Got a Baby Bay leaf tree. Need some info please.

[Green Mantis]

Well I Finally found a Bay leaf tree. It's only a baby, about 8-9 inches tall. The lady at the nursery said to leave it in that size pot for quite awhile.

What confused me was, she said Remember, it is a tree????
I didn't really quite understand what she meant by that?
Can anyone please fill me in one why she kept saying that?

We were in a hurry and I just never thought about what she said until after we left. I know, I should have asked her

[Susan W]

That's great you found a bay tree-let! From my experience, they do have small root system for size of above ground. If yours is in 6" or larger, leave it until next growing season.
I have a larger one I bring in before frost, a bit later than you! It gets some bright light, but not total south window. Water medium, and let dry some between. Mine gets about 1/week in winter, and the 2 smaller pots get perhaps 2/week. It doesn't want all dried out, and doesn't respond to all wet.

An on-going problem with bay is scale. I figure it is always there, just in differing amounts! If you can have yours outside, at least by day, give a nice soap and water shower, check for scale, and as small as it is, wipe each leaf. As small as yours is, can give it a shower in the sink every month or 2.

Hope this helps

[Kisal]

Lucky you! I love bay!

They grow to 15 feet at maturity, a size most folks consider to be a "tree". They do well in containers, so just prune yours often to maintain its pretty, rounded-bush shape. Susan's care advice is good. They are native to the Medeterranean, so will want a well-draining soil.

[Green Mantis]

Thanks everyone for all your great advice!!!! I won't transplant it till spring now, but it is in the warm. I couldn't bring it outside for awhile, then back in again now, it's starting to get too cold.

Lousy winter!!!!! I don't like it at all, plus we hardly got any summer at all. Was a terrible year.

But I am going to have fun with this, I have been trying to find a bay leaf tree for so long. I almost couldn't believe it when they said they had a few in. If I have more questions, I certainly will be asking, don't want to lose it! Thanks so much again.

[Green Mantis]

The baby bay leaf tree was 9.99, I thought about getting another one, but for some reason I didn't. Afterwards I thought I should have, but it's a long way into that nursery, right through calgary, which hubby doesn't like going through. So guess I will have the one and hope all goes well with it.

There were a few left, but I'm pretty sure they would be all gone by now. They seem to come in at weird times of the year????

[DeborahL]

Lucky you ! A bay tree ! I really hope it does well for you.
Our nurseries have them in the spring. I'm going to get one this year.

[Green Mantis]

Well, I'm really happy watching the baby bay tree. It's growing new leaves already! Sooooo exciting!!!

DeborahL.................Good Luck getting one in the spring, I have tried that for the last two yrs. Either, nope didn't get any in, or they are all gone.

Normally they aren't supposed to come in the fall here, but they did!!!!!! Just so glad I was in the right nursery at the right time for once!!! Good Luck getting your's, in the spring, I really hope you do. Keep calling to see if they have them in. They come and go so fast!!

[DeborahL]

Thanks ! I'll watch, and as soon as I get one, I'll post you !

[thurkun]

Bay trees this year are in short supply, I was talking to a manager of an organic farm here in Chattanooga and he said that growers weren't shipping them because of a disease. I normally buy one or two new ones a year, grow them up a bit and give 'em away, but this year there were none to be found in the nurseries at all. I've got 3 2'-3' bay in pots that will have to be brought in before November, but once in the ground and established, they are not cold sensitive at all. The 24' bay has survived temps down to 5 degrees F and been planted for 11 or twelve years, I just wonder how far north bay would grow if people stuck them in the ground.
Enjoy your bay, leaves are also nice in a simmering pot.
Pat

[Green Mantis]

Gosh I feel very lucky to have gotten one, when I hear that. It's very healthy, and growing new leaves. I am going to measure the height every so often, and see how much "Baby" the bay leaf tree grows! Should be interesting.

[applestar]

I second the advice about scales. Inspect the plant frequently and familiarize yourself with the way it looks so you can spot them when (not if) they appear. They are VERY good at camouflaging themselves to look like part of the plant.

