I enjoy plants more when I grow them from seed or from cuttings. I can just easily buy, but it's more challenging to sow seeds and watch a cutting thrive.
Growing cuttings is really challenging. My Mom told me it's easy. Just stick it in soil and it'll grow. My Mom had a very green thumb. I'm still a work in progress.
A few weeks ago, I embarked on my fourth or fifth cycle of propagating my Mom's bougainvillea collection. As far as I know, she never bought bougies. She exchanged cuttings with neighbors.
After a few cycles, I think I'm finally getting better at it. Let the cutting drink water with liquid rooting hormone overnight. The next day rub the bottom with aloe vera and wrap it with her leaf, then stick in soil mixed with chicken manure and perlite. Let it slip water from the bottom and leave it in an area with indirect light. I covered it with a bottle with holes for a week and then removed the bottle cap.
Water everyday and I found out by chance that watering with rice water and orange peels help give it a nutrition boost. Just make sure to dilute it. I only remove the bottles when the leaves are bigger already.
And the reward comes when you continue to care for it. Prune every so often and feed it with complete fertilizer. It will produce flowers even when it's in a small pot. I haven't repotted any of the bougies I propagated. I'll wait until they outgrow the pot, besides I still have some of those Mom propagated. I'll re-pot those first.
#BeKind #StaySafe
