How to Grow Bougainvillea - [ Cutting & Seeds - Quick 2022 ]

Are you here while searching for greenery that could cover your boundary wall? Or are you looking for vibrant and easy care, trouble-free plants? Bougainvillea is the best selection. Growing Bougainvillea is not very tricky as this is a low-maintenance plant and doesn't need your continuous, persistent attention. If you are looking for fast climbers, it is the fastest-growing plant that would help you in adding colors to your lawn and hanging pots while making your balcony look more attractive.

Two different techniques are used for the growth of Bougainvillea. You need to pay less attention to bougainvillea if you opt for the growing method by sowing seeds. Moreover, if you prefer to grow it through cuttings, it's a little demanding activity. Make sure to understand thoroughly the exact method of growing Bougainvillea as mentioned here, so you would be able to get the maximum healthiest growth of your beautiful plant.

How to Grow Bougainvillea - Healthy & Quick

Ensure to read and understand the following article, so you would know how to grow Bougainvillea before planting them.

Selecting The Best Site

Choose the best location for the planting of Bougainvillea. You can select hanging baskets of your garden, pots of your terrace, and even on the surface of your garden. Remember to choose the place with lots of sunlight throughout the day as Bougainvillea loves sunlight and multiplies its blooming in hot weather. Go for the place where you can conveniently attach strings with the plant to train it to grow upward or in a specified direction you want it to grow. This training would develop a beautiful look of colorful flowers.

Growing Bougainvillea Through Seeds

This is an easy method but takes more time than growing Bougainvillea through cuttings.

Collection of Seeds

Firstly, you have to collect excellent quality seeds. Make sure to select the renowned seed company if you are willing to buy them from the market. A good brand provides you with healthy seeds. But in case if you are looking to collect seeds from an already grown Bougainvillea plant, you have to wait for autumn. In this season, the flowers of Bougainvillea form seed pods inside their centers. You can collect them and put them in sunlight to dry them.

Germination of Seeds

Start germinating the seeds in the seedling tray. Fill the tray with nutritious soil and make one hole in the center of each box. Put 2 to 3 seeds in each hole. Cover the seeds with more soil and add water to them to make them moist. Leave the tray in the sunlight and wait.

Do not forget to shower water on the tray when you notice the dryness in the topmost layer of soil. Germination of the Bougainvillea seeds takes time, but once the germination is complete, the plant proliferates. Germination may take upto one month or some more. I waited for germination for 40 days after planting the seeds. But when I got the results, I must say it was worth waiting for. During this time, keep your germination tray in sunlight and water it properly.

Transplantation

After you notice the seeds are germinated, keep taking care of the plant and let it grow to 5 to 6 inches more in height. Soon after you see your plant is growing well, select the most suitable place for them, either in the hanging pots or lawn anywhere you want to grow your Bougainvillea, and transplant all the small, new Bougainvillea plants to their permanent location.

Growing Bougainvillea Through Cuttings

It is the most opted method for the growth of this evergreen blooming plant in your garden. You can select any time of the year as Bougainvillea can grow in any season except in the regions with freezing climates.

Selection Of Parent Plant

Select the healthiest parent plant so that the cuttings you will make has a healthy gene structure. Which ultimately will produce healthy offspring. Select the softwood from the parent plant to make cuttings. Softwood is a wood that is neither new nor very old. Make cuttings of 5 to 7 inches in length. Check for the nodes in each cutting; there should be at least 5 to 6 nodes in every single cutting you have made.

Planting Of The Cuttings

Now it's time to plant the cuttings. Remove all the leaves on the cuttings you have made. If you have rooting hormone, keep ends of the cuttings in it for a while. Make a mixture of soil by mixing one part peat which is an acidic medium, and one part perlite, which is used to store water in it. Put the mixture in pots or ground where you want to plant Bougainvillea.

Make holes in the pots and set one cutting in one pot if the pot is small. If the pot is big, you can place 3 to 4 cuttings in each. In this way, keep on setting all the cuttings until you finish. Ensure the cuttings are 2 to 3 inches deep inside the soil. You have to put this pot in a hot climate or in the area where the direct sunlight approaches. Water the plant properly and wait for the growth of roots and shoots.

Necessary Conditions For Better Growth Of Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea is not a very picky plant in terms of environmental conditions. They grow throughout the year and produce flowers now and then if the climate is warm. They are tolerant to drought and need very warm weather and sunlight to grow flawlessly. Do not overwater your plant. Keep the soil warm and maintain the proper airflow of the soil. A good drainage system is also essential so that water will not accumulate in the plant's roots. Hence, causing the root to rot.

FAQs

Conclusion

Bougainvillea is among the top selected plants in every aspect and if not taken care of properly, bougainvillea plants can die. You can make them climb your boundary wall as a security hedge because of the presence of thorns in its stem. It makes the sight highly capturing when grown on the ground and reaches the full height of almost 35 to 40 feet. The colorful flowers look vibrant and astonishing when hanging from your garden's beautiful hanging pots. Growing Bougainvillea is not a tough job to do, you need to read thoroughly, and you will get the whole idea of how to grow Bougainvillea.