Bougainvillea cultivation and care in different regions of the country
The fertile tropics have endowed northern latitudes with many ornamental plants. Not sparing time and labor, breeders strive to tame exotic animals to life in extreme conditions. Growing and caring for bougainvillea is an exciting experience.
Climatic conditions for the growth of bougainvillea
Of the 18 existing species, it was possible to acclimatize and get hybrids from several bougainvillea varieties:
- beautiful;
- Peruvian;
- naked.
The plant loves space, a lot of light and warmth. Moreover, the temperature is below +50 C is unacceptable for plant roots. Lowering the temperature to 0, even for a short time, is destructive for a guest from the tropics. Where in the vastness of the homeland can a plant survive in natural conditions? Only in the southernmost latitudes of Crimea, on the Black Sea coast.
There, in natural conditions, you can admire the beauty of lianas and bougainvillea bushes, garden planting and landscaping. In other regions, pot cultivation is used for decoration with taking out to the garden for summer maintenance. You can create compositions in winter gardens and greenhouses. But this is protected ground with a controlled climate.
Bougainvillea in the Moscow region gratefully accepts relocation to fresh air when the threat of return frosts has passed. But the flowering period is short. In September, the plant must be saved again from a cold snap. But the spectacle of the blooming exotic pays for all the complexities of its content. Sometimes the tub with the plant is buried, and then it seems that the tree is growing out of the ground.
Planting and care of bougainvillea in the North-West is carried out only in winter gardens, greenhouses. Keeping potted plants indoors is the only way to admire the beauty of tropical plants. In greenhouses and conservatories, bougainvillea should occupy the south side, without crowding.
Bougainvillea growing and grooming requirements
Depending on the conditions of detention, the vine can give an increase of up to three meters per year. The regulation of growth and flowering becomes an important factor in the decorativeness of garden bougainvillea during planting and maintenance.
Crown formation
Competent pruning of young and skeletal branches allows you to form the desired crown. Any shape of the bush can be chosen. Without shearing, the number of side shoots decreases, the decorative effect of the plant decreases. There are three types of bougainvillea pruning:
- in the fall, before Bougainvillea leaves for rest, the summer growth is shortened by half;
- in spring, twigs with lignified stems are shortened by 10-13 cm, causing bushiness;
- during the growing season, a weak growth and branches that violate the composition are removed.
Do the same with potted plants and greenhouse plants.
Temperature regime
Even in the most favorable climatic conditions of California and Madrid, the risk of freezing bougainvillea when grown outdoors remains. Required temperature:
- in summer, during flowering 21-270 FROM;
- the beginning of the growing season in spring at temperatures above 100 FROM;
- the minimum temperature of the earth lump is +5 degrees.
If the plant is kept in warmer conditions in winter, the dormant period will not occur, but summer flowering will be weaker. It is important for areas where the plant is exhibited in tubs for the summer, to observe the regime for the summer riot of color.
Factors to consider when growing and caring for bougainvillea
The plant needs abundant watering with warm soft water. At the same time, waterlogging should not be allowed. Damp soil, especially cold soil, will lead to root rot and plant death.
In summer watering depends on the daytime temperature, is carried out in the morning no more than twice a week when growing bougainvillea outdoors. Spraying the green leaves is good for the plant, but the bracts must remain dry. In winter, watering is rare, only for a slight preservation of moisture in a coma of earth. You cannot fill the plant.
If bougainvillea in the Moscow region is contained in a container, the transplant is performed with a decrease in growth, which means that the roots do not have enough nutrition.
It is necessary to feed the plants during the growing season with a complex fertilizer, from spring it is necessary to use the mullein effectively. Superfluous nitrogenous fertilizers can provoke an increase in green mass to the detriment of flowering.
The plant needs diffused light in winter and a bright long day in summer. Direct sunlight is useful for bougainvillea, bright diffused light too. Good flowering requires at least 6 hours of direct light.
When planting a tub plant, it is necessary to take into account not only the illumination, but choose a calm place. In drafts, the plant can shed its leaves. It is necessary to install the tub once, you cannot even turn it, changing the direction of the branches. The plant will stop blooming and shed its leaves.
If the weather has turned bad, and according to forecasts, a long bad weather is expected, bougainvillea must be protected from waterlogging by all available means.
Creating handmade beauty with bougainvillea
A single specimen of a tropical flower can delight from one to 10 years under cultivation conditions. Bougainvillea reaches its maximum decorative effect at the age of 4-5 years. The bushes planted in the greenhouse soil from the south are especially beautiful. In summer they turn into avalanches of flowers. Compositions with different colors are especially beautiful.
There is another way to use the effect of a separate bush with different colors. Initially, several plants are planted in one tub, an intertwined trunk of several vines and a lush multi-colored bush are formed by pruning bougainvilleas.
Unusual and mesmerizing with mystery, bonsai from naked bougainvillea. This variety lends itself well to the formation of a trunk. Arches made of lianas, pergolas, gazebos, whatever the skillful hands of an artist can do from living material!