Bougainvillea tip?

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Andrew F
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Bougainvillea tip?

Post by Andrew F »

Read this on another forum, and would like everyones thoughts on this method and our climate:
Russell Coker wrote: John's post about trimming bougainvilleas that are brought inside for winter protection reminded me of something...

When I was a kid I had a great aunt (the one who first told be about bonsai) with quite a green thumb. She lived here in Mobile and I lived a couple of hours east of here in Florida. Without a greenhouse she always had beautiful bougainvilleas. Her trick was to let them dry out completely in late fall, they'd drop all of their leaves and look like pots of dead sticks. When they were smaller she'd put them in an unheated upstairs bedroom, and when they got too big to move she'd stick them in the corner of her garage and maybe put a space heater in with them on nights that were going well below freezing. So there'd they sit for 3 or 4 months until she dragged them back outside and watered them when it warmed up enough. They'd pop out in full flower without a green leaf on them, then grew like weeds the rest of the summer.

Anyway, seems like an easy way to store them in the winter AND have a spectacular flower show in the spring. Anyone ever try this?

R
Has anyone tried anything like this before???
Would defoliating achieve the same outcome???

Some inspiration:

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Glenda
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Re: Bougainvillea tip?

Post by Glenda »

A few years ago my family and I visited Launceston. The motel where we stayed had a garden full of bouganvillea, all in full bloom. I didn't know they would grow so far south. The motel owner said they gave them no special treatment, just let them grow. As we drove around, we saw lots of bougs down there, and some in Hobart as well.

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Re: Bougainvillea tip?

Post by Paulneill »

I have read about this technique of tricking a tree into thinking it not getting any water. The tree thinks it's a gonner so it tries to reproduce and promotes a shari load of flowers. Its a technique that could be practiced on un trained trees before trying it on some better bonsai.
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Andrew F
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Re: Bougainvillea tip?

Post by Andrew F »

Paulneill wrote:I have read about this technique of tricking a tree into thinking it not getting any water. The tree thinks it's a gonner so it tries to reproduce and promotes a shari load of flowers. Its a technique that could be practiced on un trained trees before trying it on some better bonsai.
Thanks for Chiming in Paul, I'm going to try on a guinea pig tree before i do it on any i consider bonsai.
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Re: Bougainvillea tip?

Post by Dearis »

So, are you doing any work? Or just laying in the shade and drinking beer? :whistle:


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Re: Bougainvillea tip?

Post by KIRKY »

Hi Dearis,
Andrew F hasn’t posted since 2016 so you may be right.
Cheers
Kirky
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