Bougainvillea is a flowering plant with a very long blooming period. If it blooms in summer, it can keep flowering from May or June all the way to September or October. But many plant lovers find that their Bougainvillea often blooms only once and then never again, turning a flowering plant into a thoroughly foliage-only plant, which is inevitably a bit disappointing. In fact, the length of the Bougainvillea blooming period is directly related to post-bloom pruning. Prune properly after blooming, and it will keep flowering nonstop. Prune improperly after blooming, and it will often bloom only once! Today I will give you a detailed introduction to the pruning method for Bougainvillea after the flowers fade. After reading this, you will understand why your Bougainvillea's blooming time is so short!

Cut off diseased and weak branches

Cutting off diseased and weak branches after Bougainvillea blooms should be easy to understand. It means cutting off all branches that are diseased, scarred, or growing poorly. Although these branches are still alive, they often will not bloom, and they do not match the other healthy branches and leaves in appearance, affecting the overall ornamental look, so they must be cleaned up in time to save nutrients.

The arrow points to a weak branch that does not bloom

Prune the tips of young shoots

Summer is the peak growing season for Bougainvillea. If new young shoots grow quickly and affect the plant shape, be sure to pinch them in time to prevent excessive vegetative growth from consuming nutrients. This kind of branch with a tendency to grow excessively is often thicker, with larger leaves and longer internodes. Do not just ignore it and let it keep growing, as this may very likely make it difficult for the Bougainvillea to bloom again.

Excessively growing Bougainvillea branches

Pruning flowering branches

Here comes the key point: how should you prune Bougainvillea flowering branches that have already bloomed? This is the real focus of post-bloom pruning! Post-bloom pruning of flowering branches falls into two cases. One is when the terminal bud at the tip of the flowering branch is growing well, and the flowers all bloom on the sides of the flowering branch. The other is when the tip of the flowering branch no longer has a terminal bud and shows no sign of growth at all.

1. The tip of the flowering branch has a terminal bud (as shown below)

If the tip of the Bougainvillea flowering branch has a terminal bud, as long as the branch is not too long, does not affect the plant shape, or you have no particular requirement for the plant shape and just want it to bloom again quickly, then do not cut this kind of branch. Just remove the spent flowers, control water and fertilize appropriately, and in ten days to half a month it will bloom again. The only thing is that the flowers on this kind of branch are relatively sparse and will not produce a dense mass of blooms, but it reblooms quickly and keeps flowering continuously. If this kind of branch affects the plant shape and you want the flowers to bloom densely, then cut it off and shorten it from a suitable position.

The terminal bud is growing well, and the flowers open at the leaf axils

2. The tip of the flowering branch has no terminal bud (as shown below)

If the tip of the Bougainvillea flowering branch has no terminal bud, shows no sign of growth at all, and does not even have leaves, then this kind of branch should be cut off at the point two leaves below the flower stem. If the branch itself is relatively long, you can cut it even deeper. Generally, after cutting and with fertilization, in about fifteen days new buds will grow below the cut, and the next blooming will occur at the tips of the new buds. If this kind of flowering branch is not cut off, it will not only be difficult to make it bloom again, but the branch will also not grow, remaining bare like that for a long time.

The tip of the flowering branch no longer has a terminal bud

The tip of the flowering branch is broken, and side branches will bloom once they grow out

Cut crowded branches

In addition to cutting diseased branches, weak branches, and flowering branches, after Bougainvillea blooms you also need to cut crowded branches. Generally, cutting crowded branches means cutting inner branches. What are inner branches? They are branches that grow inward and are located on the inner side of the whole Bougainvillea plant. This kind of branch affects the light and ventilation of the Bougainvillea, the outer branches grow poorly, and blooming is poor as a result. Cut off the inner branches and make the plant appropriately sparser, and the outer branches will grow better.

The inner branches are too dense, and the outer flowers are not very ideal

After Bougainvillea blooms, as long as you do the above four pruning essentials well, it is easy to make it bloom again, and after reblooming the flowers are compact and dense, not inferior at all to the first round of blooms. Some plant lovers cannot bear to prune after their Bougainvillea finishes blooming, always feeling unable to bring themselves to cut anywhere. In that case, even with good fertilization and light, it is still relatively difficult to make it bloom again. So post-bloom pruning must be done well!

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