they look stressed from planting ...

then you sprayed them with soap ... perhaps causing more stress.. hopefully hort soap not dish soap ...

and then you fertd a stressed plant ... it was not hungry.. it was stressed ...

water properly.. deeply with near drying a few inches down .. insert finger.. or dig small holes to FIND OUT ...

and otherwise leave them alone and see what happens in spring ... yes.. months from now ...

it seems your expectations are a bit high.. about what might happen in a few weeks ... i see no reason to give up after just 4 weeks ....

btw.. where are you... looks like FL ... might help to know weather potential ...

ken

Insecticidal soap on one with the caterpillars, fertilizer bag said every 2 to 4 weeks.
Yep in South Florida. Getting tons of rain which in the sandy soil soaks through very quickly, plants are under eaves so only getting rain if blows a certain direction.
Ok will let them do their thing through the season then. Thanks for the input!
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Rocks to prop up bougainvillea a little. Yes we have a compost bin and added some to soil before planting. There were shrubs there before, stump killer was put to remove stump but that was quite some time ago, however you never know. I had seen some snail shells and had put some snail bait around the perimeter of the bed.
Ahhh, wondering about that too, the one closest to corner/wall is the one doing best, the middle and small orange are about 2 ft from wall, it seemed in April there was a ton of sun there but not now, thats mostly now why I'm wondering about moving them to a sunnier spot but as suggested above maybe I'm being hasty. Thanks for your thoughts! carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b

Will they get more sun if they were 3-4 feet away from house wall? They'd also get natural rain water. And since these will grow into large plants, they'd have more room to spread. Personally, I'd gently move them.

Also the soil may be better away from the foundation. So much calcium leaches off concrete near the house wall.

Mine are out in full sun, dry very sandy soil, get no supplemental water, rarely fertilized if ever- and they grow and bloom like crazy. They thrive on neglect.

Oh maybe twice a year I dump a large tub of fresh horse manure around the base.

The rain then washes it in.

sorry about 1 ft from wall....

Yes, good idea to check mature size when deciding location.

Thanks for all comments! So I've been watching them, it has been torrential downpours here almost nonstop since last post, I've attached 2 more photos, you can see based on the erosion near the bag if I moved the plants forward what would probably happen. Some good news though is the 2 end ones are holding their own, one closest to corner wall still bing enjoyed by caterpillars but leaves and blooms are doing ok overall. Small one is putting out new foliage so that's hopeful.

Please see middle bougainvillea latest photo- Still looks rough and roots are showing, are they rotting?

So I see a downspout in your first pix but no gutters. How does that work?

tj

Barrels around house catch rainwater at heaviest points. Gutters in near future.
Any bougainvillea advice?

Well, the force of water making that trench is splashing soil up on the leaves of the bougs and that can’t be doing them any favors.

tj

I think they are planted too close to the wall of the house. They get very big. I'd pull them out at least 2 ft from the wall.

Jane

Bougies do well in sandy soil (our native soil), full sun and like to be dry in the winter. The rule for watering in newly planted perennials is every other day for two weeks, three times a week for two weeks, once a week for two weeks, then once a week if there isn't an inch of rain.

I agree that they are too close to the house. I'm assuming that is a newly built house, so there is probably a lot of stucco, concrete and other construction material in that soil, plus, the soil will be too alkaline for them that close to the concrete foundation. They will also get way too large for that spot.

If you can, plant them in the yard, full sun, and start over with the watering. You can't stop the rain, but if you get an inch of rain, don't water that day.

I use this concoction for all my plants and it works well. Just be sure to spray it very early in the morning or in the evening when it's cooler, or it will burn the leaves. Be sure to also spray it on the underside of the leaves. In the meantime, pick off the caterpillars and drop them into a pot of soapy water.

1/3 cup Murphy's Oil Soap

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 gallon of water.