Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
Bougainvillea, or bougainvillea, is known for its picturesque blooms reminiscent of the Mediterranean and subtropics, the original home of this miracle flower family (bot. Nyctaginaceae). It is all the sadder when it does not bloom or only develops a few flowers. Numerous reasons can be the reason why the bougainvillea does not present the small flowers with their impressive bracts during the flowering period. Often the mistakes are in the maintenance or the location.
Causes and care measures
If the bougainvillea does not bloom, there is great concern about the vitality of the popular miracle flower. Since she is not really at home in Central Europe, even small problems can spoil the joy of the numerous flowers. As you should already know as the owner of such a majestic container plant, it is not really a low-maintenance plant. Because of this, even small ones can care mistakes lead to problems. Far below are the six typical causes for a flowering triplet with the necessary measures to bring them back into shape.
tip: In many cases, even with ideal care, flowering may not occur, which is mainly due to the Central European climate. The triplet needs high temperatures and lots of sun, which can quickly lead to loss of flowers in a cool, overcast or rainy year.
Hibernation error
The majority of cases of non-flowering are due to incorrect overwintering. Since the plants are not native plants, they have to be accommodated over the winter to prevent them from dying. If it is exposed to frost during the dormant period from November to early March, the entire plant will suffer. Likewise, it should not be too warm, otherwise it will start to sprout. You should consider the following points when overwintering so that your specimen blooms the following year:
- Temperature: 5°C - 10°C
- as much sun as possible
- Suitable locations: conservatories, garden houses with windows, greenhouses, very bright stairwells
- no draft
Proper wintering
You need the bougainvillea over the winter don't water. Experience has shown that the substrate stores sufficient moisture until November and this is hardly used up in the cool winter quarters. If you water over the winter as in summer, the plant quickly suffers from waterlogging and can then die. Also, you must not get used to triplet flowers too late to sunlight and heat:
- depending on where you live, sooner or later you will start getting used to the light and warmth
- in south-west Germany from the end of February, in Saxony at least until April
- Use plant lights to slowly increase the amount of light
- Expose cautiously to warmer temperatures for the formation of new shoots and flower buds
- Slowly turn off grow lights as days get longer
- also reduce heat
- place outdoors in a suitable location after the ice saints plant
Don't be surprised if your specimen loses leaves over the winter. This is perfectly normal for the plant once it goes into hibernation and will not affect flowering.
tip: If you want to be on the safe side about humidity over the winter, get an electric plant moisture meter. Put this in the ground and check whether the ground has dried out completely or whether there is still moisture in the lowest layers.
lack of light
In addition to the wrong winter quarters, lack of light is the most common cause of missing flowers. If there is not enough light available, the boletus cannot photosynthesize and will not bloom. So it's important that she gets as much sun as possible. Here's the highlight of the bougainvillea: Except for the winter time, the miracle flower needs unfiltered sunlight to be able to develop many flowers. This means that the plants should not stay behind a pane from May to the end of October, but in the direct sun be put outdoors. The more sun, the more intense the colors and the more flowers appear.
Wrong location
Another cause is the wrong location. A lot can go wrong here. Many gardeners believe that the boletus cannot stand being outdoors due to its rather demanding nature. However, depending on the species, the miracle flower is a robust climbing plant or a tree that has no problem with weak winds and intense sunlight. The right location from May to October should therefore be as follows, so that the plant receives enough sun and warmth to be able to direct all energy into the formation of flowers:
- Light requirement: full sun
- preferably in front of a house wall facing south or south-west
- brightly painted walls are ideal
- Distance to walls: about 10 cm
- protected from heavy rains
- airy
Fresh air, lots of sun and a good microclimate are essential to get the container plant to bloom. If the nights are still a bit cool, you can easily bring the bougainvillea into the house and put it back on the terrace, the balcony or in front of the wall of the house the next morning.
casting error
Watering proves to be a tricky business and can quickly ruin blooms. Above all, waterlogging causes problems for the plants. If your triplet doesn't bloom, check the saucer to see if it's overflowing. Empty this and let the substrate dry a little if the leaves are not yellowish. Yellow leaves indicate waterlogging. You pour in the following way:
- water daily in summer
- In the morning, fill the coaster halfway with low-lime water
- wait until all the water is gone
- refill
- water every second or third day in autumn
- not at all in winter
nutrient deficiency
A lack of nutrients is also one of the causes of a bougainvillea not flowering. Only use liquid blossom or flower fertilizer, preferably on a mineral basis. Organic fertilizers have not proven themselves in tropical plants. According to the manufacturer, this is used to fertilize weekly from the first new leaf sprouting to moving into the winter quarters. Administer the fertilizer over the irrigation water.
Missed pruning
If your triplet does not bloom, this can also be related to a missed pruning. If your specimen moves too large into winter quarters, it will have to use more nutrients to maintain the plant material. Therefore, you should shorten the plant shortly before moving into the winter quarters. All new shoots from the summer are shortened. You should also remove dried out shoots or shoots that are too long before you move them outdoors after the winter. Less plant matter means more energy for bud formation.
7 care tips
If you don't just want your miracle flower to bloom, but want it to shine with numerous blossoms, you can use even more care tips. These ensure that the bougainvillea blooms even richer and delights even when it is young in the bucket. The following tips will make this possible:
1. Remove faded flowers
After flowering, be sure to remove the withered inflorescences. In general, these fall off by themselves, but it can happen that some of the flowers remain on the plant. These are removed with a quick cut. The earlier the withered flowers are removed, the faster the plant can grow new ones and bloom several times throughout the summer and into the fall.
2. Shorten shoots
It can also help to trim the shoots of the bougainvillea after removing the faded flowers. The buds always form directly on the fresh shoot tips and can be shortened by half. This promotes the branching and formation of new shoots, which in turn can carry a whole range of flowers. But do this with caution.
3. Repot
After you have repotted your bougainvillea after purchase, you still have to wait a little longer until the first formation of the picturesque flowers. The miracle flower still has to get used to the new location, the substrate and the pot and puts all its energy into developing roots and shoots until the flower buds are ready. Therefore, you should not try to change anything in the care during this time, which could end fatally.
4. Accelerate flowering
If you want to speed up flowering after repotting, you should choose a pot that is only slightly larger. As a result, the triplet rooted through the substrate within a shorter time, which speeds up the formation of flowers. The size of the pot should be 1.5 in relation to the root ball.
5. Do not plant out
You should never think about planting your bougainvillea in the bed. While she would do well outdoors over the summer, she would not tolerate frequent planting and potting. Triplet flowers are in Central Europe exclusively for the Bucket attitude suitable. Even in the German wine-growing regions, planting outdoors is not recommended.
If you live outside of Germany and can look forward to either a Mediterranean or subtropical climate, planting out is not a problem.
6. Casting trick
With a little trick, you can get a well-tended bougainvillea to flower faster. Allow the top layer of soil to dry completely, but not the root ball. Now water as usual, which encourages the bougainvillea to form new buds. However, you should not use this trick too often and only use established specimens so that they do not dry out.
7. Check substrate
Don't forget to check the substrate for roots annually. If this is heavily rooted, be sure to repot. This keeps it flowering.
tip: Do not be surprised that the flowers appear late in Germany. Since, as described above, high amounts of light are required for the formation of flowers, the plants usually only begin to flower from the end of July.
