AusBonsai

Hey all,
So i've been eyeing off this plant every time i visit my nana and eventually ended up asking her if i could have it... she said yes!
i fed it up and watered it thorougly whenever i went to visit her and cut it back around 2 weeks ago.
Today i visited her again but with all my tools with me haha and dug it out of its huge pot that must have weiged a ton or more ( i had to roll the thing to move it) anyway i got it out and it had a massive root underneath... away that went with some work with my saw
i hosed of the rootball and sat it in a bucket of water untill i left my nana's place. ( i chopped back a geisha girl and a snow flake that were starting to take over her yard while she was on holiday) so this was my reward
Anyway heres A LOT OF PICTURES i think it could make a nice clump style bonsai or maybe see if theres more than one plant in there?
sorry about bad quality pics only had an ipod

Have a good look at it, and if there are any stumps, lumps or other obviouls bits that do not belong, cut them back and remove them so you can see what you have clearly.

Then look at each trunk and see if any are definitely out of character and then remove them as well.

Clump style works well for Bougy
here is my own viewtopic.php?f=133&t=9917&hilit=+bougainvillea

Ken

looks Great Ken!
Being a beginner im more inclined to let it recover for a bit but it would probably be alright to remove the unwanted and crossing suff anyway
any chance that yours has flowered ?

I would just leave it for now - do you have it in a free draining mix ? Just give it seasol and wait until it shows signs of recovery. If you have any large scars seal them as they are susceptible to rot. They flower readily in pots - just make sure to feed them.

Hey Bougy Fan !
i dont know if we have any seasol at the moment but i remember seeing some somewhere in the house
Now i could just be going crazy but i swear this has started growing new shoots already ... i only collected it yesterday and potted it up yesterday so do bougies really grow that fast ...? probably just stored energy but... its in the bonsai mix you get at bunnings, seems to drain pretty good and all my other trees are in that and they seem happy will eventually start mixing my own soil ....one day down the track.

Wait for a week or two - new growth then will mean it is surviving. These things are pretty well bullet proof and I have had good results digging stumps. Do you know what colour the bracts are ?

i figured if its pushing growth in about that long it will be right
from memory there darkish purple

I'm in the process of convincing my dad to part ways with the bougy in his yard Its massive, and is in totally the wrong spot (as I keep trying to tell him ) but I'm dying to get my hands on one, they look like a lot of fun to work with... specially for a beginner

Definately look forward to see what you do with this one

Keep convincing Jason!!
This is the biggest piece of stock i have (its still not very big, just all my other trees are nearly all at starter tree level) but its quickly becoming my favourite tree. I'd love to get more stock like this will keep this thread updated regularly

Mate Ive tried the bunnins bonsai soil, and im afraid to say its a tree killer. It eventually compacts way too tight hence no drainage and too much moisture holding if you get any in there. Im talking over the course of 7 to 10 months but believe me, youll want it in some good soil the next repot. (Dont panic, im not saying your bougy will die, just that bunnings bonsai mix is no good in my experience!) good luck mate all the best!

-Mo

I didnt think it would be super flash but its doing its job for now so thats okay by me I'm going to start looking into mixing my own soil eventually and will probably make a thread about it when the time comes. Cheers for the info Mo i'll keep an eye on the soil to make sure it doesnt compact to much

No mine has not flowered yet, have no idea why

Thats strange ken this one had flowers on it about a month or two ago ...

KyBonzai wrote:I didnt think it would be super flash but its doing its job for now so thats okay by me I'm going to start looking into mixing my own soil eventually and will probably make a thread about it when the time comes. Cheers for the info Mo i'll keep an eye on the soil to make sure it doesnt compact to much

Yeah, just keep an eye on it. I've just recently finished repotting a Baeckea that I had in bunnings soil and it wasn't a pretty site... when I upended it, it was one solid block of soil. Trying to replace the soil was very difficult without damange a lot of the roots

I repotted it about 3/4 weeks ago, and it is going off since being in the new soil.

Just make sure the water keeps running through freely, as mine would just pool on top of the soil, and very very slowly drain through

Just make sure you dont over water it. It is a sure way to kill it. Wait for the soil to dry 1-2cm before you water. Keep it for few days in the shade and after that put it on full sun. It is normal for the leaf of bougie to drop after transpalnting, if they have not then You have more than enough roots.