[bargainhunter]

I have been scrutinizing the bougainvilleas growing on overhead bridges and I just noticed that the area they are grown in are given a layer of something that looks like woodchips or wood bits.

I read up about wood chips being used as mulch and wonder whether I should add some to my pots of bougainvilleas and hydrangeas to aid blooming?

Does anyone use mulch and for what kinds of plants?
thanks

This post has been edited by bargainhunter: 24 September 2011 - 02:38 PM

[scatterseed]

bargainhunter, on Oct 14 2009, 09:28 PM, said:

I have been scrutinizing the bougainvilleas growing on overhead bridges and I just noticed that the area they are grown in are given a layer of something that looks like woodchips or wood bits.

I read up about wood chips being used as mulch and wonder whether I should add some to my pots of bougainvilleas and hydrangeas to aid blooming?

Does anyone use mulch and for what kinds of plants?
thanks

It was probably used to prevent grass or other weeds from growing near the bougainvilleas. It doesn't aid blooming. Fertilize it regularly and your Bougainvilleas will bloom after a period of dry spell.

SS

[bargainhunter]

Thanks SS
Saved me some money there.

So that's mulch right? The layer placed on top of the soil of some plants.
Does anyone use this stuff? Does any plant particularly need this?

[skydude]

Does e plant shed leaves during/ after e flowering period?? Need advice, thanks

[Kingfisher]

Those wood chips are the end result of tree branches they pruned from the road side or park.

[bargainhunter]

skydude, on Oct 14 2009, 11:06 PM, said:

Does e plant shed leaves during/ after e flowering period?? Need advice, thanks

I wish I knew more definitely to tell you, but I only know from my 6 pots and 2 on the ground.
To me, they all have different personalities - I have one Really Stubborn Apple White bougainvillea - refuses to bloom - just lots of leaves and the stems are growing longer even with pruning and fertilizing. There's a mother-plant of pink bracts that grow tightly in a bunch (don't know it's name for sure yet), that one is less stubborn but requires coaxing to flower.

I chopped off long stems from Pink Mother plant and started a new plant. That one behaves differently. It drops leaves fairly often, when not flowering, but it has been blooming more often.
I have seen bougainvilleas which are almost bald of leaves with lots of flowers. Maybe yours is that kind. So I wonder if your plant dropping leaves means it's about flower?

[bargainhunter]

Kingfisher, on Oct 16 2009, 03:13 PM, said:

Those wood chips are the end result of tree branches they pruned from the road side or park.

Thank you. Yes, I figured. But I think I wont use it, coz if it doesn't add to nourishment and it makes it difficult for me to add fertilizer, then there's no point to it :unsure:/>

[skydude]

thanks for e idea sharing bargainhunter.
i m still observing e pattern of my plant. so far is 2nd cycle of leaves dropping. yes there are some flowers buds showing.

do u recommend to cut off e flower buds ? so that i can have e lush green leaves back ?

[pebble]

This is a tip that I learnt from my late grandmother (who was an avid bougainvillea fan). To encourage blooming, pinch off the leaves that are on a stem. The flowers will grow from the leaf nodes that were pinched off.

Also, you need bright sun and dry spell. So water sparingly.

[bargainhunter]

skydude, on Oct 18 2009, 11:03 PM, said:

thanks for e idea sharing bargainhunter.
i m still observing e pattern of my plant. so far is 2nd cycle of leaves dropping. yes there are some flowers buds showing.

do u recommend to cut off e flower buds ? so that i can have e lush green leaves back ?

no no no !!! Please don't snip off the flowering buds - I think you can recognise when they're flowering buds - see picture of my plants from yesterday.
http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/Image0068.jpg
But you are a strange type of gardener?? How come you don't want to see flowers but prefer to see leaves???

I think I will take pebble's grandmother's tip and pinch off the leavesher 2 stubborn pots of bougainvilleas (thanks Pebble!) , but you should let the flowers bloom. You'll get the leaves back soon. I found that when I fed my bougainvilleas with the BE-1 fertilizer, there were plenty of and HUGE leaves and very strong stems. It's high nitrogen (Amino something - from my hazy memory of chemistry, I think Ammonia is Nitrogen something-xide), which is good for plant stem/leaves growth.

All the best for the flowering! the leaves will come back don't worry!!!

