some brazilian raintree questions

[cdefoe]

hey all i have some questions about brazilian raintree. maybe y'all can give me some insight or just call me an idiot or whatever but here are my questions:

• trunk chopping - can i expect a major trunk chop to fully heal over like a ficus might? am i better off leaving a stump and carving it??
• does anyone have any experience air layering one of these poor bastards without leaving a branch with foliage below the layer? i've got a brt with inverse taper where it branches and the trunk below it is unremarkable and the nebari is a mess that's going to take at least a couple repottings to sort out
• how long should i expect to have to wait for minor wiring scars to heal?

i'll try to remember to post pics of my stupid brazilian raintrees when i'm home thank you all for your time

 

[choppychoppy]

1. No - chops will not heal over.
2. You can air layer any section of the trunk easily.
3. Wire scars will not heal for years and years and heavy scars can prevent branch flattening and twisting.

 

[cdefoe]

thanks for the reply!!

i finally got around to taking some pictures and doin' some work on my raintree. it needed a haircut:
what i'm considering the front while it grows out

and the back, pre-prune

post prune shots

bonus pic of the air layer i did in july

 

[Carol 83]

It seems to be pottted a little high, like the exposed roots would dry out. I would repot it deeper next summer, when it's growing well.

 

[cdefoe]

the exposed roots are largely woody - i shouldn't have to worry about those drying out, right?

also, because i have no outdoor space this tree is indoors year round (under two pairs of double t5 light fixtures), so, from what i understand, repotting is more a function of doing it when the tree is healthy/putting out strong growth than tied to a specific time of year?

the exposed roots are one whole hell of a tangled mess, wrapping around themselves and the trunk like a bunch of nonsense. i'm hoping to try to either sort them out over the next couple repots or possibly just air layer the damned thing again

 

[Carol 83]

from what i understand, repotting is more a function of doing it when the tree is healthy/putting out strong growth than tied to a specific time of year?

Yes. For me that time is when the low temps are above 60 and the trees have been outside for awhile and are growing strong. I didn't realize you were growing it exclusively indoors.

 

[cdefoe]

here's a i'm-feeling-too-lazy-to-get-off-the-couch picture of my setup (with thunderstorm mood lighting to boot!):

 

[Newbonsai13]

here's a i'm-feeling-too-lazy-to-get-off-the-couch picture of my setup (with thunderstorm mood lighting to boot!):

did you build this setup yourself or did you buy it from somewhere?

 

[cdefoe]

it's an ikea greenhouse that i mounted lights on and cut some holes in the back to mount some computer fans. the lights are on a timer for 14 hours a day and the fans are always running.

it's essentially this video:

 

[cdefoe]

another question that doesn't warrant a new thread:

anyone (@Leo in N E Illinois @LanceMac10 sorry if there's someone else here i should be @-ing) have any experience with taking root cuttings and having them push growth?

looking to repot my sorry ol' raintree soon and clean up some of the roots wrapping around/coming off too far up the trunk and wondering if there's any chance to get another plant out of the ordeal

i'll probably do it regardless to see what happens but would be eager to hear if anyone has experience or wisdom to share

 

[JesusFreak]

I’ve got one that I’m scared to cut bc of the die back and I’m not sure they backbud. But it’s way over grow.

 

[cdefoe]

it will only die back to the next node when you prune it, so just be sure to leave a stub above the node you're pruning to

 

[JesusFreak]

it will only die back to the next node when you prune it, so just be sure to leave a stub above the node you're pruning to

Do they not bud back? Also I heard defoliating the strong ones helps balance things out

 

[canoeguide]

Do they not bud back? Also I heard defoliating the strong ones helps balance things out

I don't know about defoliation of healthy trees, but they will definitely back bud to some extent. I've got a couple of successful cuttings from this year's pruning that were literally sticks with no leaves and they are pushing from every dormant bud.

 

[Clicio]

Do they not bud back?

Yes, they do.
Look at this backbudding, even on the trunk, just one week after pruning a sapling:

 

[cdefoe]

I don't know about defoliation of healthy trees, but they will definitely back bud to some extent. I've got a couple of successful cuttings from this year's pruning that were literally sticks with no leaves and they are pushing from every dormant bud.

here is a good article (and the blog is a handy resource on tropicals in general) on defoliating raintrees: https://adamaskwhy.com/2019/08/13/when-do-we-defoliate-a-brazilian-raintree/

but to sum, you want to defoliate the old leaves because they'll hang around on the plant beyond the point where they're contributing to the tree. and in doing so you'll encourage the tree to push out new growth

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Warning - Adam, of "Adam Ask Why" blog is growing in Florida. He can get away with doing stressful for the tree techniques that northern tier members should really be cautious about.

RIght now in Minneapolis you are maybe 8 to 10 weeks to first frost. Your night time temperatures are already dropping below 65 F (below 17 C ) your Brazilian raintree is probably noticing that it is not in Brazil anymore. I would not defoliate a BRT this late in summer. Your summer growing season is almost over. Depending on how warm and bright your winter set up is, maybe you can get away with a hard prune and defoliation, maybe not. I would limit my work to just a hard pruning at this time of year. (for Minneapolis, if you are in FLorida, knock yourself out).

Maybe @LanceMac10 can weigh in, as he is "up north" in the "northern tier".

I personally have never owned a BRT, my comments are in part based on my experience with FIcus.

 

[cdefoe]

oh dang, not sure why i had it in mind that you had experience with raintrees. thanks for the reply anyways

i do grow my trees indoors year-round (in the greenhouse pictured above in this thread) as i live in an apartment without access to any of my own outdoor space. i usually wait until the tree is a shaggy mess to do anything to it, and, thus far, i've largely just been doing partial defoliations to get light into the innards of the tree and promote backbudding in the interior

was hoping to repot my raintree tonight but we've got severe thunderstorm warnings in effect for the rest of the night to hang in the parking lot with my stupid tree

 

[cdefoe]

anyways here is my stupid raintree today. i haven't dine much to style it, mostly just letting it grow to thicken the secondary branches and prove i won't kill it while using it to experiment with airlayering. i've been able to let it grow to this point and then partial defoliate it every 3-4 months

it seems content if not happy

 

[leatherback]

I repotted & pruned my raintree seedlings a week ago, rootpruning and all. Heatwave hite for the past week. Dropped half of its leaves. The rest of the leaves are happy and fresh. Waiting for buds to start pushing again.