Boabab seeds

Benauber

Sapling
Messages
41
Reaction score
36
Location
Michigan
USDA Zone
6A
Hi everyone,
Recently I made a small order of seeds, and I saw Baobab. I thought it was cool, without thinking much more! Turns out the seeds are a pain, and the plant is hard to care for, especially in my Michigan weather... anyways, the adventure has started and there is no turning back
Here are the seeds
FE0DAF50-980F-44B0-B23A-CE17466D9C02.jpeg
They are in a gallon pot, or close to it, with rough sand and a bit of peat moss

Any suggestion that can be helpful on how to care for these trees? Any advice is welcome
 

Benauber

Sapling
Messages
41
Reaction score
36
Location
Michigan
USDA Zone
6A
Haha yes I have been watching it, he doesn't get anything before part 6!
I commented on his video, I am about 2 or 3 days ahead of him so I need to wait for his next update on them
 

Benauber

Sapling
Messages
41
Reaction score
36
Location
Michigan
USDA Zone
6A
Boababs seem to be doing alright except for the smaller one on the left
The 4 on the right I managed the seeds slightly differently, there is a significant difference.
image.jpgimage.jpg
 

eryk2kartman

Chumono
Messages
616
Reaction score
516
Location
Ireland
USDA Zone
8b
I got one from my friend2 years ago, he germinated the seeds under the light, plant was quite strong, i chopped the top in the first year and repotted it this year.
I keep it in the greenhouse for the summer, they do not tolerate any temp below 0, they love sun and warm weather, i brought it for both winters indoors but didnt keep under any light, it drops their leaves anyway so dont be scared if that happens, they need very little water, easy to overwater them.
During the winters i got some die back, but in spring it sprouted all over the place. When i repotted this yera(piety i didnt take any photos) the pot was nearly full by 3 roots, they were massive, if you think Ficus makes bulby roots - you are wrong :)
That was in spring, when i saw new leaves just about to emerge, it survived and its growing strong again(this is it first year in the bonsai soil), i lost top down to the first branch on the left, it also seems to like to be left dried out once for a while, here is a photo from lastsummer, i think substrate was coco.
1596111928437.png
1596111979430.png
Best of Luck with yours.
 

hinmo24t

Masterpiece
Messages
2,480
Reaction score
3,165
Location
Dartmouth Massachusetts
USDA Zone
7A
in case anyone thought i was joking, heres the vid of taiwan from seed baobab tree, massive in just 2 years.
 

hinmo24t

Masterpiece
Messages
2,480
Reaction score
3,165
Location
Dartmouth Massachusetts
USDA Zone
7A
i have the most recent comment on it about seeing it grow with naked eye daily if that were the case. which i think can be done with some bamboo
 

Benauber

Sapling
Messages
41
Reaction score
36
Location
Michigan
USDA Zone
6A
I repotted last night
Not looking good
image.jpg
 

Lumaca

Mame
Messages
182
Reaction score
316
Location
Jakarta, the Equator
This is what I've been following and I think you maybe repotted too early


From what I understood, we should treat the baobab more like a succulent, so maybe hold the water for a bit and give it a LOT of sun.
 

Benauber

Sapling
Messages
41
Reaction score
36
Location
Michigan
USDA Zone
6A
So I actually gave a bunch of water yesterday, and the smalll one looks better. big one is still struggling
it is getting all the sun it can get!
 

Lumaca

Mame
Messages
182
Reaction score
316
Location
Jakarta, the Equator
Hahaha good luck! They're supposed to be VERY tough. Mine drooped after a storm but recovered pretty quickly.
 

LittleDingus

Omono
Messages
1,635
Reaction score
3,063
Location
Chicago, Illinois
USDA Zone
5
Last summer I had 7 of the 8 species growing. 3 of them didn't wake up this spring...I had unpotted them and threw them in a box for the winter to save some space. The 3 that didn't wake up were very desiccated.

The other 4 woke up much later than I would have liked...likely same problem. they're taking a long time to get up to speed growth wise compared to last year too.

I treat them like my succulents and cacti: when there is active growth...water away! Just no sitting water. But I do keep them wet. When they stop growing/night time temps start cooling off, they get less water.

Fony (sometimes rubrostipa) looks the best for bonsai use, imo. The leaves are much smaller than digitata which is the easiest seed to find. Here's one of my fony after 8 months growth.

20190803_092025.jpg

This one survived but I'm not home to take a picture of it at the moment.
 
Top Bottom