This post has been edited by bargainhunter: 19 October 2009 - 09:22 AM

[Mamat]

juz feed these p1ants heavily, they usually flower after a dry spell
hot hot hot, 5-6 days, then rain, may brng forth heavy bloomings - minus d leaves, sumtimes

[skydude]

Thanks for e knowledge sharing. I was jus tinking of e idea of cutting away e flower buds it might encourage e leaves to grow back. Haa haa will drop by a flower shop to buy some be-1 fertilizer.

[bargainhunter]

That was then...
http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/Image0068.jpg

And this is now!!!!
http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/DSCF8540.jpg

Progress report!

This post has been edited by bargainhunter: 25 October 2009 - 09:45 PM

[Mamat]

haiz
b0ugaivi11eas are re1ative1y easy t0 grw
they dun fuss much

just give them direct sun as much as pssib1e
want heavy f10wering? add a sp00nfu1 0f b100m ferts

after f10wering u can cut the ranches back t0 2/3 0f its 1ength 0r sh0rter - this wi11 make ur p1ant very c0mpact
just dun 0ver1y water ur p1ants, they 1ike t0 be 0n the dry side - and they b100m we11 after a dry spe11

[bargainhunter]

Yes, thanks for the advice Mamat.
I am a real novice, so I need to encourage myself with lots of progress report pictures - so
here's 27 Oct progress of the Double Pink
http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/DSCF8549.jpg

I think how easy it is really depends on the plant you have... coz the Double Pink stem cutting is flowering well, the glabra red is doing very very well, but the Double Pink mother plant is not flowering, and the Apple Blossom is also not flowering. They all had the same treatment...

From bald to bloom - the glabra red (i think that's what it is.. ?)
http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/DSCF8548.jpg

[bargainhunter]

What a lot of progress to report! Please see below!!! I am so pleased with this Pot.
http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/GlabraRedpPotshot11Nov09.jpg

This post has been edited by bargainhunter: 01 November 2009 - 05:05 PM

[bargainhunter]

This shrub went completely bloomless for more than a month. I changed fertilizer to something I got from FEF called Bougainvillea - liquid fert - and lo and behold, a week later, flowers are back. Plus the never-bloom-for-more-than-one-year white bougainvilleas also bloomed!
Happiness.
http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/GlabraRed15Dec09.jpg
http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/AppleBlossom22Dec09.jpg
[img]http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/DoublePinkMotherplant22Dec09.jpg[img] [img]http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/DSCF8805.jpg[/img]

This post has been edited by bargainhunter: 23 December 2009 - 10:53 AM

[Mamat]

Very nice!!
As I am myself a fan of bougainvilleas - tho I only have 6 different pots of them
Purple, yellow, white (variegated leaves), white (plain green leaves), red torch and orangy with (variegated leaves)

Keep the progress report coming in!!!

[bargainhunter]

Mamat, on Dec 16 2009, 01:26 AM, said:

Very nice!!
As I am myself a fan of bougainvilleas - tho I only have 6 different pots of them
Purple, yellow, white (variegated leaves), white (plain green leaves), red torch and orangy with (variegated leaves)

Keep the progress report coming in!!!

thank you for your encouragement.

I have a question and wonder if you or anyone can help to answer:

Different ferts cause flowers to be different-looking?
Coz I used blue pellets and there are many bracts and they look small, a bit round-edged and when I used Andgro ougainvillea liquid fert, the bracts are larger, fewer, sharper-edged.

The other case study I have is the Sakura - I thought it was Apple Blossom, but having studied the pictures on NParks Web, I think it's Sakura. However, the bract colour is totally differnt from when I bought them. It was gently pink and white when I bought them. Of course they didn't flower for ages until I used the Andgro Bourgainvillea a few weeks ago, and then now the bracts are coming fast and furious, but the colour's strange. See picture above and below - there are streaks of pink/purple from the veins in some and sort of 'spread' to the rest of the bract - some more gently than others. So is this the wrong fert to use?
http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/bargainhunter_album/Bougainvilleas/AppleBlossomagain22Dec09.jpg
thanks

This post has been edited by bargainhunter: 23 December 2009 - 03:17 PM

[bargainhunter]

Latest picture of the Double Pink Mother plant:
[img]

Happy New Year!

This post has been edited by bargainhunter: 26 July 2010 - 09:03 PM