Question
I have a bougainvillea that is in a 5 gallon pot. She is a rescue plant and never very healthy. I live in Ventura, Calif. and bougainvillea THRIVES out here. Mine is sickly, blooms about once a year and has very few blooms and leaves in general.
I have tried increasing water, decreasing, miracle grow, EB Stone's organic flower feed, nothing seems to help for very long...
Flowers turn brown, leaves turn dark...
Anyone have a clue what may be upsetting my plants? I think it might be my lack of knowledge of how to care for them.

Answer
Hi Lee, ok, bougs are very temperamental, too much irrigation is usually the culprit, but also you need frequent low nitrogen fertilizing at about half the prescribed amount. Bougs actually do much better in the ground then in pots and need full sun all day; I live in Florida, and as with California, they thrive in the heat here, but during our rainy season they usually look pretty bad, but come the dry fall/winter season they turn around and show off their spectacular colorful bracts abundantly, so all I can suggest is to ease up on watering, frequent small amounts of low nitrogen fertilizer, and a light sandy soil (so it doesn't retain moisture), and then patience, it will take awhile for these to generate results..good luck Nick