Grow Bougainvillea with One Simple Trick: Lush Branches and Triple the Blooms

Bougainvillea, evergreen all year round, with striking bright red blooms, as well as white, pink, purple and more, each cluster of three bracts surrounding a small flower in the middle, also known as paperflower or triangle flower. Keep one pot on the balcony, and when it blooms it looks like clusters of clouds, incredibly beautiful. So how do you grow bougainvillea so it thrives and blooms abundantly? If you want your bougainvillea to bloom more, try this:

1. Potting soil is crucial. It is best to use loose, fertile, well-draining sandy soil. If the soil is too sticky and prone to waterlogging, it will grow poorly and is also prone to root rot. The best soil mix is four parts leaf mold, two parts garden soil, plus decomposed chicken manure or other animal manure, some wood shavings, and some river sand.

2. To grow bougainvillea, you can try propagating it yourself by cuttings. In spring, cut a branch from elsewhere. Insert the cutting into a flower pot, providing appropriate shade and moisture retention.

Stick it in the soil and it will survive. After more than a month it will take root and grow into a small bougainvillea seedling.

3. Bougainvillea likes warm, sunny environments. In winter it needs to be moved indoors, with no waterlogging or flooding. Then it can make it through the winter safely.

4. Normally it must be placed in a sunny spot. It is fairly drought-tolerant, so you can water it a little less. Bougainvillea needs plenty of sunlight to bloom more. If placed in a spot with insufficient sunlight and more shade, it will not grow well.

5. Pruning is also crucial. At the beginning of the year or in early spring, promptly cut off dead and withered branches, and it will sprout more new branches and leaves. It will grow more vigorously in spring. Any leggy branches in between can also be cut off.

6. Moderate water control to promote blooming. Skip watering for two or three days and let the soil dry out, then when you see the leaves slightly wilting, water thoroughly once. This can encourage it to produce more flower buds.

Follow these tips to grow bougainvillea, and it will surely bloom in clusters and sheets, very beautiful and eye-catching.