Bare Bourgainvillia

Hi. This is my first question on this site! My Bourgainvillia has no leaves! It does have a lot of flowers, I have fed it and watered it , it is now about 3 years old but has never been so lacking of leaves before. What could be wrong. It is about 3ft high and is in a 12" pot.Any ideas? ps.Hope Iv'e put this question in the right dept.

 

Hi, Sunshine2, and welcome to GC.

I have six Bouganvilleas, five climbing and one shrub. Three of the climbing ones have no leaves and only one has flowers. They are very temperamental to all sorts of conditions.

They should never be overwatered and they don't require feeding but as yours is in a pot, perhaps it needs a little from time to time. You should never fertilise them with nitrogen as it will produce luxuriant leaves but little flowers.

Three foot high and three years old ... I assume you cut it back in the Autumn? Bouganvillea bloom on new year's growth.

Please come back to me if you require more information.

Enjoy the forum ... it's a great place to be with great folk full of knowledge in all aspects of gardening.

 

Hi Sunshine2 and welcome to GC, enjoy!

LofL has given you plenty of help so you should be okay with your bourgainville now.

 

Hi.LoL and Kedi-Gato. Thanks for such quick replies. No I didn't prune it last autumn but did a year or so ago. But would that mean I would have got the leaves I wanted? I have so many flowers - all at the ends of the branches mind you! Perhaps a bit of the nitrogen would produce some leaves as "Lady of Leisure" mentioned.

 

Me again.(Sunshine2) I'm going to take a picture of it and try to post it here, so you can see the problem. May be able to do this Friday 27th or Sat.A picture may help.

 

Hello again, Sunshine2.

I'll take a pic of the one I have blooming at the moment tomorrow ... and then we can compare ... how about that?

In the meantime, I'll read up on them kept as houseplants (guess yours is in a conservatory/greenhouse?) as I'm obviously telling you about ones living outdoors.

We do have slight touches of frost on the odd occasion here and they are very susceptible to cold but will recover.

 

Yes - sorry it is in a conservatory - min 10c temp. I live on the south coast of England, where are you? Perhaps weather has more to do with it than I thought.

 

Ola Sunshine2!

Min 10c temp is okay. I went down to 3c this winter ... outdoors, of course.

I am in Algarve, Portugal, so a pretty warm place most of the time.

In saying that, we were only 18c today with a sharp wind. My sister (Kedi-Gato in Germany above) is in northern Germany and was 26c today, I think! However, we are in are rainy season which we welcome greatly as we will have nothing from June to October/November unless something freaky happens.

 

Hello Sunshine2.

The only further information I can give is that the Bougainvillea is evergreen in the tropics, otherwise it is deciduous ... which I why I lose leaves as well.

I think as the Summer approaches you will get your leaves so maybe patience is the clue!

Here is a picture of mine this morning, the only one blooming at the moment ...

 

Hi. What a lovely picture .. I can't beat that!Must admit I can't see many leaves on yours-seems to be mainly flowers, although mine doesn't have any at all.I haven't sussed out how to put my picture on yet, also haven't had time, but will hope to show you by Monday - keep watching. By the way, other colder winters it's been fine, perhaps I over/under watered it.

 

Good morning Sunshine2.

If you notice where the Bougie goes up over the guttering, there are virtually no leaves there. This is our oldest one, perhaps five or six years and blooms non-stop now.

As yours is in a pot you should keep the compost moist, but not wet, in the Spring and Summer and almost dry in the Winter.

Good luck doing your photos and I look forward to seeing your pictue.

 

Hi LOL. Here is the photo I promised-I can't work out how to "show" the pic here, but at least a link has come up.(Do hope it works) I will try to find out how to upload an picture here soon!.I'm hoping it's the right size, let me know if you need a closer-up one. My poor Bourgainvillia is nothing compared to your's but then again I am in England I suppose. Any other ideas now that you will have seen it?

 

Hello - Woops. When I submitted my posting I didn't realise that it shows the pic after you click Add Reply !! As it was my first go I will now know how it all works.

 

Hi, Sunshine2!

At least you have managed to get a pic up, that's a good start! You can go into Preview Post first if you want to look at what you are posting and backtrack if necessary ... but you're doing okay at the mo so don't worry!

Yours looks very nice but I think it needs a bit of air and perhaps a bit of fertiliser (but don't overdo it). They do need air because they are outdoor shrubs.

It's a bit like folk who have Bonsai and keep them indoors .. they are outdoor trees ...

... likewise, Bougaivillea are outdoor shrubs in their natural habitat and if yours is in the conservatory permanently, I'm afraid it will suffer unless it has air.

Even here, it takes Bougies a couple of years to "settle in" and I've got a couple of years to go with a couple of mine.

I say, hang on there, give it air, as much heat and sun as you can and keep it moist through the summer and dry-ish this coming winter. It seems very "long term" but this is a shrub that needs long term settling in ... believe me!

 

Thanks for your help.This site is great isn't it. We have all the available windows and doors open at the mo. as very nice weather in England!. It looked so much better during the past couple of years, this is possibly a blip. Something happend to shock it perhaps ... ps.I have sussed the pics. thing!!