Bougainvillea - a tropical beauty in the Old World
Two centuries ago, the French navigator Louis Antoine de Bougainville and the naturalist Carnerson presented Europe with an evergreen flowering plant, perpetuating the name of the traveler in the name. Bougainvillea, a rainforest dweller from Brazil, is beautiful, but a lady with character.
Conditions of keeping bougainvillea
A tropical plant in nature is represented by small trees, shrubs and vines. Several varieties have taken root in culture, which allowed breeders to domesticate the plant and create hybrids. Bougainvilleas are valued for decorative bracts - modified leaves that are located around a small inflorescence. The framing leaves are painted in bright shades of lilac. In culture, the palette of colors is inexhaustible. The tropicana settled on window sills, in greenhouses and winter gardens.
- temperature conditions - growing season at temperatures above 120 C, for flowering you need 21-270 C, rest at 5-10, while a short exposure to zero temperature is destructive;
- dry sunny weather without prolonged rains;
- lack of drafts and strong winds;
- watering with abundant soft, settled water, but without stagnant excessive moisture;
- spacious room, free accommodation;
If the conditions for keeping the bougainvillea are not met, it stops blooming and sheds its leaves.
Bougainvillea, reproduction at home
In their native rainforests, butterflies and caliber birds carry plant seeds through the forest. Once in favorable conditions, a sprout appears. All lianas in internodes are able to take root, and the branch takes root, a cut appears, which grows over time.
In cultural breeding use:
- seed reproduction;
- grafting;
- reproduction by rooted layers.
For hybrids, vegetative propagation retains the resulting decorative properties completely. It is difficult to obtain seeds at home and they are very small, they are in boxes.
Prepare a sterile substrate of peat and sand in equal proportions. Soak the seeds in a growth promoter before sowing. Arrange the bottom heating of the seedling container. Substrate temperature should be 27-300 C, seedlings will appear in 2-3 months. Therefore, the bowl in which bougainvillea develops from seeds should be covered from above from drying out the soil, but regularly ventilated and moistened with a fine spray over the surface. For winter sowing, the container must be supplemented with a lamp located at a distance of 25 cm from the ground surface.
Cuttings are used in the spring and during the summer months. Lignified shoots are good. The green stalk is cut obliquely under the bud. The operation is performed under sterile conditions. Having dried a little, cut and remove the lower leaves, process the cut with a root former.
The mixture for grafting must be sterile:
- sod land - 35%;
- leaf land - 35%;
- peat – 20%;
- quartz sand - 10%.
The stem is lowered to the second bud into the substrate, a greenhouse is installed above it with a temperature of 250, ventilate and keep the soil moist. After a month, the roots will appear and the stalk is ready to be transferred to a permanent bowl.
In another way, bougainvillea is propagated by cuttings germinated before callus forms in water. The plant, ready for rooting, is planted immediately in a pot.In this case, high humidity around the top of the cuttings is important. Germination in water is not always successful. For young plants, sand should be added to normal soil.
The easiest way to breed bougainvillea is to root a twig, taking advantage of the plant's ability to give aerial roots in internodes. If the bush grows in the open air, it is easy to root the twig, it is enough to take an adult twig, which is not completely coarse, cut the bark and pin the layers into the ground.
Pour a mound of earth on top, and raise the top. A month and a half will pass and you can carefully remove the twig bearded from the roots, separate it from the main bush and plant in the prepared soil.
The more space, the faster the liana grows. But it will bloom only after filling the entire volume of the earth with roots. Therefore, the container is increased with each transplant, achieving a balance between the growth rate and the number of flowers.
How to root if bougainvillea is growing on the windowsill? Then you can select a ripe twig, gently bend and lower it into a specially suspended bowl at the level of the cut bark. The rest is the same.
A more convenient way is shown in the photo. Inside is a layer of moist substrate. After rooting, the branch is cut with a pruner and transferred to a prepared pot. The upper shell is cut and the roots are arranged without injury.
It is important to remember that no matter how the roots are obtained, they are very delicate and fragile. Transfer to a new container must be carried out carefully. The novosadka needs to continue to be covered from drying out, the roots do not work yet. Open gradually, accustoming to normal content.
Young bush care
A young plant needs care. Young branches need to be formed, it is possible that outside support will be required. If the bush is healthy, then it begins to bloom quickly. Therefore, it is necessary to create trellis from wire. On sale there are special stands made of plastic in the form of a lattice.
In the process of growth, a tree is usually formed from naked bougainvillea. Beautiful, more used as a vine. A prerequisite for obtaining a beautiful plant is the formation of the crown. Pruning the branches after flowering, when they retire, is required. In the spring, when new stems grow, they are shortened, forcing the plant to branch and give it the desired shape.
During the summer, twigs knocking out of the composition are also removed. Bougainvillea takes pruning well. The created bonsai trees are a decoration for any composition.
The plant is transplanted into a large bowl carefully, while using the soil of the composition:
- leaf land - 2 parts;
- sod land - 2 parts;
- humus - 1 part; sand - 1 part.
Charcoal chips and vermiculite will not interfere. Top dressing in the summer should be done regularly, apply universal fertilizer. To water, but do not flood, and the plant will thank you with flowering.