Question
QUESTION: I live in North Florida and have Bourgainvilleas that are doing great with the exception of no blooms.  Initially, the plants had beautiful blooms when I bought them, but there have been no blooms for about 8 weeks.  The plant otherwise looks great.  It sounds like I'm watering it too much and need to cut back on fertilizer.  My question is, how much do I cut back on the watering?  It has been very, very, hot; and they get quite a bit of sun.  Should I take out the drip lines for a week, more, less?  Thanks for your help.

Pete

ANSWER: Hi Pete,
Thanx for your question.  I don't think it's the water, I think it is the fertilizer.  I would stop using the fertilizer unless you are using a fertilizer for flowering shrubs.  In any event, it sounds to me like too much fertilizer so I would stop for a while.  Blooming should resume in a few weeks.  If it doesn't, write me again.  I hope this helps.
Tom

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What about the watering?  Do you think I should keep watering as I have been, or should I "starve' them with no/very limited water, as I have read elsewhere?  It seems to me that my Bougainvillea which is flourishing (without any flowers) would look horrible with that much foliage being deprived of water.  I could be totally wrong.  Thanks for the clarification.

Pete

Answer
Hi Pete,
Thanx for the follow up.  I don't recommend depriving the plant of water.  I have grown bougainvillea before, even though I live in the north, and it did NOT like being deprived of water, in fact, I killed several plants one summer allowing them to dry out too many times.  Now, these were in pots but still, I've lived in Florida and Hawaii where it rains quite regularly and the bougainvillea always thrived with plenty of water.  I hope this helps.
Tom