Transplanting bougainvillea is necessary for some reasons. If you do not do it well, your plants may be shocked, and their growth will be limited.

Transplanting Bougainvillea

To learn how to transplant your bougainvillea the right way, read this article.

What Steps Are Involved in Transplanting Bougainvillea?

The steps involved in transplanting bougainvillea are carefully removing the plants from the ground, pruning them, planting them in a new location, and watering them. You’ll also need to water the plants to keep them firm and then optionally apply fungicides to prevent fungi from attacking them.

1. Select a Suitable Planting Location

A suitable location for bougainvillea has these qualities:

Select a Suitable Planting Location

  • Access to light: Bougainvillea needs full sun, so do not plant them in places that receive lower than six hours of sunlight daily.
  • Slightly acidic pH: A pH level between 6.0 and 6.5 is ideal for plants.
  • Well-draining: Do not grow your bougainvillea in mud or any soil that does not drain water quickly so that you do not suffocate the plants.
  • Nutritious: Of course, your plants need nutrients to grow. You can use any product (organic or inorganic) for the plants.
  • Visible: These plants are beautiful, so they need a spot where they can be seen by your visitors.

2. Prepare Your Selected Location for the Bougainvillea Plants

When learning how to plant bougainvillea, the first thing to learn is how to prepare the location. Here are some tips:

  • Aerate the soil: If the soil is a compacted loam, simply digging and turning it is okay. However, you may need to add perlite and other products for mud and other types of compacted soil.
  • Add nutrients: Add compost, coffee grounds, or products that can keep the soil nutritious. Just make sure that there are nutrients for the roots of your bougainvillea.
  • Clear weeds: If the place is full of weeds, remove the weeds so that your bougainvillea does not have to compete with other plants for nutrients.

3. Water Your Bougainvilleas

Water the plants for some minutes before you start transplanting them.

Water Your Bougainvillea

You need to make sure that their leaves are firm before you transplant them, as dehydrated plants (with weak leaves) are not quick to recover after transplanting.

4. Digging Some Holes

After watering the plants, start digging the holes if you haven’t. If you have the plants in pots, dig holes that are slightly deeper than the length of the pots.

Digging Some Holes

Just make sure that the hole can contain the entire root system of your bougainvillea.

5. Removing the Plants From Their Substrate

You need to be very careful in this step. Digging up bougainvillea will determine how productive the plants grow.

Make sure that you carry as many roots as you can because plants with more roots quickly adapt to their new environment.

6. Prune the Plants Before Transplanting

You can do this step before or after the previous step. Pruning your plants can help them conserve water and nutrients because they continue sending water and nutrients to their leaves even while they are stressed. Don’t worry; they will grow new leaves in no time.

7. Transplant the Bougainvillea

After digging the holes, it is time to put your bougainvillea into the holes. Carefully insert the roots into the hole and then cover them with soil.

Tamp the soil to make sure that there are not many spaces inside. Remember to be extra careful with the roots.

8. Water Your Bougainvillea

When you have transplanted all your Bougainvilleas to their new spots, water them. Watering them can help reduce the chance that your plants will get shocked due to transplanting.

Watering will also help to reduce the soil temperature, especially if the atmosphere is hot.

9. Prevent Fungi from Attacking Your Bougainvillea

There are likely fresh cuts in the root system of your plants, so you need to prevent microbes such as fungi from attacking the plants.

You can easily repel fungi by applying a solution made with 1/3 teaspoon of iprodione (a fungicide) mixed with 1 gallon of water to the soil. This can help prevent root rot.

10. Mulching

Mulching the soil helps to keep a balanced temperature. Your new plants need stable soil, not one with fluctuating temperatures.

Mulching

When the temperature is stable, it can help the roots to adapt easily to the new soil. Well, mulching is not compulsory.

Can You Start New Bougainvillea From Cuttings?

You can start a new bougainvillea from cuttings by opting for a healthy cutting. Select any healthy branch of your choice and collect around 10 inches. When you have their cuttings, propagate bougainvilleas by dipping the end of the cutting into a rooting hormone (optional) and then planting the cutting.

So long as you remember to water the cuttings regularly in a nutritious substrate, you should see new leaves forming in less than 10 days. Now, you know how to grow bougainvillea from cuttings. Please propagate the plants only in the spring or summer months.

FAQs

1. How Do You Prevent Bougainvillea Transplant Shock?

You can prevent bougainvillea transplant shock by performing it in the morning (or evening). The temperature is quite cool, so your plants can easily adapt to their new environment. Harsh temperatures can shock the plants. Moreover, water is important, and you do not want to transplant dehydrated bougainvillea.

Here are some other tips:

  • Use similar substrate: You want to make sure that the new substrate you are transplanting your bougainvillea into has similar qualities such as pH, nutrients, moisture, and other factors with the previous one.
  • Do not damage the roots: When digging off the bougainvillea from their substrate, dig as many roots as you can with the plant. Damaging the roots leads to shock.
  • Prune the plant: If you do not prune the plants, they will need more water to keep their leaves firm. The excess demand for water when the roots have not adapted to the soil can be very stressful for the plants.

2. What Do You Need to Transplant Your Bougainvillea Into Pots?

To transplant bougainvillea into pots, you have to take a well-drained pot. Moreover, you need to have a good-quality substrate. In addition, you need to have a healthy bougainvillea seedling. Lastly, you will need fertilizer to make sure your plant stays healthy in the long run.

Here’s the detailed list:

  • Substrate: The best soil for bougainvillea in pots is nutritious and humus-rich. However, it should have very little to no peat moss. Just make sure that the soil drains water quickly.
  • Bougainvillea seedling: Of course, you need a seedling (or plant) that you will be transplanting. Go for healthy plants.
  • Fertilizer: Potted soil may lose nutrients faster than soil in the ground because pots and potted soil drain water quickly. Nutrients wash off with water. This means that you should fertilize potted plants more regularly plants in the ground.

Growing bougainvillea in pots will be super easy for you so long as you have the listed items.

Conclusion

Bougainvillea is very beautiful yet easy to grow and transplant.

You just need to remember the useful tips listed in this article, as summarized below:

  • Transplant your plants either at dawn or twilight. Do not transplant them when the sun is fully out.
  • Dig up as many roots as you can because plants with damaged roots will grow very poorly.
  • You can use bougainvillea cuttings to get new plants. Make sure you select healthy cuttings.
  • Use fungicides to protect your new plants from fungal attacks.
  • Remember to regularly water your plants, especially after transplanting them.

Awesome transplanting and plant care tips, right? Stick to them so that you can transplant your bougainvillea effortlessly.

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