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Old 30-Nov-2004   #3
Tracy
bonsaiTALK Neophyte
 
Join Date: Nov-2004
Location: Cape Town
Country: South Africa
Posts: 7
bougainvillea question

Hi Akhater

The experience i have had from bougie's at the moment is mostly in the garden and not as a bonsai. The prefer less water to your average plant. When they think they are in a drought, they produce more flowers. sadistic little plant really, work on starvation principles. During winter, they seem to cope really well with the winter rainfall we have here.

As a bonsai I can't really say when to prune or work on them. In the garden, the more you trim it the more it grows. But then by that stage they have reached thickness and full height.

We have found here in SA that there are certain species of Bougie's that tend to overnight drop all their leave and flowers. Then in about 2 days time you see new leaves shooting. weird and definitely not for the faint hearted. I did the panic thing when that happened to mine and i have not even worked on it yet.

Hope that helps.
good luck and send a pic when you get it going.
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