Bougainvillea growing leggy branches and leaves? Do these 3 things well, and flower buds will pop out like crazy, with more flowers than leaves
Bougainvillea is a relatively popular flowering plant. Its blooms are gorgeous, and when it flowers it can fill the whole pot, giving it great ornamental value, so many gardening enthusiasts like to keep a pot of bougainvillea at home. However, when caring for bougainvillea, one problem often arises: if it is not cared for properly, its leaves will grow leggy. That is, the bougainvillea only grows leaves and does not bloom, which affects the beauty of the bougainvillea plant, with only leaves on it and no flowers. So how should we care for it to avoid this situation?
If you want bougainvillea to bloom abundantly and avoid leggy leaf growth, then you need to do the following 3 things well:
1. Sufficient light
Bougainvillea is a flowering plant that loves sun, and it is a very sun-tolerant flower. When caring for bougainvillea, it must have sufficient light all year round. If there is not enough light, then bougainvillea is prone to growing leggy and not blooming. So when growing bougainvillea indoors, the placement is also very important. It is best to place it somewhere that gets sunlight, and it should receive at least three or four hours of light every day. In this way, flower buds will pop out like crazy, and there will be more flowers than leaves!
2. Control the amount of water
Bougainvillea is not only sun-tolerant, it is also very drought-tolerant. We can often see bougainvillea with all its leaves dried up and fallen off, yet it can still bloom beautiful flowers. But if you water it frequently, even if the bougainvillea receives plenty of light, it will still struggle to bloom, and the phenomenon will appear where the bougainvillea has lush leaves and branches but simply no flowers. So if you want bougainvillea to bloom, you need to control the amount of water. Pay attention to the condition of the potting soil, and wait until the potting soil is dry and the leaves begin to wilt before watering again. Also, water thoroughly in one go, but do not water too much, to avoid water accumulating in the potting soil.
3. Fertilize appropriately
Bougainvillea also needs a driving force to bloom, which is supplementing it with fertilizer to provide energy. If there is not enough nutritional energy, then bougainvillea will also struggle to bloom, so we need to fertilize it to provide the driving force for blooming. However, note that you must not apply nitrogen fertilizer to bougainvillea; it must be phosphorus fertilizer. Applying potassium dihydrogen phosphate is enough. Just fertilize the bougainvillea according to the instructions.
If you do the above 3 things well, then bougainvillea will bloom very easily, leggy leaf growth will not occur, flower buds will pop out like crazy, and there will be more flowers than leaves!