Picked up this brazilian raintree. what do you think..

[dannylightning]

since i do not know much about trees I have a few questions. first off when i got it home i dug down into the soil with my finger to check if it needed water, dug about half way and and nothing but rocks, it doe snot seem that there is any soil in the pot. is that alright for this kind of tree ?


the roots have some greenish stuff on the bottom.. i am guessing the plant was buried deeper in dirt at one point, hopefully that is what caused that and there is not anything wrong with it..

overall from what i can tell it looks healthy but would like peoples opinions that would know for sure... what do you guys think..

i just loved this when i saw it. did some reading on how to care for it and decided to get it. very cool zig zag branches on top, very nice overall shape to it IMO, little tiny leaves that close up at night, just seems like a really cool little tree.

 

[aml1014]

Nice score, I love BRT's, it's one of my favorite tropicals.
If it was mine I'd repot next summer and tilt the tree to the right about 45° and that will bring the apex back over the center of the tree and make an attractive informal upright tree.
As for the soil, all of my trees grow in just rocks, Napa 8822 DE and pumice for my trees!

Aaron

 

[dannylightning]

Nice score, I love BRT's, it's one of my favorite tropicals.
If it was mine I'd repot next summer and tilt the tree to the right about 45° and that will bring the apex back over the center of the tree and make an attractive informal upright tree.
As for the soil, all of my trees grow in just rocks, Napa 8822 DE and pumice for my trees!

Aaron

Thanks. since rocks wont hold water like soil does, do you need to water it more often ?

o and there is some dried pink pruning compound on a few spots where the nursery cut some branches off, should i leave that on there or scrape it off.

 

[Anthony]

Health, Health, Health.

Learn to grow, see you in spring.
Beautiful tree!!
Good Day
Anthony

 

[aml1014]

Thanks. since rocks wont hold water like soil does, do you need to water it more often ?

o and there is some dried pink pruning compound on a few spots where the nursery cut some branches off, should i leave that on there or scrape it off.

Read the introductory soil physics resources, @markyscott made a wonderful resource that should be able to teach you everything you need to know about bonsai soil phsyics.http://www.bonsainut.com/resources/

As for the pruning sealer, if the wounds look newer I'd leaves it, these have a tendency to get die back if pruned to close to a node. If the wounds look to be healing already you can't take it off if you'd like, either way it will crumble away with time.

Aaron

 

[dannylightning]

the wounds don't really look all that new to me from what i cant tell, hard to see under the goo tho. gonna check out that soil physics link.. thanks..

i just measured the tree, the trunk is about 3/4 of a inch thick.. it stand about 10 inches tall not including the height of the pot. I am not really sure how old it is but i would guess its a few years old.

 

[JudyB]

These are thirsty trees. If your substrate turns darker when you water, you can use that as a telltale for when it's drying out. This tree won't like to get dry, it's one of the few trees that are difficult to overwater, especially in a organic free soil (rocks...)

 

[dannylightning]

These are thirsty trees. If your substrate turns darker when you water, you can use that as a telltale for when it's drying out. This tree won't like to get dry, it's one of the few trees that are difficult to overwater, especially in a organic free soil (rocks...)

thanks. i watered it yesterday when i brought it home, it seemed a little dry. it got noticeably darker when i watered it. It looks like its already dry on top again. so it might want watered every or every other day if its a thirsty tree. the water goes right thew the rocks quickly so the rocks probably wont stay saturated for long, since the water goes threw so fast I am thinking its gonna be better to use my spray bottle to water it instead of a watering can.

Sounds like you want this tree to stay damp at all times but not soaked so i think the rocks will probably do pretty well for keeping it damp but not overly wet..

 

[petegreg]

thanks. i watered it yesterday when i brought it home, it seemed a little dry. it got noticeably darker when i watered it. It looks like its already dry on top again. so it might want watered every or every other day if its a thirsty tree. the water goes right thew the rocks quickly so the rocks probably wont stay saturated for long, since the water goes threw so fast I am thinking its gonna be better to use my spray bottle to water it instead of a watering can.

