Collected Bougainvilleas

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greg27
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Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by greg27 »

Yesterday I had the opportunity to collect two bougainvilleas just before the bobcat came in to level the yard.

Photos are here because it's a bit too early on a Sunday to stuff around with getting things under 250KB: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wXqQEvqoKctVA7vu6

After collecting I took a chainsaw to the bottom to reduce things a bit; hopefully I haven't taken too much off for these guys to survive. The smallest one is a bit I chainsawed off and has no roots, but I stuck it in a pot just to see if it does anything! They're in a mix of premium potting mix + orchid mix which seems to be doing a good job of not letting these guys sit in water.

The hardest part of the day was putting that beer back in the fridge until the chainsaw went away. Luckily in the last photo it's empty :)

Any advice on keeping these guys alive would be very much appreciated!
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by Keels »

Nice work Greg. Im keen to see how they progress and recover. Im keen to see how the small stump progresses especially. I know hawthorns stumps recover when they have no roots etc so keen to see how it will go. Any tree i collect i keep it in morning sun then afternoon shade until it really starts to establish itself in the pot. Anyway Good luck with them :fc:
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by jehsiboi »

I recently watched a marai live stream on bougies the guy ryan got in to do the demo said that when collecting stumps you should try and leave at least a couple of inches of root from the bottom of the stump other wise there will be die back and there is no way to stop the dead wood from decaying. Also advised against taking cuttings larger that 1 inch in diameter.

Jesse
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by greg27 »

jehsiboi wrote: November 24th, 2019, 3:09 pm when collecting stumps you should try and leave at least a couple of inches of root from the bottom of the stump other wise there will be die back and there is no way to stop the dead wood from decaying. Also advised against taking cuttings larger that 1 inch in diameter.
Yep could be a bit suss with the bottom, the way it was initially I would've struggled to get it nicely into any sort of pot. I'm definitely not holding my breath over the cutting either - I literally went back and dug that bit out of the green bin to pot it up; I figure there's nothing to lose by giving it a try.

Many crossed fingers!
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by jehsiboi »

As long as you keep these moist they will root but any part of the wood that doesn't will die and rot. It might turn out looking awesome but it will happen so just be prepared. Like you said nothing to lose and you might get some really cool hollows. I hope it works out and keep us posted.

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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by greg27 »

I haven't been holding my breath over these guys, but very encouraging to see a few buds starting to appear on one of the stumps in a couple if different spots. This is on the stump that had a tiny branch with three leaves on it, which also happened to be my favourite.

Nothing on the other stump or the bonus cutting, but these are still green under the bark (I really need to stop picking holes in them!).
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by greg27 »

The stump with the buds that I posted previously has been powering along very nicely; there are buds or leaves on pretty much every part of it. No signs of life from the other, but it's still green under the bark so I'm not writing it off just yet.

Loving the colours of these leaves.
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by deeno »

Hi greg27,

Even with no roots you could still have a chance with that second one.

I’d heard from a few sources that Bougainvillea cuttings would strike even from large diameter, so when I was able to grab 5 pretty large cuttings (2-3” diameter and about 700-900mm long) from a roadside green waste pickup I jumped at the chance. I’m not sure how long they had been sitting there before I got them but I put them all in a big pot of potting mix, sealed the other ends with PVA glue, covered them with a extra large shopping bag and kept the soil moist. It took a month or so but 4 out of the 5 sprouted new growth and all have gone on to develop good branches.

I hope you have the same luck with that other stump. Would be great to see that grow into something nice!
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by greg27 »

deeno wrote: January 26th, 2020, 1:37 am I hope you have the same luck with that other stump. Would be great to see that grow into something nice!
Thanks mate, it looks like the second stump is just starting to push out a few buds in various places so it looks like it could be on the road to recovery.
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by greg27 »

Slow off the mark, but definitely some buds on the second stump that I was almost ready to write off.
00100lrPORTRAIT_00100_BURST20200129071740098_COVER.jpg


It's mate is powering along nicely.
IMG_20200129_071913.jpg
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by greg27 »

Quick photo update of these guys. Still no buds on that "bonus bit", but it's still alive under the bark.
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by juan73870 »

They are a couple of thumping great trunks there, Greg! Looking forward to seeing more progress into the future.
And c'moooon bonus bit!! :fc:
:whistle: :whistle: :whistle: :whistle: :whistle: ;) :whistle:
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by greg27 »

Yesterday I started wiring some of the new growth down. I'll tweak a bit but will mostly leave these alone to bush up a bit now I think.

I wrote off the bonus bit a couple of weeks ago - pretty sure it was dead, and I'm running out of room!
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by greg27 »

I love my natives, but I really do like the way these bougies power out the growth... and now the flowers!
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Re: Collected Bougainvilleas

Post by greg27 »

I know it's not the best time of year to be working on bougies, but the sun's shining and I'm still working on the whole "patience" thing.

I've been struggling to come up with a direction for these stumps. This morning I repotted one at an angle which I think works better than just straight up. I added a bit of wire but will work on this more after winter.
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