large bougainvillea cuttings

[PWC]

I was volunteered to remove a couple of bougainvillea's by my wife a few months back so I dutifully complied and as anybody involved in Bonsai would do I took a few pieces for cuttings. Not the small easy to handle ones I thought I would try some bigger ones. Not that I particularly wanted them more to see if I could get them to strike.

They were taken from sections a couple of feet above the roots as the base of the trees were growing in between two courses of blocks that made up a boundary wall between two commercial properties about 5 feet above round level. Not the smartest place to grow them. As you could imagine they had and continued to be a problem. They had previously fractured the main water supply to one of the building as there was an old repair to the 20mm copper pipe. Should have been removed then and was threatening a repeat performance as the trunk kept expanding.

The two cuttings 200mm and 150 mm were bare sections of trunk placed in a mix of coarse sand and potting mix in a Styrofoam box with a large plastic bag covering to keep in the humidity. Shoots started to emerge after two weeks and within three months had to be removed as the growth was pushing through the bag. I had opened sections to allow the growth out but as the wet season was in full swing and no drainage in the box, I had now choice but to pot them up.

Not planning the whole exorcize I had no pots so put them bot into the only thing that was available. I will let them grow and decided if they a worth the continuing on with in the future. It was more a see what happens spontaneous thing ( you know how it happens) Rather than a plan, sometimes I just can't help myself.

But if anyone has the opportunity and wants to give it a go with good material it is pretty easy if I could do it so give it a go!

[melbrackstone]

There's a ten year project!

[legoman_iac]

Hard to get a true sense of size without the standard traditional ausbonsai unit of measure ... beer can/bottle.

Looks cool, but heavy ... I'd recommend building a base with castor wheels, for ease of transport, rotation, etc.

Nice find, keen to see updates!

[jamesocallaghan]

They look very old, that's a great find, they are a wonderful plants when flowering

[PWC]

There's a ten year project!

Hi Mel, At this pint I have not reached ten years with anything( Bonsai related that is), It was just a trial to see if I could. If they give me something to work with I will give it a go. Because of the size to get any real scale they will need to double in height that will be a challenge. Might be able to do a bit of carving to reduce the mass up top and get a bit of taper, they are pretty soft and prone to rot though.

Hard to get a true sense of size without the standard traditional ausbonsai unit of measure ... beer can/bottle.

Just for you Legoman, Standard UOM . Turned it around the other side has more character I think.

IMG_4690.png

They look very old, that's a great find, they are a wonderful plants when flowering

Must be fairly old as these were taken a couple of feet above the soil level, just the standard purple, but if I can develop a good canopy it could look nice. Got to get there first!


Just a note for those posting pictures the limit is now 2MB.

[Jan]

I look forward to seeing these develop. They certainly have put on growth quickly and the trunks have to bumps and barnacles to look very effective carved. They'd make some real Disney/Fairy Tale ancient hollow trunks when carved.

I love bougainvillea but my climate is way too cold for them to survive. I'll just have to keep enjoying those that live elsewhere.

Jan