AusBonsai

Hi all,

Late last year I trunk chopped a bougainvillea as you can see in the first photo. It exploded with growth which was awesome and since I'm happy with the trunk thickness I've eliminated the unwanted stems and left a branch on the right and 2 on the left (haven't decided which of the 2 I'm going to keep) as you can see in second photo.

My question is about thickening the branches. Do I leave the terminal buds and let them continue to grow significantly longer than wanted then cut it back to the desired length when it's thickened up and become more woody?

Or should I cut back now when they are still green and thin?

I've read alot about leaving the first lateral branch in order to thicken the main branch how ever there is obviously no lateral branch yet. Will these developed later by letting the branch grow out or should the terminal bud be removed now to encourage lateral buds?

I've tried my best to read as much as I can but couldnt find an answer to this.

Thanks in advance

Greg
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