I use cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove them. If you see tiny babies, there will be one or more MOTHERS, looking like a bump, sometimes lower down.

[!potatoes!]

I've got a bay tree I bought as a kid and left at my parents' house when I left for college...they delivered it back to me about ten years later with a pretty bad scale infestation. I've found that one thing that helps in the fight (at those times when scales are in big numbers, been a while since that happened) is to let it get hit by a few frosts, and flirt with lower temps a little. I've only had any leaf damage down around 16 or 17 degrees (F)...sailing through a couple nights of 20-25 does wonders against scale. bay isn't super-hardy, but it can take a bit of good cold, and apparently more than the scales can.

my tree is now ~22 years old, multi-trunked at about three feet tall, and doing well. regular harvesting keeps it manageable. I wish your sapling luck.

[DeborahL]

Great idea, Marlingardener !

[Green Mantis]

Marlingardener, I can't wait to try it in recipes, especially in chicken etc. sounds so good!!! Just talking about it is making me hungry!!! Yummy It really seems to like where it is, and putting out more new leaves. No sign of any disease on it anywhere. That nursery seems to always have very healthy plants. I am sure happy I got one after waiting so long. Had I not asked that particular day, I would still be waiting. Hope eveyone that wants one, finds their Bay tree soon too.

I measured it today, and it's only 7 inches high, I thought it was taller, but it's sure trying to get taller, lots of new leaves, it really is my "BABY" bay leaf tree. LOL.

[marianparkins]

you didn't say where you got it. PLease let me know.

[imafan26]

Remember it is a tree. I can tolerate shade and full sun, and it can be a good lanai plant. It grows slowly so it will be small for a very long time. Eventually though it grows to be 30 ft tall (usually in the ground), unless it is pruned into a shrub form. Normally it has columnar growth.

[Graham Griggs]

I had two bay tress in my previous house, 1 grew in the ground to about 14 ft, the other was quite happily kept in a large pot and was kept at about 3 ft by stern annual clipping

The key is to cut off all growth about 1 foot below what you want the eventual size to be, and then the new growth will look good and take 1 - 2 years to come out to target size. Then you cut it back to the same point again.

[saluqi]

15 feet at maturity? Well, I suppose that depends on climate. Where I lived in southern Spain we had a 40 footer in the yard. Here in south-central California I grew one from pot to about 7 feet in a couple of years, and then we had a storm that broke it off below ground level. It did not survive. I now have 2 in pots, about 3 feet high each. Will plant them in the yard, and in time (barring freak accidents, and next time I won't plant one in that particular wind alley) they will grow into, yes, trees.

I presume everyone knows this is the "laurel" of which the ancient Greeks made wreaths to adorn their Olympic winners. Scientific name, Laurus nobilis, that is "noble laurel". Or "Nobel laurel" if you're inclined to that kind of joke. It's native to the Mediterranean region but in cultivation is now found more or less all over the world I suppose. At least here in California you can find them in almost any nursery.

It doesn't seem much bothered by mild frost. We had a winter here a few years ago when the nighttime temperature fell to 12 F, and didn't go above 15 F even in daytime for a week - and my 7 foot bayleaf tree survived that undisturbed. A year later a howling wind storm uprooted it, but that was my fault in planting it too near a corner of the house, a wind funnel.

[imafan26]

In colder climates people will probably keep the bay leaf potted and that will limit the size as well as pruning which will make it bushier. In warmer climates bay leaves do get a lot taller in the ground and can be 30 ft or maybe 40ft if it is left unpruned. I prune mine to about 10 ft because mine will grow under the eaves of my house if I don't. It is a well behaved plant with columnar growth and a non invasive root system. Scales are a perennial problem and sometimes in bad years I also get white flies. I control problems mainly with pruning. Bay and dill are the only herbs that are better dried than fresh. If you use fresh bay leaves, make sure it is the true laurus nobilis and not California Bay tree which is really a myrtle. The California bay is much more astringent fresh.