Bougainvillea only grows leaves and does not bloom? Do these four things and it will burst into bloom

Bougainvillea is also called paper flower. With proper cultivation and management, it is covered with flower buds and you can hardly see any leaves, and its flower colors are diverse and vivid, giving it high ornamental value. The blooming period of bougainvillea varies slightly across the country due to differences in region and climate; some bloom in winter and spring, while others bloom in summer and autumn, but the premise is that the temperature during the blooming period must be kept above 15°C. The longest blooming period can reach about 200 days. Whenever the blooming season comes, you always hear flower lovers complaining that their bougainvillea only grows leaves and does not bloom. In fact, it is not difficult to make bougainvillea bloom abundantly and for a long time; as long as you do the following four things, you will not have to worry about bougainvillea not blooming.

1. Light. Bougainvillea is a plant that grows under strong light and blooms under short-day conditions. During the vigorous growth period of branches and leaves, give it no less than 10-12 hours of ample light every day. Only with sufficient sunlight will bougainvillea grow vigorously and store energy for blooming. When it reaches the flower bud differentiation stage, you can no longer give it long-day light; give it 8 hours of light per day to promote flower bud differentiation. If you want to artificially control its blooming period, the specific operation is as follows: give ample light every day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and for the rest of the time place the bougainvillea in a dark environment, or find a black plastic bag to cover the plant so that it receives no light at all, and with a temperature above 15°C, water control, and fertilizer management, maintain this for about a month and a half, and the bougainvillea can bud and bloom at the time you preset. After blooming, bougainvillea should also be given ample light; long-term insufficient light will cause bougainvillea to drop flowers, buds, or leaves.

2. Watering, water control, watering: a three-part sequence. During the branch and leaf growth period, bougainvillea should be given an ample water supply, but in the early stage before blooming, if you want neat blooming and more flowers, water control management must be carried out before blooming. That is, before flower bud differentiation, each time wait until the potting soil is dry and the branches and leaves are soft and drooping before watering the bougainvillea a small amount, just enough to keep the plant from dying. Repeat this for about 20 days, giving the bougainvillea a survival crisis, then resume normal watering. In this way, after about more than a month, the bougainvillea can bud and bloom, and the flowers produced will be neat and abundant. After blooming, do not water by flooding, to prevent the flowers from withering early or dropping.

3. Fertilizing. If you want bougainvillea to bloom more, during its seedling stage or the vigorous growth period of branches and leaves, you can apply more decomposed soybean cake water or fertilizers mainly based on nitrogen fertilizer to store energy for blooming. When the bougainvillea is about to enter the flower bud differentiation stage, stop nitrogen fertilizer intake in time and switch to fertilizers mainly based on phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. You can bury an appropriate amount of decomposed chicken manure fertilizer around the pot in advance, or apply decomposed cake fertilizer water once every 15 days, combined with spraying a 1:1000 potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution once every 7-10 days, which can promote flower bud differentiation more quickly.

4. Pruning. Bougainvillea, like jasmine, blooms on new branches. Therefore, if you want bougainvillea to bloom more and have a beautiful plant shape, from the branch and leaf growth period onward, pay attention to shaping and pruning to promote side branch growth and produce more flowering branches. Also, after each blooming period, promptly thin out overly dense branches, leggy branches, and weak branches, and lightly prune the branch tips that have already bloomed, to promote earlier and more abundant blooming next time.