Watering your bougainvillea

Watering your bougainvillea
A healthy bougainvillea requires a lot of water throughout the season. During cooler periods, or when you are overwintering your bougainvillea, its water requirements are significantly less.
How much water you should give your plant depends on a number of variables. It depends on the soil type, the root system, the size of the plant, the size and material of the container, the air temperature and, if you are keeping it on an uncovered patio, the amount of rainfall.
For example, if you are planting a bougainvillea that you have rooted yourself in a container, after planting it can be watered once a week, as its roots are still weak and not fully developed, and the plant cannot take up much water. However, once the root system has developed, the same plant may need daily watering.
The main rule is that no plant should be watered if it does not need it. Likewise, a plant that needs water should be watered immediately. Overwatering is as harmful as underwatering.
You can read in some guides that bougainvillea needs to be wilted occasionally to keep it flowering. My personal opinion is that this is wrong, it is bad advice and I would not recommend anyone to follow it. Especially not for a bougainvillea that is placed directly in the sun all day long. In the heat of summer, water the plant as soon as the leaves begin to droop, otherwise the low moisture content of the leaves will immediately burn off in the hot sun. If a bougainvillea were to flower when it is wilted, you would see specimens bursting with flowers all year round. In my experience, bougainvillea thrive best when the soil is consistently and evenly moist. Not wet, but moist.
Bougainvillea need a constant and adequate supply of water, but only under certain conditions can they take up water from the soil.
First of all, we must be clear about the following. Parts of the substrate hold a certain amount of water, so to speak, and the plants do not have access to this moisture. The water available to plants is nothing more than the amount of water that the soil has in excess of its own water requirements.
Secondly, as I mentioned earlier, the soil needs to be loose and aerated to allow the roots of plants to breathe and take up water in a healthy way. Therefore, the soil should not contain so much water that there is no room for air. Good potting soil does not retain too much water. Excess water is drained away by holes in the bottom of the containers. Bougainvillea should never stand in water.

Overwatering is the best way to damage your bougainvillea.
In summary:
- use potting soil with the right structure and composition. This will ensure good water retention in the soil, as well as the presence of the necessary oxygen for the roots of the plants.
- always have drainage holes at the bottom of planting containers to allow excess water to escape, this will prevent root rot from overwatering.
- stop watering as soon as water starts to run out through the holes in the bottom of the container. This will reduce salt build-up.
- if you can, do not use a plant saucer. If you do use one, don’t let excess water stand in it..
- don’t water on a schedule, and don’t always water at the usual time. Water when your plant needs it.
- let the soil in the pot dry on the surface before watering again. This maintains the balance of air and water in the soil.
- if your bougainvillea needs more than two waterings a day, move it to a larger pot.
- soils with a high organic matter content (e.g., peat) are difficult to re-wet once they have dried out. They also tend to peel off the sides of planting pots, so water runs down the sides of the pots and out without actually wetting the soil. In this case, place the pot in a pot full of water until the medium is completely soaked.
- if you can, collect rainwater and water your bougainvillea with it. The rainwater will keep the plants’ root systems healthy. Irrigation with hard water, tap water, adversely affects the uptake of nutrients by the plants through calcification of the growing medium, thus reducing their resistance to various diseases.
As an artisanal nursery based in Hungary, we are dedicated exclusively to growing, propagating and selling bougainvillea mutations. Our purchasing system is overseen by the National Food Chain Safety Office (NÉBIH). Our mother plants and propagations are supervised by a plant protection expert, a plant protection specialist and a plant doctor, assigned by NÉBIH. Our bougainvillea are delivered with a plant passport. The plant passport is the official label required for the transport of plants within the European Union, certifying that the plants bearing it meet the health requirements of all EU plants. In addition to the bougainvillea varieties known in Hungary, our collection also includes the rarest tropical mutations. The procurement of mother plants and propagation from them is continuous. We propagate locally and do not sell to other traders. All our Bougainvillea for sale have strong roots, are healthy and resistant to disease. Plants are delivered by GLS, MPL, or other local couriers. Our plants can be delivered to any place in Hungary within one day of order. Need more reasons to buy?

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