Bougainvillea Plants: Attractive Homes and Gardens

 Concern , Facts And Cultivation On Bougainvillea Plants 

     

  Bougainvillea is popular ornamental plants in most areas with warm weather. It is also generally known as “Kagajiful”  in Nepali language. It doesnot normally flower in shade. It is a quick growing shrub.It is a very attractive genus for Bonsai enthusiasts. This flower symbolizes passion, liveliness and life experiences. Bougainvillea is native to  South America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina. This flower was first discovered by French Botanist, Philibert Commerson.
   
         Lets move to its botanical  information. It belongs to the family Nyctaginaceae in the plantae kingdom. Its divison is Tracheophyta and the order that this flower belongs  is  Caryophyllales.  The genus of bougainvillea is of thorny ornamental trees or bushes. The colourful flowers are really bracts or modified leaves  which are one and half to  2 inches  long strucures to which the true flowers  are attached at  mid-ribs. We find the leaves simple and alternate with a leaf margin. Leaf blade are 2-4 inches long with variation in shape and such shapes include globular, elliptical , ovate ,cordate,etc. Moving towards varieties , we can know that there are more than 250 varieties of this flower available which includes the portion of dwarf, semi -dwarf , thorn less and giant. This flower comes in wide range of variety of colours such as pink, purple, orange ,yellow and white with magenta. Among various varieties ,some of the varieties are : Bougainvillea spectabilis, Bougainvillea arborea, Bougainvillea glabra, Bougainvillea peruviana, Bougainvillea buttiana, etc. 

We find bougainvillea are the flowers with various uses and of great importance.  Bougainvillea  is a pollution tolerant plant that helps in controlling the air pollution. Being frost sensitive and hardy ,bougainvillea can be used as a houseplant or hanging basket in cooler climates. Its leaves are used to cure variety of disorder like for Diarrhoea and to reduce stomach acidity. Extract of flowers used as treatment for low blood pressure.Leaves are used to cure diabetes and its stem is beneficial for treating Hepatitis. Entering into the subject of climate and soil , one must know important fact that bougainvillea thrives in places that are hot and relatively dry.It prefers temperature that remain above 60 degree fahrenheit at night and can withstand degree temperature that exceed 100 Fahreinheit.It has high tolerance for salt, making it good choice for coastal garden.It need rich soil that is slightly acidic with pH between 5.5 to 6.0.It is a sun lover. It needs at least 6 hours of full sun everyday.


Propagation of bougainvillea can be done in many ways such as cutting, grafting , layering ,budding , etc.If we are using cutting method then the softwood terminal
       ,maturing green wood and matured intermediate wood stem pieces can be used for propagation.Stem cuttings should be 1/8 inch or more thick and should have at least 3-5 nodes.Leaf-bud cuttings can be used when source material is limited. Each node can be used as a cutting. Similarly , when we are using grafting method , we must know that some cultivars that have a liitle or no chlorophyll in their leaves are difficult to grow from cuttings and need to be grafted. Grafting is used with delicate cultivars that have fragile root system. It is also used when it is desired to have multiple cultivars on one plant. Various kinds of grafts may be used, including wedge, whip or tongue, or approach graft. The cultivars which cannot be propagated by cutting and layering are propagated by  T or shield budding. The time for budding is Februrary - March.

Bouginvillea has a fine root system and should  be planted in well-drained soils.We must avoid soil mixtures with high peat levels and water retention. Because these retain too much water and will contribute to root rot. The best growing mixture is one that is soil-less because these are free of any disease pathogens ,insect pests and weed seeds. They are also light weight and porous. Generally Bougainvillea can be grown in anything that will hold soil and allow proper drainage. Some of the more traditionally used containers include terra cotta (clay) pots, plastic pots, hanging baskets, wire baskets lined with sphagnum moss or fibrous liners, concrete planters, planter boxes, and bushel baskets. If we are trying to plant it in a container , then just remember that the container must  have proper drainage. If you place your pot directly on the ground, the roots may emerge from drainage holes and find their way into the earth. To prevent this, place wooden slats or four bricks (in a T-design) under the pot. The air will naturally prune the roots that are exposed. It is best to leave the plant in its original container until the roots have replaced all of the soil and you can’t keep the plant well watered. For example, it is not possible  to grow a bougainvillea in one pot for three or more years. When it is necessary to re-pot remember that a bougainvillea has a very delicate root system and a fragile root to stem connection. We must handle bougainvillea with care. Root pruning is not allowed when re-potting bougainvillea. Morever, disturb the roots as little as possible because the plant might go into shock and take weeks to recover. While doing re-potting , we must keep bougainvillea in double size of the container than before.

 One individual must use complete  and balanced fertilisers with a nitrogen,   phosphorous and potassium (N-P-K) ratio such as 5-5-5 or 10-10-10 to make good boungainvillea health and to produce  more group of its attractive flowers. Too much nitrogen promotes vegetative growth at the expense of blooms ,so slow. There are some insects, pests and physiological problems found in bougainvillea, which we must keep in concern. Aphids, bougainvillea lopper, grasshopper , mealy bugs , mites , etc are some insects found. We can control such insects by the following : aphids  by insecticidal soap ; lopper by Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) insecticide and neem based biological insecticide; grasshopper by spray plants with an insecticide; mealy bug by systemic insecticides and mites by ultra fine oil ,insecticidal soap or neem. Likewise, the diseases found in the plants are root rot, fungal and bacterial leaf spot, etc and various kinds of deficiencies are also found  like nitrogen deficiency , potasium deficiency, magnesium deficiency , iron deficiency and phosphorus deficiency. 

         Bougainvillea  includes various intercultural operations during its growth stage and such operations  include prunning, pinching, watering, etc. Regular prunning is needed to give proper  shape to the plant and it should be done after flowering is accomplished.For conducting prunning, we should cut all the lateral shoots back to within 2 or 3 buds of  the main stem. Prunning time is late January until late March or early April.Pinching is performed by hand and this promotes branching and blooming for next cycle. Over watering should be avoided during flowering.