Collected Purple Bougainvillea

Howzit All,

This is a purple bougainvillea I collected in Lahaina about a month ago. The truck is three inches thick and about fifteen inches tall. I also took a dremel to the parts that I had cut the branches off and tried to make it look more natural. All comments are welcome.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Tim,
Very nice bougie start. I really like the bark. Has potential to be a fantastic bonsai. I really love bouagnvilla as both garden plants and bonsai. Not sure why but I just do. I only wish I could grow them like that in my area. Good luck with it.

Todd

Bougie wood is very soft and rots quickly. After making sure that none of your cuts will pool water, you should protect all cuts. We paint with a product called Minwax Wood Hardener, it is made to apply to rotten wood and then paint over. Another product is Marine Epoxy.

Tim,, good start for anice tree..one question,could you cut the top at a 45 angle and use the small limb on the left as a new apex?? just a thought.good job john

Mahalo guys for the nice comments.

John, I had that idea but a new branch had sprout up so I'm going to use that as the apex.

Billy, Is it possible for you to post trees that you have applied wood hardener too. Just want to see how it works. Much Mahalo.

Todd, I'm sure you can.... you just have to give yourself time and patience.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

You won't be able to see the wood hardener in a photo. It is a clear liquid. It imparts a faint glossiness to areas it is applied to, but a stiff brush or sandpaper easily gets rid of that. The callus that forms around your cuts should close over any area you apply this to.

Much Mahalo for the info Jim.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

The wood hardener will need to be applied in a number of coats until it quits soaking in. Also it will need to be watched and possible replaced as it weathers, especially on the larger cuts.

Much Mahalo Billy.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Cuz'.... you gotta go get some bigger stumps...

Here's my big hawaiian purple....



Mahalo!

V

PS. My Sis and her family just moved to Oahu... so I've got a great excuse to come get more bougies and visit my Hawaiian bonsai buddies.

Oh yah... and one good way to make sure it drains and stays dry.... put holes in it. I don't treat mine with anything. Not to say you shouldn't, but I have enough breathing going on with mine that it's fine....

Howzit "V",

WOW...... that's a nice one!! There's more out there but my lani can hold only so much. I did collect another purple one a month after this last one but I think that's all. Should you ever go to Oahu to visit your sister make a side trip to Maui so I can take you on a dig for more bougies!!

Mahalo for the information. Question, did you ever defoliate your bougies before? I just did this one about a three weeks ago and it's coming back nicely. Hopefully the bracts will come out by September and maybe I could enter it in the Maui County Fair.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Nice tree! Even nicer pot!! Love them both.... And why in the world are you digging bougies bro??? You just need to cut em off... not dig em... that's too much work....lol

Yes you can hard prune to nothing a bougie, and in high growing season it'll sprout like a fiend. In fact with many tropicals it's best to defoliate before working them over... so you can get the best image then grow the foliage from there.

I feed mine Bougain... can you get that there?

V

Victrinia Ridgeway wrote:
I feed mine Bougain... can you get that there?

V

Yeah... I seen it at Home Depot. I was thinking about it but went with Miracle-Gro instead. I got to pick up one and try it. Mahalo!!

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

It's awesome for them.... I promise...

Mahalo "V",

About the bonsai pot, it's a "Tokonama" pot from www.bonsaimonk.com and they have some nice pots at good prices. BTW,
did you really get that bougie from Hawaii?? If you did...... I won't go there.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

There are two ways to potentially export a bougy. Either obtain a phytosanitary certificate or export it as a cutting, since bougies root so easily. No different from exporting a pineapple.

Mahalo Cuz.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

prestontolbert wrote:There are two ways to potentially export a bougy. Either obtain a phytosanitary certificate or export it as a cutting, since bougies root so easily. No different from exporting a pineapple.

That's exactly what happened with mine.... it was a godzilla sized cutting. lol

Hawaiian77 wrote:Mahalo "V",

About the bonsai pot, it's a "Tokonama" pot from www.bonsaimonk.com and they have some nice pots at good prices. BTW,
did you really get that bougie from Hawaii?? If you did...... I won't go there.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Braddah...

You have good taste in pots.... I thought it was a Tokonoma... I adore them, and collect them long before I have a tree that needs them... you can never know when you'll need a pot! lol

No laws were broken.... and more the FedEx parking lot it came out of - the people were thrilled someone wanted to chop it down. I didn't collect it... my teacher did. He just cut it down and removed the branchlets, and sent it home as a big piece of wood.

It's all good....

V

Howzit "V",

Ho Tita, I would love to see how you when stuff'em in your bag!! That must have been a long time ago. So how old is your bougie?

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Sorry, this was before your reply.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Hawaiian77 wrote:Howzit "V",

Ho Tita, I would love to see how you when stuff'em in your bag!! That must have been a long time ago. So how old is your bougie?

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Nahhhh... it came home in a big FedEx box with a bunch of other logs....lol This bougie has been on the mainland about 5 years I think... I've had it for the last two. I figure it must be 20 years old or so to be this size... what do you think?

V

I think it's about right. I guess I've been doing it the hard way. Can you just cut it instead of dig it up from the roots??

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Heck yah!!!! And ANY SIZE.... there's no limit like there is with "cuttings" from other trees.... Mine is about 13 inches?? probably more like 15 under the soil....

Anyway just saw it off clean... and then put it in bonsai soil.... now the trick with larger cuttings here seems to be keeping the humidity high on them... so the soil only gets any moisture from time to time... but the trunk gets wetted down with a mister almost daily. In a couple weeks here they will generally start to bud leaves... and when they do that... you also know its pushing roots.... so you start to water more when they pop... but you keep misting until it's got some foliage established.

Works like a charm... also I'd keep it out of the direct sun until it pops good. Because you wouldn't want to dry out the wood.

V