You can make a bougainvillea bonsai at home if you know how to make a bonsai plant. Here are step-by-step instructions to make a bonsai bougainvillea.
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| Artistic Bonsai Bougainvillea by Bernd-Schmidt |
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Steps For Making a Bonsai Bougainvillea
When no Make Bougainvillea Bonsai
You can start making your bougainvillea bonsai in Spring.Bougainvillea Plant Selection For Making Bonsai
There are several species of bougainvillea that can be used formaking it bonsai. Bougainvillea glabra is the most popular specie used for bonsai.
This bougainvillea has paper like magenta coloured bracts and shiny green leaves.
Different bougainvillea species for making bonsai of different colours are mentioned below.
- Bougainvillea glabra: Magenta coloured bracts
- Bougainvillea glabra Magnifica: Rose pink bracts
- Bougainvillea glabra Snow White: White bracts
- Bougainvillea peruviana: Rose pink bracts
- Bougainvillea brazilinensis: Pink bracts
- Bougainvillea spectabilis: Pink or mauve bracts
- Bougainvillea buttiana Golden Glow: Bright yellow bracts
- Bougainvillea buttiana Orange King: Orange bracts
- Bougainvillea buttiana Mrs. Butt: Crimson bracts
small leaves
good twig form
short inter-nodes
attractive bark or roots
survive intense pruning
As the leaf size is not reduced significantly in the bonsai process, large leaves do not look good.
Bougainvillea Plant Preparation
- Buy a 7-8 inch tall bougainvillea plant from your nursery. Remove the plant carefully from its pot with out damaging its fibrous roots. Tap off the soil to expose the roots.
- Cut off any damaged roots.
- Remove weak branches, rotten stems and undesirable branches. You may remove the branches on the lower third of the trunk of an upright bonsai.
- Parallel or twisted branches should be removed.
- Remove the branches that are thicker in the middle.
- Prune the roots, not more than one third, otherwise your plant can die.
- Keep the fibrous roots as much as possible.
- Cut the circling roots and extra-long woody roots.
- Carefully open the the root ball.
Planting Bougainvillea
- Pot: Take a shallow pot with several drainage holes at the bottom and depth equal to the diameter of the bougainvillea's trunk.
- Soil Mix: Buy a cacti soil mixture or make your own by mixing equal amounts of potting mix, perlite or river sand, peat moss or coco peat and pine bark.
- Potting: Fill the bottom one third of the pot with the soil mixture. Place the bougainvillea at the center and fill soil covering all the roots, fill the container. Press the soil firmly to keep the plant in upright position.
- Watering: Water well until water flows evenly from the drainage holes. Ensure that the foliage and stems are not getting wet while watering.
- Fertilizer: Feed your bougainvillea bonsai regularly with diluted water-soluble balanced fertilizer.
- Position: Place your bonsai bougainvillea in a sunny location where it can receive light for at least 5 hours a day.
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