First Brazilian Rain Tree. Advice?

[Clicio]

View attachment 205435

I said "most of them..."
YES! Yours bloom!
?

 

[LanceMac10]

Tiny pot, full sun, inorganic substrate......not for the timid.

Your not wrong.

 

[Rodrigo]

Yes, there are 2 found variations.
Most BRTs in the USA come from Florida and are cuttings or results from air-layers; these are not grown from seeds, and most found in America will never bloom, and the thorns are few or inexistent.
The one I have as bonsai in Brazil is from seed, and a little different: the bark looks rough like the one in @Rodrigo 's post above (n# 28 I think), is full of thorns, and it flowers every Spring.
The leaves are of course the same, and obviously they love the Brazilian weather, BUT...
If left in full sun in high summer (temps 95F and above), even with its leaves closed to protect themselves, damage can happen to them, and it can drop leaves.

That's interesting that you say that because the one from post 28 has not bloomed for me yet! It definitely has thorns, massive ones actually, and it's growing strongly but no flowers. I also have it in 100% inorganic and full sun, I'm curious to know the reason. I'm getting more bark starting to defoliate

 

[leatherback]

If left in full sun in high summer (temps 95F and above), even with its leaves closed to protect themselves, damage can happen to them, and it can drop leaves.

Aaahhh. That is why my seedlings were stalled the last few weeks then! I gave them max sun & heat..

 

[petegreg]

Aaahhh. That is why my seedlings were stalled the last few weeks then! I gave them max sun & heat..

Jelle, where did you find BRT seeds if I may ask?

 

[Clicio]

Jelle, where did you find BRT seeds if I may ask?

I am not joking. He got them in Brazil, this much I know for sure.

 

[leatherback]

Jelle, where did you find BRT seeds if I may ask?

I finally found them in Brazil, with a very talented guy in Sao Paulo.

 

[petegreg]

I finally found them in Brazil, with a very talented guy in Sao Paulo.

Thank you, if everything goes well will you have some for sale?

 

[leatherback]

Thank you, if everything goes well will you have some for sale?

I might have some spare, but will not be selling them. However, germination rate was much lower than I hoped for. I have 4 now. but will in the end only keep one. By next spring I should know whether I have leftovers.

 

[Clicio]

I finally found them in Brazil, with a very talented guy in Sao Paulo.

Well, not so talented but willing to help.
Thanks, @leatherback

 

[shinmai]

About a month ago my wife bought three trees from Home Depot online as a gift for me, a chenzan azalea, a pyracantha, and a BRT. They are all originally from Brussel's, who sell through HD on line only. The latter two bore the distinctive hallmark of a Brussel's tree--they looked like they had been pruned with a machete.
Yesterday I repotted the BRT, which is my first one as well. I was surprised at how successful I was in getting the gunk soil out of the roots, using just the bonsai watering wand on a garden hose and a little help from the trusty chopstick. I cut the roots back a little, just enough to give me a good space for soil around the perimeter, and used the same pot. It went into my non-azalea mix, which is 80% akadama, and the other 20% equal parts of NAPA 8822 and 6040 [diatomaceous earth and bentonite clay respectively]. I did actually do some significant pruning of recent growth and removed some branches to make it look like it was being grown intentionally, rather than just at random. Far from being shocky, it was doing the happy dance within an hour, and looked fabulous this morning.

 

[Bonds Guy]

So I've got a couple raintrees and am also in Florida. About as far away from you as possible in Florida haha but that's all right. You can prob find some photos of decent raintrees I've posted before. Anywho my absolute strongest recommendation would be to do absolutely nothing to this tree for at least a month or 6 weeks. Then it should be showing you its health. If its good it will be growing like a weed. That will be the middle of the summer and a good time to then take care ofm the roots and soil. You can also start to prune a bit then if this is the tree size you ultimately want. If you want a bigger tree you can at that time plant it out and grow it. Just give it good sun and water for now. I keep my raintrees pretty moist.

Hi, I recently got an brazilian raintree and was wondering how if they need drainage

 

[Paul F.]

I might have some spare, but will not be selling them. However, germination rate was much lower than I hoped for. I have 4 now. but will in the end only keep one. By next spring I should know whether I have leftovers.

I finally got 2 to germinate in less than 4 days. The other six from this batch of seeds have not sprouted yet.

I have gotten seeds from Australia twice but both times they did not germinate. This last batch I got from Amazon out of all places. The seeds looked much better.. hopefully the other 6 will pop up but I’ll take two if that’s all I get. I don’t know why they look yellow in the picture. They are not even close to yellow, but you get the idea.. Oh and one of the 6 pots fell over and I actually found the seed, crazy, but it was crap.. it was mushy and wasn't any good, so in actuality I have 5 left to sprout.