I have pruned back when I brought it out of the house from the winter, fertilized it, let it grow then "stressed" it till the leaves were limp and still no blooms....any ideas what to do? It seems to bloom itself silly in the winter after I bring it in from outside. It's great to have all these beautiful blooms in February when it's dreary, but I'd also like to see some on my deck when it 400 degrees outside!
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Non-blooming bouganvillea
Submitted by lholstin on August 13, 2008 - 9:14pm.
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Nah..not that much!! I might try bringing the hanging one in just because and try that. The other one is in a big enough pot that it doesn't get moved around until time to bring it in!
I had asked a favorite nursery last spring about the blooming and they are the ones that told me to prune and fertilize.
I have done the "dark" for my Christmas cactus to get it to bloom on time. Since I like to experiement. I'll try the darkness with the hanging pot and let you know how that goes.
Thanks to you and Dennis for your reply.
You may have already found your answer. The problem could be more related to timing and plant development. I am not for sure but this may be a case of day length effecting flowering or maybe the pruning and time for the plant to develop new wood and blooms. Everyone seems to complain about this plant not blooming in summer. Come to think about it, it is in full bloom in the winter in Mexico.
You must be doing something right or you would have no flowers in the winter.
Dennis - Johnson County Extension
Dennis asked me to follow up with additional information we received from our Extension collegue Pam Paulsen in Reno County KS. It turns out that bouganvilla need at least 14-16 hours of darkness for at least two weeks before they will flower. That is why they bloom in your house in the winter but not outside during the summer. Also, they will not bloom for 6-8 weeks after pruning. I suppose you could bring them in from your deck every night and put them in a dark closet from dinner till breakfast for a couple of weeks and see if you could stimulate them to bloom. Are you that dedicated??
Laura
Johnson Co. Extension Master Gardener