Question
Hello Tom,

I live in CoraI Springs, Florida (south Florida). I replaced my white fly stricken ficus trees with 50 bougainvillea plants two years ago. They have taken off and are everything I expected and more! They are up against a chain link fence where I have woven some of the young branches in the rear of the plants through the links of the fence while trimming the front of the plants to bush. Last spring, one of the plants began to lose its leaves near the base of the plant. This progressed to the plant next to it and continued in an eastward direction while the other plants left of this location remained untouched. Eventually, nearly all the lower leaves had dropped to the point the plants looked like tumbleweeds. The upper portions of the plants were not as dramatically affected. There are/were no signs of pests. What could be happening? The plants eventually regrew their leaves and were again beautiful but now the process is starting exactly the same way as it did last year beginning with the same plant and progressing eastwardly.

Walter King

Answer
Hi Walter,
Thanx for your question.  There are a number of reasons why your bougainvillea might be losing leaves and sometimes, it's just coincidental or seasonal.  If you have been having drought conditions, the plant will drop leaves only to replace them once the plant has rehydrated.  On the other hand, too much water can cause the plant to drop leaves.  Pruning can cause leaf drop.  If the plant isn't getting enough direct sunlight, that can be a cause.  Did you inspect the plant for pests?  Make sure you fertilize with a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10 around the root zone according to instructions on the label or box.  Aphids could be causing the problem too.  Aphids suck fluids out of the leaves.  Aphids are tiny insects the size of a pin point and are usually green, yellow, red, white, brown or black.  You can control them by keeping weeds down around the bougainvilleas and you can use insecticidal soap to control them.  If you're still having problems with leaf drop, take a picture or a sample to the Broward County Extension Service.  This is an arm of the University of Florida and they can provide you with free assistance.  Below is contact information:

http://www.broward.org/Parks/Extension/Pages/Default.aspx

I hope this helps.
Tom