My bougainvillea has dropped it's blumes...?

Did I over-water it? I was told to soak it and then wait until the top layer of the soil dries out before watering again...? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Incidentally, I'm in So Cal where the weather has been very warm. Thanks.

My bougainvillea has dropped it's blumes...?
Bougainvillea needs very little water, I live in Arizona ( Phoenix ) and I never water mine ( I have two ) and they are thriving as they do every year. Right now both of mine are blooming like crazy and they look great. We even had a couple of hard freezes this year and I cut them back and now they are doing great. My guess is that you are over watering , as I said before they need very little water or even fertilizer as these are very hardy plants. Try not watering for a month or so and see what happens. They are a little slow to respond but when they do I think you will be very pleased, also don't expect any blooms in the winter.





Good Gardening and good luck.
Reply:Do the leaves look sickly? They should just be a medium to dark green color and fuzzy, I think, I'm not sure about that. If they turn yellowy or a paler green, that's a better sign that something is going wrong with your plants.





I live in SoCal too. I've been watering my tomato plants every two days, basically. That's how fast they've been drying out. Of course, your bougainvillea's will probably not need anywhere near as much water as my tomato plants. Anyway, water and then check every day to see if the dirt is still wet and then water again when it isn't. You'll get used to how often you need to do it. If you're doing it often enough, you should not need to flood them every time.





It's been a while since I've taken care of a bougainvillea, but it could just be preparing to bloom again.





To check if your plants need water you should stick your finger into the dirt at the base of the plant and see if the dirt is damp. It should, at the very least, be watered once to twice every week. Although, once is a little skimpy and generally only keeps your plants from dying in SoCal.





Also, have you planted it yet. I don't believe that bougainvillea's are one of the things that do well when kept potted.





Just to clarify a bit. Now, on a bougainvillea there are the large colored "flowers" that are actually closer to leaves than flower petals and in the center of these are are long thin stamen like things, these are the flowers of a bougainvillea. Which or have both of these fallen off?
Reply:I'm in San Diego and am very good with plants....bouganvillas will bloom amazingly well with very little water. Matter of fact, the less water, the more blooms. Me thinks you overwatered.