Sounds like you want this tree to stay damp at all times but not soaked so i think the rocks will probably do pretty well for keeping it damp but not overly wet..

Nice, I wish I could buy one here in EU. Spray bottle is good, a pressure sprayer is better. Spray it till water runs out from drainage holes.
That green stuff on the lower trunk, moss, you can remove it with very soft brush, carefully not to damage bark.

 

[dannylightning]

i bought peters jacks 20-20-20 fertilizer, it says mix 1/2 a teaspoon per gallon of water, i have heard some people say only use 1/4 of this stuff for a teaspoon for bonsai trees since its strong stuff.

ill probably fertilize both of my trees in a week or two, just want to know how much of this stuff to mix per gallon of water.

 

[Anthony]

Peter,

ask for seeds from someone in the US.

We don't use the tree much as we have our pwn Ironwood and it does the same trunk /bark wise
but no thorns and a more delicate leaf system.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Anthony]

[a] 4 years in a 1/3 US 55 gal. black barrel gives this trunk size

and the leaves.

Now in training first year.
Responds well to branch extensions.

[a]


[ b ]

 

[Anthony]

Once again not sure why the black writing ?
Apologies not shouting.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[JudyB]

In my situation I water this tree daily especially if it's growing well.

 

[dannylightning]

thanks everyone, i appreciate the help.. here is a good photo of the tree.

i hope some more leaves grow in on the bottom branches on the right side, that part looks a little bare,

i am not sure that i like the branch with the wire on it. i may chop that branch off eventually. it looks better since i put the wire on it tho..

except for those 2 things i really like this tree and the way its shaped..

 

[dannylightning]

there are a few leaves that only opened about half way today, most of them are open fully but a few did not.. has had the light on it for about 6 hours now.. is that anything to worry about.

 

[jrw]

I wouldn't worry much. Currently, my BRT is under a lamp for ~15hrs daily around 6-8 inches away. In the AM, all leaves appear to be opened. If I'm around in the evening, I've noticed that most if not all leaves will often close, maybe a couple hours before the timer shuts off the light. I've read that this will simply happen if it's made enough food, or to rest/protect itself. How far is you lamp from the tree?

 

[JudyB]

I would not be surprised if the tree drops some or even all the leaves. The change of living conditions sometimes can do this to these trees. And sometimes in winter they shed all the old leaves to put out fresh ones.

 

[c54fun]

I would not be surprised if the tree drops some or even all the leaves. The change of living conditions sometimes can do this to these trees. And sometimes in winter they shed all the old leaves to put out fresh ones.

For the last 3 years I would bring mine inside for the winter and it would drop most of the leaves. I figured it was mad and wanted to go back outside. Anytime I bought one shipping would also cause it to drop leaves. Always grew back strong later.

 

[dannylightning]

I wouldn't worry much. Currently, my BRT is under a lamp for ~15hrs daily around 6-8 inches away. In the AM, all leaves appear to be opened. If I'm around in the evening, I've noticed that most if not all leaves will often close, maybe a couple hours before the timer shuts off the light. I've read that this will simply happen if it's made enough food, or to rest/protect itself. How far is you lamp from the tree?

I would not be surprised if the tree drops some or even all the leaves. The change of living conditions sometimes can do this to these trees. And sometimes in winter they shed all the old leaves to put out fresh ones.

For the last 3 years I would bring mine inside for the winter and it would drop most of the leaves. I figured it was mad and wanted to go back outside. Anytime I bought one shipping would also cause it to drop leaves. Always grew back strong later.

its about 9 inches away from the light i would say, its got a 23 watt (100 watt equivalent) phillips 6500k FCL bulb in there... i put up some make shift reflectors to try and get everything as evenly lit as possible.. i was actually thinking of cutting the front and top off of a cardboard box and lining it with white paper or possibly aluminum foil to make a light reflector box for it so


here is a photo of the set up i got going on. being new to growing trees i want to make sure i keep it alive. i am probably just worrying to much but i want to make sure its gonna be ok..