Brazilian Rain Tree, how low can I go?

[penumbra]

I looked in the archives but didn't find what I was looking for. Is there a problem with cutting BRT hard? I have 3 of them that are 18 to 24 inches and I really want to chop one back hard to maybe 8 inches. I am hoping someone here will pipe in and share their experience. Curious about how they callus and heal with large cuts. Trunks are so beautiful I don't want to f them up. Also, mine will still be inside a few more weeks so what about timing of a hard prune.
Thanks.

 

[Tiki]

Hard pruning I would wait till the tree is actively growing. Large cuts are slow to heal, but will heal. Make as clean of a final cut that you can so there isn't anything to stop the cambium from rolling over. Also really helps to have foliage directly below and sometimes above where your cutting not only to help the wound heal but as a fall back because raintrees can have a tendency to die back a large portion of trunk/branch when cuts are made. Some will tell you sealing cuts wont matter, Id advise if its worth spending years of your time on its worth a few minutes applying cut paste.

so a quick recap, actively growing, clean cuts, seal cuts.

 

[penumbra]

Thank you so very much. This is the kind of information I am looking for. This is a huge help. Can you tell me if they resent nighttime temps in the 40s? I would love to clean them up and put them out in the sun. They are in a grow tent now with good lighting but they are crowded.

 

[Tiki]

They resent just about any dramatic temp change. Mine will yellow and drop nearly all its foliage over a week or two when it comes to the "bonsai two-step" in and out of the greenhouse. But they come back with plenty of emerald green foliage very soon after. Raintrees are rather robust material to work with, if say your night temps are into the 30's(F) id just keep them in where they are at till these late winter temps level out into some warm/coolish spring nights that are consistently (40F to 45F+). Also if its windy and cold..prob not the best of ideas to stick them in that. Hang in there another week or so, warm weather is on the way. Use this time to sharpen your tools up, your going to need it, raintree wood is pretty hard stuff.