactly the same that I gave here: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 16&t=71264

Copied below

I don't know anything about that plant, but my first thought would be to plant it in the ground, if not the ground, at least a much larger container.

I got a Yucca plant from a neighbor, which was in a container not much bigger than yours and it was only a single plant that was about 2-3 feet in height -- she had it for at least a year in that container. However, once I planted it in the ground it started growing numerous off-shoots and the largest is ~5 ft; this all happened in about a year.

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rainbowgardener
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Legginess in plants is usually a sign that they are not getting enough sunshine, so they are stretching to try to reach more. Bouganvillea is a full sun plant and your is backed up against a solid wall, so I would pretty much guarantee it is not getting all day sun.

Move the pot out to a sunnier location (and then re pot into a larger container as jg suggested).

zeeshan112
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Thanks rainbowgardener and John :) I will move the plant to a sunnier location. What about the climbing part? Can I use any method to make the plant climb onto something? And can I cut the side branches?

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applestar
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I don't understand -- bougainvillea is a vine so "leggy" doesn't seem like an anomaly.

Also, I wouldn't cut off the "side branches" because that would mean you are going to bet on the single main trunk and you never know what might happen to cause one branch or other to die off. Sometimes, the side-branches will grow better and more energetically and overtake the original main trunk. I would use a fan-shaped trellis and support/maintain insurance side branch/vines just in case. You can cut them off at a later time if they become unnecessary.

Keep tying the branches to the trellis for now. From what I have seen, bougainvillea doesn't have tendrils to hold with. Either they wrap on by interweaving around supporting structures and intertwining to itself or else they set down roots into crevices in the support (please someone confirm).

I agree this container looks too small to sustain a climbing bougainvillea. So if you want a larger plant, you should uppot while it is still manageable -- and I'm talking huge cement or 1/2 barrel-size planter at the very least ...or plant in the ground if you live where they can be grown without winter worries.

'Bougies' is what the Bonsai growers call these, so I do believe you can maintain smaller root ball by root pruning, etc. if you intend to keep it in a container.

zeeshan112
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Thanks a lot applestar for all the information!

imafan26
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Bougainvillea grows like a viny shrub. It will get about 15 ft high curl over and create a tunnel you can walk through. Don't put it in the ground unless you really want it there. It is hard to move once it gets large.

If you want it bushy cut it back about 4 inches below where you want the trunk to be. The vertical branch is a side shoot already so all you can do is cut off the remaining stub below and all of the suckers below where you want the canopy to be.
When the new shoots come out pinch them when they are about 4 inches long and then they will continue to branch. You will need to maintain the shape with shearing or pruning. Keep it in a pot, off the ground and move it often to make sure it does not try to root. Repotting is tricky so you need to try to keep the root ball intact. Once it is older and the rootball is harder it will be easier to trim the roots to keep it in the same pot. Bougainvilleas like the sun. Since yours is blooming it is probably warm enough and sunny enough. If you did not have enough light, the branch would still be growing. Bougainvilleas are nice plants if you have the space for them. They make a good barrier fence since only an idiot would try to climb through a bougainvillea hedge.



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