Bougainvillea query
By Mowerman
East Sussex coast,
United Kingdom 
I notice each year at this time my Bougainvillea glabra produces new shoots only at the base of the plant and very gradually and progressively up the stems but never to the top. The top quarter invariably dies back and has to be cut off. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?
23 Apr, 2009
Answers
Sorry I should have been more specific.
The plant is kept in a frost free room and at the moment scratching the top of the stems reveals green wood so the plant is certainly 'alive' throughout. But the new leaf growth never reaches the top of the stems which eventually die back.
23 Apr, 2009
Pot not big enough... lack of feeding or watering... difficult to tell
24 Apr, 2009
If you are growing it outside I would suspect that the top gets frosted each year.
23 Apr, 2009