How to Care for Bougainvillea in Summer to Ensure Full Bloom in Autumn
A tip for life, introducing how to care for bougainvillea in summer to achieve full bloom in autumn and knowledge about green plant care and summer maintenance techniques, details as follows:
Bougainvillea is a very floriferous plant, with many varieties capable of blooming continuously throughout the year. However, many bougainvillea enthusiasts find that their plants stop blooming after entering summer and instead grow very lush branches, not only making the plant look disheveled but also affecting normal flowering.
If your bougainvillea at home is also just growing branches and not blooming, then you need to implement "four tough measures" in maintenance, and it will bloom profusely in autumn.
Cut Branches Severely
Bougainvillea that grows too vigorously is actually not conducive to blooming, as too many branches require nutrients for growth, which can affect the plant's flower bud differentiation and flowering. Summer is also its peak growing season, and with adequate water and fertilizer, it will continuously produce new branches.
If the branches of the bougainvillea grow too lush at this time, it is necessary to prune them appropriately, cutting short the tall and healthy branches, removing the weak ones, and thinning out the dense ones to reduce nutrient consumption and improve ventilation and light penetration between the branches.
When the plant grows new branches, they will bloom in autumn on these new branches.
Expose to Sunlight Severely
Caring for bougainvillea, a sun-loving plant, fears lack of sunlight. Insufficient light, even with abundant water and fertilizer, will result in the plant growing many branches and leaves but not forming flower buds easily.
Bougainvillea enjoys sunlight, and during maintenance, it should be placed in a sunny environment with at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. Adequate sunlight not only prevents the plant from becoming leggy but also helps it accumulate more nutrients and grow more vigorously.
How to Care for Bougainvillea in Summer to Ensure Full Bloom in Autumn
Maintaining sufficient sunlight for bougainvillea can also promote the growth of flower buds, increase the plant's flowering rate, and make the flowers more vibrant.
Supplement Phosphorus and Potassium Fertilizer Severely
Bougainvillea has different nutrient requirements at different growth stages. When pruning in summer, it is usually necessary to start applying some dilute fertilizer 3-5 days after pruning. At this time, you can apply a multi-element compound fertilizer to ensure adequate nutrients, mainly to encourage the plant to quickly produce new flowering branches.
When autumn arrives, the new branches will also start to grow flower buds, and at this time, you should not apply nitrogen fertilizer anymore but instead supplement phosphorus and potassium fertilizer several times. You can apply monopotassium phosphate every 10 days or so, diluting the fertilizer with water at a ratio of 1:1000 and pouring it directly into the pot. You can also spray it on the leaves, which can promote the plant to form flower buds and bloom.
Control Water Severely During Flower Bud Formation
Many enthusiasts know that bougainvillea can be encouraged to bloom by controlling water, which means that when the plant is growing vigorously but not flowering, reducing watering to create a dry soil condition can make the plant feel threatened and promote flower bud differentiation and blooming.
During the period of flower bud differentiation or when the plant has not bloomed for a long time, reducing watering can encourage the plant to produce more flower buds.
Of course, water control should also be properly managed. When the bougainvillea is growing vigorously, each watering should only be done when the soil is completely dry, or when the leaves start to wilt slightly. Continuing this for about a month can cause the plant to develop flower buds at the branch tips.
The above is a detailed introduction on how to care for bougainvillea in summer to ensure full bloom in autumn and related summer maintenance techniques. Have you understood it?