Airport Bougainvillea

Hawaiian77 · 06-11-2010, 11:55 AM

Howzit Guys,
I wanted to share this bougainvillea progression with you all. I got this in 03/2010 from a friend who works at the Kahului airport here on Maui. They have a greenhouse that they keep all there plants that they use on the grounds at the airport. As the story goes, a co-worker wanted to make a bonsai out of a bougainvillea. To make a long story short, he forgot about it and it started to get root bound. So what they did that I found so interesting was that they took it out of the pot and left it on the table and it was growing like this for years. As you can see by the pictures that the roots had grown in a circle. So I took it home, pruned back the branches, cleaned out the roots and potted it up. And now the pink bracts are coming out.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

M.B. · 06-12-2010, 12:30 AM

That is so amazing. I just bought a few bougies at a local nursery. I am a little confused. The directions for planting on the tag says to be very careful with the roots. Have you found their roots to be tender to handling or pruning when you repot? I was thinking of repotting this weekend since they have the usual crappy nursery soil, way too heavy for my watering practices.
Mary B.

Hawaiian77 · 06-12-2010, 03:57 AM

Aloha Mary,
Not at all. To me, there almost like ficus. You can handle them pretty much. I had two airport bougies that I took home and the other one I had to root prune it hard because it had a very large tap root. I also collected a purple bougie in Lahaina that I had to root prune hard before I could pot it in a grow box. I'll post it up after it has new shoots. What I do is before I put them in a grow box I let them soak in a mixture of Superthrive and Humic acid for a little while then pot it up. Also, I put a little "Dyna-Gro" root-gel on the cuts and fine roots. And after they have taken hold I cut on the watering a bit to stress the plant so the bracts come out. So Mary, Go-For-It. It'll be alright.

A Hui Hou,

-Tim

prasad · 06-12-2010, 05:27 AM

That is nice. You have given a life and beautiful look to the plat which was deserted in the garden as useless stuff.

philgrayser · 06-12-2010, 07:41 AM

Hi Tim, thats a nice rescue youve done on that tree. Its looking really good now so well done. cheers Phil G

Hawaiian77 · 06-12-2010, 11:23 AM

Mahalo Guys,
Bougainvilleas are fun to work with. I did a little jin on one of the branches that I had cut that looked like an eye sore. I couldn't cut it close enough to the trunk so I took the Dremel to it and did some carving. This is my first attempt at doing a jin.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

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06-12-2010, 12:30 AM	#2 (permalink)
M.B. Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Outside Sacramento, CA Posts: 116	That is so amazing. I just bought a few bougies at a local nursery. I am a little confused. The directions for planting on the tag says to be very careful with the roots. Have you found their roots to be tender to handling or pruning when you repot? I was thinking of repotting this weekend since they have the usual crappy nursery soil, way too heavy for my watering practices. Mary B.

06-12-2010, 03:57 AM	#3 (permalink)
Hawaiian77 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Maui, Hawaii Zone 11 (And Loving it) Posts: 23	Aloha Mary, Not at all. To me, there almost like ficus. You can handle them pretty much. I had two airport bougies that I took home and the other one I had to root prune it hard because it had a very large tap root. I also collected a purple bougie in Lahaina that I had to root prune hard before I could pot it in a grow box. I'll post it up after it has new shoots. What I do is before I put them in a grow box I let them soak in a mixture of Superthrive and Humic acid for a little while then pot it up. Also, I put a little "Dyna-Gro" root-gel on the cuts and fine roots. And after they have taken hold I cut on the watering a bit to stress the plant so the bracts come out. So Mary, Go-For-It. It'll be alright. A Hui Hou, -Tim

06-12-2010, 05:27 AM	#4 (permalink)
prasad Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Bangalore, Karnataka , India Posts: 3	That is nice. You have given a life and beautiful look to the plat which was deserted in the garden as useless stuff.

06-12-2010, 07:41 AM	#5 (permalink)
philgrayser philgrayser Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Scotland Posts: 132	Hi Tim, thats a nice rescue youve done on that tree. Its looking really good now so well done. cheers Phil G

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