Coming back from my hometown, the journey took a while, but the scenery along the way was lovely. The green belts on both sides of the road were truly a feast for the eyes. I happened to catch workers pruning bougainvillea branches, so I casually asked for a few to take home and propagate - who knows, maybe the balcony will bloom into a whole sheet of color!

After getting home, I gave the branches a simple trim, found an idle old flower pot, and stuck the trimmed bougainvillea branches into the soil. After 3 months of careful nurturing, I never expected the balcony to be covered in blooms, a riot of brilliant colors - it was truly gorgeous!

Below I'll share the propagation process and care methods with everyone, for reference only!

Cut the bougainvillea branches into pieces about 10 cm long, keep 2-3 leaves at the top, cut half of each leaf away. Keeping half the leaf helps with photosynthesis, and cutting away half also prevents water from evaporating too quickly. You can insert them directly into vermiculite to propagate and root, and they'll root in about 7-10 days! Wait until the roots grow a bit thicker before moving them to a pot.

For the potting soil, you can use peat soil plus coarse sand with a small amount of organic base fertilizer, and the base fertilizer can be bone meal. This makes it loose and breathable while also full of nutrients, especially suitable for bougainvillea growth! After potting, first place it in a cool spot with indirect light for a few days to acclimatize. Once the leaves are no longer soft, it means it has resumed growth, and then you can place it in a spot with plenty of sunlight for care!

During the seedling stage, to encourage the bougainvillea to grow more side branches, you need to pinch off the growing tips. Only with more side branches will the flowering volume be large at one time. And during the growth period, you can apply a slow-release compound fertilizer 2-3 times a month to promote rapid growth of the flowers. When watering bougainvillea in summer, since the temperature is too high and water evaporates too quickly, you can water once every morning or evening, and also spray water on the leaves!

The bougainvillea's flowering period is very long, almost year-round. When it's budding, you need to supplement with phosphorus and potassium fertilizer so the flowers will bloom smoothly, and it will also increase the number of blooms and extend the flowering period. After the flowers fade, promptly cut off the flower branches and supplement nutrients so it can bloom a second time.

Because bougainvillea has a strong climbing ability and grows quite quickly, if you want it to climb upward along the way, it's recommended to place it near the balcony railing, so it will climb all over the railing, which is also very beautiful. Of course, during this time pruning and shaping are also needed.

If you want the bougainvillea to grow into a lollipop-like flower shape, then you need to prune frequently and limit the plant's height. If the balcony is small, placing some smaller plants is more suitable!

That's all for sharing about bougainvillea today!

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