I think I said in the fuchsia thread that I was a bit of a fool.
Well, a couple of weeks ago I bought a bougainvillia - it was love at first sight
(for me, at least:-) and I just couldn't stop myself.
Things have not gone well since then. It's indoors and I gave it a sip of water a
week and a half ago, since when the pink bracts have died and fallen off. It's in a
warm & sunny position.

What have I done wrong? (Other than be too optimistic)

thanks,

Liz

"FF" wrote in message
...
I think I said in the fuchsia thread that I was a bit of a fool.
Well, a couple of weeks ago I bought a bougainvillia - it was love at
first sight
(for me, at least:-) and I just couldn't stop myself.
Things have not gone well since then. It's indoors and I gave it a sip of
water a
week and a half ago, since when the pink bracts have died and fallen off.
It's in a
warm & sunny position.

What have I done wrong? (Other than be too optimistic)

Not sure you have - I think sometimes they drop the pink bracts after being
moved around.

How moist is your compost?

A sip of water through the summer like weather we have had until the last
couple of days may not have been enough.

After getting too optimistic and killing off our big one by leaving it out
to late in the winter, we are now raising a 'rescue' one from a sad little
plantlet we got last year.

It is in the sun lounge; looks very sad over winter when virtually all the
leaves fall off however this spring it has grown a nice new set of leaves
and has all the signs of growing well this season.

When it is growing actively we give it considerably more than a sip of
water - we keep the compost quite moist but not waterlogged.

Bougainvillia can drop leaves if underwatered (or severely overwatered) but
seem remarkably resilient in general.

Ours is due to go outside for the summer soon, perhaps after being potted
on.

Our last one (before it pegged out) grew to quite a nice size - about 4 foot
by 4 foot IIRC.

HTH
Dave R

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:55:44 GMT, FF wrote:

~I think I said in the fuchsia thread that I was a bit of a fool.
~Well, a couple of weeks ago I bought a bougainvillia - it was love at first sight
~(for me, at least:-) and I just couldn't stop myself.
~Things have not gone well since then. It's indoors and I gave it a sip of water a
~week and a half ago, since when the pink bracts have died and fallen off. It's in a
~warm & sunny position.
~
~What have I done wrong? (Other than be too optimistic)
~
~thanks,
~
~Liz

First thing is to make sure minimum temperature doesn't drop below
10C. They tend to drop leaves etc if this happens. I have had two for
8 years now, the pink one a cheapie I found in a newsagents (!) and
the gold from a specialist nursery (see below). I got a third last
Autumn, giving me an incredible clashing array of pink, gold and white


I have found them quite resistant to me forgetting to water them,
though it can take a few months for them to green up again. Don't
repot until you've had it a month or two, as it's currently getting
used to the shock of being moved. It's possible the place you bought
it from had let it get too cold, and this is a delayed reaction.

I suggest going to peek at
http://www.westdalenurseries.co.uk/care.html as these are the folk I
bought my white and gold ones from.


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 09:41:28 +0100, "David W.E. Roberts" wrote:


"FF" wrote in message
.. .
I think I said in the fuchsia thread that I was a bit of a fool.
Well, a couple of weeks ago I bought a bougainvillia - it was love at
first sight
(for me, at least:-) and I just couldn't stop myself.
Things have not gone well since then. It's indoors and I gave it a sip of
water a
week and a half ago, since when the pink bracts have died and fallen off.
It's in a
warm & sunny position.

What have I done wrong? (Other than be too optimistic)

Not sure you have - I think sometimes they drop the pink bracts after being
moved around.

How moist is your compost?

A sip of water through the summer like weather we have had until the last
couple of days may not have been enough.

It's bone dry! I was terrified of over watering. I'll give it a cupful or 2 now,
shall I?

After getting too optimistic and killing off our big one by leaving it out
to late in the winter, we are now raising a 'rescue' one from a sad little
plantlet we got last year.

It is in the sun lounge; looks very sad over winter when virtually all the
leaves fall off however this spring it has grown a nice new set of leaves
and has all the signs of growing well this season.

When it is growing actively we give it considerably more than a sip of
water - we keep the compost quite moist but not waterlogged.

Bougainvillia can drop leaves if underwatered (or severely overwatered) but
seem remarkably resilient in general.

Mine is going to have to learn to be resilient:-)

Ours is due to go outside for the summer soon, perhaps after being potted
on.

Our last one (before it pegged out) grew to quite a nice size - about 4 foot
by 4 foot IIRC.

Lovely! I hope mine does as well:-)

Thanks.

Liz

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 08:58:12 +0000 (UTC), (jane)
wrote:

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:55:44 GMT, FF wrote:

~I think I said in the fuchsia thread that I was a bit of a fool.
~Well, a couple of weeks ago I bought a bougainvillia - it was love at first sight
~(for me, at least:-) and I just couldn't stop myself.
~Things have not gone well since then. It's indoors and I gave it a sip of water a
~week and a half ago, since when the pink bracts have died and fallen off. It's in a
~warm & sunny position.
~
~What have I done wrong? (Other than be too optimistic)
~
~thanks,
~
~Liz

First thing is to make sure minimum temperature doesn't drop below
10C. They tend to drop leaves etc if this happens. I have had two for
8 years now, the pink one a cheapie I found in a newsagents (!) and
the gold from a specialist nursery (see below). I got a third last
Autumn, giving me an incredible clashing array of pink, gold and white


I have found them quite resistant to me forgetting to water them,
though it can take a few months for them to green up again. Don't
repot until you've had it a month or two, as it's currently getting
used to the shock of being moved. It's possible the place you bought
it from had let it get too cold, and this is a delayed reaction.

I got it att the Bath & west showground, so maybe it was in a draft or something.

I suggest going to peek at
http://www.westdalenurseries.co.uk/care.html as these are the folk I
bought my white and gold ones from.
These are the people I bought it from! A charming young man, the grandson of the
founder, I think. He said he was going into plumbing instead:-(

Perhaps I should call in and buy the special food. Do you think it's any better than
regular plant feed?

I was just so amazed by the display of colours I just had to buy one. I hope it pulls
through:-(

Thanks again,

Liz