Bougainvillea grows very fast. In order to make it grow better and more stylish, it needs to be pruned frequently. So, when is the best time to prune and how many times a year is the best time to prune?

Bougainvillea can be pruned all year round or multiple times, but it is not good to prune it randomly. It must be pruned in a certain way. It is best to prune it after the blooming period.

After the bougainvillea blooms, you can cut off all the remaining flowers. This can reduce the loss of nutrients in the bougainvillea tree, allow more nutrients to supply the branches and leaves, and save strength for the next bougainvillea bloom. .

Bougainvillea grows rapidly. Pay attention to pruning during the growth period. Generally, after germination, you can determine which branches are weak, which are strong, and which are dry. Pruning can promote the growth of side branches and produce more flowering branches.

I usually trim it regularly, and if it doesn’t look pleasing to my eyes, it will snap. Pay attention when pruning, look at the plant shape from different angles and directions, and cut off branches that affect the plant shape to achieve the most beautiful effect. After each flowering, the remaining flowers should be removed promptly to reduce nutrient consumption.

After the flowering period, overly dense branches, inner branches, leggy branches, and weak branches should be thinned out. Other branches are generally not pruned or only the branches are slightly pruned. It is not advisable to prune heavily to shorten the length of the branches. One round of growth period promotes early and multiple blooms.

Bougainvillea not only has many varieties, but also has rich flower colors. It is a flower plant that is loved by many friends. And if maintained and managed well, it can bloom multiple times a year, and sometimes it can even bloom but not grow leaves, making the entire bonsai bloom more perfect and stunning.

But if you want the bougainvillea bonsai to bloom, in addition to sufficient light, water and fertilizer, pruning is also particularly important. Because whether it is pruned well or not will not only affect its flowering amount, but also determine whether it can successfully achieve secondary flowering. But when pruning it, you usually need to master these critical periods.

1. Pruning before flowering

The flowering period of bougainvillea is mostly from April to November, that is, from spring to autumn, it may show beautiful blooming scenes. If it still shows no signs of blooming after entering April, then we need to see if it has grown leggy. Many times it is due to its overgrown branches and leaves that it does not bloom, so we need to top and short-cut it in time.

But for short-cut branches, generally 2-3 pairs of leaves are retained on each branch, and 2-3 pairs of buds are usually retained on the remaining part, and the rest are cut off. After pruning in this way, the branches and leaves can be restrained from growing too much, while the plant shape can be controlled, and side branches can sprout quickly. The branches will also grow stronger, which will naturally make it easier to bloom.

2. Pruning after flowering

For bonsai flower plants, pruning after flowering is very important. After all, bonsai has limited nutrients in the pot, so it is necessary to avoid unnecessary nutrients as much as possible. consumption. The same is true for bougainvillea. After blooming, it must be pruned in time. Not only do you need to cut off the flower stalks of the remaining flowers, but you also need to cut off branches with undesirable forms such as overly dense branches and leggy branches. This can not only save nutrients, but also promote the germination of more side branches.

And in order to promote the second flowering, after the post-flowering pruning is completed, it should be supplemented with some nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium multi-element fertilizer in time, so as to promote the germination and growth of new branches and rejuvenate the branches. But when the side branches grow 2-3 pairs of leaves, watering should be controlled in time and the light should be increased so that it can bloom again.

3. Post-autumn pruning

For post-autumn pruning, strong pruning is generally suitable, usually around November in late autumn. Because the temperature is gradually decreasing at this time, winter is about to enter, and the bougainvillea will also go into winter dormancy. The sap flow rate in the tree is slow, and the plant growth is also very slow. It is very suitable for heavy pruning. Generally, it is best combined with styling operations.

This round of pruning is mainly to cut off most of its branches to save nutrients and allow nutrients to flow back to the main trunk, thereby improving its cold resistance in winter and conserving energy for flowering in the next spring. At the same time, we can also keep the ambient temperature at about 10°C, so that it can naturally shed its leaves to reduce consumption. When it blooms in the next spring, it can even have a beautiful scene of only flowers but no leaves.

So, as long as the pruning management is done well in these three periods of the year, it is very important for the flowering of bougainvillea bonsai. Not only can it bloom multiple times smoothly, but it also blooms in greater quantities. Especially in spring, the entire plant can even be filled with flowers, which is very shocking.

4. No pruning in winter

Normally speaking, bougainvillea does not need to be pruned in winter, because bougainvillea is in its peak flowering period in autumn, and the flowering period is very long and can last forever. In winter, if the temperature in winter is relatively low, all the leaves of bougainvillea will fall off but the flowers will not fall off, which is the state of bare stems and blooming.