Bougainvillea leaf veins.

[RJNick]

I have a bougainvillea that I acquired last spring. It was not very healthy and I repotted it and pruned back sone of the branches to two leaf pairs. The good news is that I wa rewarded with lots of new growth during the summer. As I now bring it in to the house for the winter, I am noticing dark green leaf veins as seen in the photo.

My question is whether this is a sign of iron deficiency. I had been fertilizing every 2 weeks with Peter's 20-20-20 at full strength and it does contain chelated iron. Any opinions?

 

[Jmontee]

What kind of light do have this guy under? It will suffer greatly indoors without good temps and a lot of light. This looks like chlorosis to me and might very well be due to it not liking it's new conditions. In my experience they will have leaf drop and lose all existing blooms within just a few days of being inside.

 

[RJNick]

I have just brought it indoors about a week ago, it is in a south facing windown, on a humidity tray in my bedroom. Temps run between 65 - 68 F. I Have also reduced fertilization to once a month and noticed that it is taking longer to dry out between waterings. At the same time, I also moved in 5 ficus pre-bonsai plants as well as a serissa and they all seem to be OK for now. I'm starting to think about grow lights to supplement the window lighting; nothing fancy, basically a suspended shop light with dual fluorescent tubes.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I have just brought it indoors about a week ago, it is in a south facing windown, on a humidity tray in my bedroom. Temps run between 65 - 68 F. I Have also reduced fertilization to once a month and noticed that it is taking longer to dry out between waterings. At the same time, I also moved in 5 ficus pre-bonsai plants as well as a serissa and they all seem to be OK for now. I'm starting to think about grow lights to supplement the window lighting; nothing fancy, basically a suspended shop light with dual fluorescent tubes.

The book I have on Bougainvilleas that I got from BGI says they don't like humidity...so I ditched my humidity tray. I know that isn't the issue...but wished to just mention it.

 

[RJNick]

Thanks for the feedback. Do you have an title and author on the book? Any good?

 

[Cadillactaste]

Thanks for the feedback. Do you have an title and author on the book? Any good?

It actually has a section on bonsai... Has a good section on grafting...makes it seem real easy to do. To make one tree bloom several colors by grafting other bougainvillea to it. Good quality...thick pages. I was impressed by the quality of material used. The bonsai area had some techiniques that surprised me. Like how to keep a bonsai in the same pot...and how to do it. It also shows how to prune the roots when repotting. Which is what I had hoped for. Since it is always stressed they do not like their roots messed with.

http://www.bgi-usa.com/store/#!/~/product/category=1643773&id=8982144

 

[Cadillactaste]

My question is whether this is a sign of iron deficiency. I had been fertilizing every 2 weeks with Peter's 20-20-20 at full strength and it does contain chelated iron. Any opinions?

BOUGAIN® 6-8-10 Plus Minors is the fertilizer recommended for Bougainvilleas...I don't quite understand fertilizer...but...your numbers are completely way off from what is recommended as well. May mean nothing...but just a thought. I seen many posts in the search engine...of ones recommending the Bougain as well. I picked some up at Amazon...shipped from BGI...but I didn't think I needed more than 2# of it for one tree. So I ordered there for cheaper than the larger package at BGI's site. I've not used it yet...need to wait a month after potting. Even though...BGI said to fertilize now even though it was repotted. I'm afraid to do that...even though they are Bougainvillea growers. Everywhere I read...it's a month waiting because of shock. I also have their potting soil for bougainvillea. Very organic and quick draining.

 

[lordy]

I have been fighting a bougie for about 5 years. Main prob is leaf drop, sometimes for no apparent reason. My leaves never had that mottled look, but did have a "crinkley" leathery look to them. I used MANY different conventional chemical ferts, and the bougie "existed" but never flourished. It would put out bracts often, but the foliage never increased really. Last month I bought some Bougain, and the tree is showing very promising signs of vigor. Look in the fertilizer forum here. I started a thread about the tree and have a couple pics. I am cautiously optimistic that Bougain has things in it that all the others were missing, OR that the other ferts, being mixed in water, were not staying in the rootzone long enough, where Bougain is a granular time-release? I dont know, but it seems to be helping.