How To Grow Bougainvillea In Pots India – Bougainvillea Plant Care

Do you want to enjoy the breathtaking flowers of Bougainvillea but wondering: 

If you can grow them in pots or not? 

Then let me tell you:

It is one of the easiest plants to grow in pots, moreover potted condition is favored by bougainvillea.

How to grow bougainvillea in pots?

To grow bougainvillea in pots in India, you need to fill a pot with nutrition rich, fast draining potting soil, insert a healthy cutting in it & keep this pot in semi shade for few months & then in direct sunlight and water it whenever the soil gets dry and fertilize it every now and then. 

growing Bougainvillea in pots india
Our sweet little bougainvillea

In this guide you will get to know everything about growing bougainvillea in pots step by step. 

Table of Contents 

Best time to plant bougainvillea in pots

The best time to plant bougainvillea in pots India is during the Spring season; this is the time when it grows most rapidly. The second best time will be just before the arrival of summer.  

Don’t plant bougainvillea close to winter season, because it needs a fully grown root system to handle the cold weather. 

So, make sure you have this in mind, otherwise nothing else will matter. 

Bougainvillea flowering season in India

Bougainvillea flowering season in India is for almost 10 months, except the cold months of Jan & Feb. Except those two months it keeps on blooming every now and then, if you take proper care of it.

So, it is best to have this beautiful 365 days flowering plant in or around your house to have a permanent bloom.

Things You Will Needed 

Pruner - Garden tool
  • Pruner
    Pruner will be used to cut the cuttings, as bougainvillea cuttings are very hard, it won’t be possible with regular scissors.
  • Trowel
    A trowel will be required to fill the potting soil inside the pot.
  • Rooting hormone
    Rooting hormone will be applied at the base of cuttings for encouraging the growth of roots.

Growing Bougainvillea In Pots India 

Grow bougainvillea pots india

Things to remember while getting a cutting?

For growing bougainvillea from cutting, the first thing you need are a few healthy cuttings of bougainvillea.

Make sure these cuttings are semi ripe and not very hard in nature, they need to have a little bit of moisture inside them. 

And at least 7-8 nodes as well.

Dip the bottom of the cuttings in water for now to keep them fresh.  While you prepare everything else.

And proceed further.

Preparing Potting Soil For Bougainvillea

tools for making potting soil at home in india

Bougainvillea is a hardy plant that can grow in almost any type of soil, provided the soil has good drainage. 

So, while growing it in pots, you need to make sure the soil has good nutrition (because obviously you want it to flower) & fast draining capacity.

As it cannot stand in a wet environment for a long time & will likely have root rot.  

If you make your own potting soil at home, use the following ratio and ingredients: 

  • Garden Soil – 40% 
  • Sand – 20%
  • Coco peat – 20%
  • Vermicompost – 20%

Here sand will increase the drainage capacity and vermicompost (like this one) will provide it the right amount of nutrition.

Getting The Pot Ready (Growing Bougainvillea in Pots)

For the cuttings, a 6 inch pot ( like this one) is good enough.

Make 3-4 holes at the bottom for drainage and air circulation. Cover these holes with stone, so that soil doesn’t escape through it. 

pot with drainage holes

Now, fill the potting soil you just prepared inside it with the help of a trowel. 

Leaving 1 inches from the top.

Now, everything is ready.

Final Step – Preparing the cutting to plant

Remove all the leaves from the cuttings. 

Use a pruner (like this one) to make a 45 degree cut at the bottom of the cutting (the part which is going to be buried inside the soil). 

You don’t need to be precise with the angle. (don’t get your protractor out of your geometry box :p ). This cut ensures that water and nutrition is taken up easily by the cuttings to form roots. 

Now dip the cutting in rooting hormone and insert it inside the potting soil.

Only plant one cutting per pot, don’t overcrowd.

Water generously to make sure that the soil is moist. 

Keep the pot in semi shade, where it gets bright indirect sunlight. As direct sunlight will be too much for the cuttings.

Water it whenever the soil gets dry to make sure it’s moist.

How long does it take to develop roots in bougainvillea? 
It takes around 2-3 months for bougainvillea to develop roots and have enough leaves to be transferred to a location where it receives direct sunlight. 

Also read:

Plants that give oxygen 24 hours

Indoor Plants that grows without sunlight

Bougainvillea Plant Care India

bougainvillea plant care india

Once the cuttings have developed a strong root system and has 5-6 leaves on it and has been transferred to direct sunlight. 

It is time to look at Bougainvillea Plant Care requirements:

Watering Properly

The most important factor in taking care of a bougainvillea plant is to know how to water it properly.

Always water it just enough to make sure the soil has become moist and before watering next time. 

Insert your finger inside to see if the soil has become dry, if it feels even slightly moist don’t water until it becomes fully dry.

The Bougainvillea plant cannot handle overwatering and will easily suffer from root rot, if it is kept in a wet environment for a long time.

So, watering it less won’t cause much problem but overwatering surely will.  

Sunlight Requirement – Bougainvillea Plant Care India

Bougainvillea does best in direct sunlight and requires at least 5-6 hours of direct sunlight to flower.

So, if you are wondering: 

“Why is my bougainvillea not flowering?”

Then, not getting enough sunlight can be the reason behind it. 

Fertilizer 

Bougainvillea as I told you earlier requires nutritious soil to flower, so feeding it with balanced fertilizer (10:10:10) during its active season like spring and early summer will help it flower profusely. 

If your bougainvillea plant has extra-ordinarily green leaves, then get a fertilizer with less nitrogen content in it. (5:10:10)

Anyway, except the winter season, keep fertilizing it lightly every 30-35 days with good quality vermicompost (like this one).

Pruning  

Pruning keeps the plant in shape and promotes flowering.

When to prune bougainvillea in India?
After every round of flowering, lightly prune bougainvillea to encourage new growth and remove the old growths that may take up nutrition unnecessarily. Don’t prune during the prime winter season (Jan-Feb), as it goes into dormancy during this time. 

Wrapping Up 

I hope this guide will help you in successfully planting bougainvillea in pots, as I have tried to cover every vital part related to it. 

Do comment down, if you still have any queries.

If you found this article helpful, do share it with your friends and family members.