AusBonsai

Hi,

this is to those experienced Bougy collectors/growers:

My uncle has a bougainvillea that he wants to get rid of and I have obliged

I have never collected there trees before and was wondering if anyone has any pointers/tips concerning:

1. when is the best time of the year to dig? is now (early spring in Perth) a good time or should I wait until late spring-early summer?

2. what is the best mix for them to be put into after collecting? I read people talking about coarse sand but I am unsure what that means. does it mean actual sand or coarse gravel? can I use potting mix or even the sand the tree is currently growing in?

cheers

Adrian

Now would be a good time to collect. I use diatomite or 5mm crushed concrete for collected trees and liberally sprinkle Seamungus on the top. Then water in the morning with Seasol and in the afternoon with water for at least 3 weeks. Morning sun position is good. Don't worry about getting too many roots - they are like weeds and will re grow.

Hi BF, thanks for the advice. Just to clarify the potting medium issue, its hard to get diatomite here in WA so could I use blue metal to substitute?

cheers

Adrian

Well it's free draining enough - may just need to keep up the water a bit more. I believe diatomite will hold more water and I think the crushed concrete would too. Give it a try and keep us posted

ADO wrote:Hi BF, thanks for the advice. Just to clarify the potting medium issue, its hard to get diatomite here in WA so could I use blue metal to substitute?

cheers

Adrian

Blue metal will not hold any moisture at all and is heavy as.
The purpose of any soil component is to provide some tangible benefit to the mix, Water holding, Nutrient holding, adding Airspaces and opening up the mix.

Components like Granite / Blue metal, River rock, open the mix up but do nothing else. For me I fo could not use Diatomite, would use Pumice, Scoria, or pine bark instead. Any of these will open mix up , but also provide both water an nutrient holding benefits as well. As an additional Benefit is that they are sll substantially lighter than granite or gravel.

Ken

kcpoole wrote:

ADO wrote:Hi BF, thanks for the advice. Just to clarify the potting medium issue, its hard to get diatomite here in WA so could I use blue metal to substitute?

cheers

Adrian

Blue metal will not hold any moisture at all and is heavy as.
The purpose of any soil component is to provide some tangible benefit to the mix, Water holding, Nutrient holding, adding Airspaces and opening up the mix.

Components like Granite / Blue metal, River rock, open the mix up but do nothing else. For me I fo could not use Diatomite, would use Pumice, Scoria, or pine bark instead. Any of these will open mix up , but also provide both water an nutrient holding benefits as well. As an additional Benefit is that they are sll substantially lighter than granite or gravel.

Ken

Hi Ken, thanks for info. I must admit that the thought of hauling grow boxes filled with blue metal around the backyard is less than appealing.
I keep orchids so I have a lot of medium to small grade bags of pine bark. I have used pine bark, small gravel (1-3 mm) and perlite in bonsai pots with great results. might try that minus the gravel in the Bougainvillea grow boxes.

cheers

Adrian

I find that especially with cuttings and newly collected bougainvilleas that a good portion of organic material in the potting mix really helps them to recover.

Even if your not a user of organics in your main soil mix, when recovering collected bougs I have personally founds that organic material seems to promote and accelerate root formation in bougs when collected.

I find grinding up some sphagnum moss and sprinkling it around the root zone before packing it in with mix also helps ALOT.

Just my experience, good luck with the material.

Biofusion wrote:I find that especially with cuttings and newly collected bougainvilleas that a good portion of organic material in the potting mix really helps them to recover.

Even if your not a user of organics in your main soil mix, when recovering collected bougs I have personally founds that organic material seems to promote and accelerate root formation in bougs when collected.

I find grinding up some sphagnum moss and sprinkling it around the root zone before packing it in with mix also helps ALOT.

Just my experience, good luck with the material.

Thanks BF, much appreciated advice.

can you recommend a suitable organic blend that might be the go? currently I use coir peat and perlite in my cutting mixes.
To that I add small to medium sized orchid bark my trees in colanders and for a large juniper in a training pot. all are thriving.

Bougy Fan wrote:Now would be a good time to collect. I use diatomite or 5mm crushed concrete for collected trees and liberally sprinkle Seamungus on the top. Then water in the morning with Seasol and in the afternoon with water for at least 3 weeks. Morning sun position is good. Don't worry about getting too many roots - they are like weeds and will re grow.

Crushed concrete? Have you ever done a pH test on your mix that contains it? I definately agree on the diatomite but would be hesitant on the conrete on any plants that may be sensitive to pH, like azaleas and the like. I would assume the concrete would lead to a high pH, but please correct me if i'm wrong.

Any good potting mix really. A premium potting mix is best.