New Tree.... Brazilian Raintree

[Kenshin14435]

Hey all,
I just go a Christmas gift from my aunt. She ordered me a Brazilian Raintree or pithecellobium tortum. It just so happens that she ordered it from Bonsaiboy.com.
I got it and it is in pretty good condition. I read that the leaves close when little or no sun light is present. I find that very fasinating. So I have it out of the box, and I watered it mildly. I had no idea it had long needle like thorns on it so when I went to grab it, it bit me. It came with a very nice teal, glazed pot and a humidity tray. I still have yet to get some material for the tray. I will try to post a picture of it either today or tomorrow.

Anyway, when I got it, it came with a paper that basically told you how to take care of it. I would appreciate it if you could give me some feedback on what they said versus, what you say. Heres the link to the same information, just on a website.

http://www.bonsaiboy.com/catalog/indoorbonsaicare.html




Take Care

[Gnome]

Ken,

As far as instructions go these are better than most generic care sheets but appear to be just that, generic. They could just as easily apply to a Ficus as a Schefflera. I can't offer any specific advice for this plant as I am not familiar with it.

Lesniewicz, in Bonsai in Your Home, does not list it but does list Pithecellobium dulce which apparently is also known as 'Manila tamarind'. With these other names you may be able to continue your research.

He writes that this plant requires a lot of light and temperatures between 59-71. Those number seem a little odd to me, trying to be that precise, I doubt the plant would find 55 or 75 too extreme.

Furthermore, according to Lesniewicz, the plant should be kept moist during summer and the soil should be allowed to go partially dry during Winter. Again, this is not that different from several other species.

Sorry I cant offer anything further, perhaps someone else has grown this plant and will see this.

Norm

[MyBonsaiBuddy]

Hi Ken,

I have 9 Braziliain Raintrees in my collection and I agree with last poster that this is a generic care sheet. I can say for sure that your tree can handle temps between 55-90 degrees just fine. I have a bonsai nursery in central Florida and we protect our raintrees when overnight temps get down to about 50. The great thing about Raintrees is that they will tell you when they are stressed by closing up leaves. We have found that dappled light seems to be best but they can handle full sun. Another important note is to always leave 1/2 an inch or so for dieback if you cut a branch, they do not heal very well and I would recomend using wound sealer. On the same note if you want to train branches I don't recomend wrapping wire around branches as this will scare your tree quickly, rather tie strings and guy wires to bend branches without making too much contact.The raintrees should not be let to dry out completely and can do fine in anything from nursery soil to bonsai soil, but idealy should be in a bonsai soil mix with some organic material added to retain moisture. If your tree does get stressed to the point of losing all its leaves, don't worry just get it back in proper conditions and it will bounce back in a couple of weeks with brand new light green foliage. Hope this helps

Best Regards, Scott

PS : you can cut off the thorns if you prefer without harming the tree. I don't like the thorns, I think it throws off the scale of the tree, but my better half likes them more natural.

[Gnome]

MyBonsaiBuddy,

Thanks for the tips, nothing beats personal experience. Glad you are with us and stop back when you get the chance.

Norm

[Kenshin14435]

Norm,
I will take a look into that book. I am also trying to do some research on them to understand them better. I'm not on my computer right now so I can't upload the pictures right now but they should be posted on either by tonight or tomrrow afternoon.

Scott,
Thank you so much for the info. A great help. I have it on my counter in my house close to some windows, approx. 6 feet from a big window and 5 feet from the window over my sink. Again, pictures are coming ASAP so we can see if this is a good spot or not. The temperature in my home ranges from the midday when I'm not around which is normally 64, no lower. And then before in the afternoon around 67-70 degrees. Is that too much of a temp difference? I am assuming not but just want to make sure. Also, the leaves have still not opened up from when I got it out of the box around 3 PM EST yesterday. I'm just a little worried about that. I got home today and I already see some new growth. I was very surprised by this. I did not expect it to grow that fast. I havn't poked and prodded the roots yet and don't plan to until spring. How often on average do you have to water your Brazilian raintrees? Im having a bit of a struggle on that. As from that everything seems to being going great. I don't see any major problems with it and am very relieved not to!
I am also very glad to know to leave some die back room. I would have never thought of that on this species. I do need to buy some wound coverup stuff though. I don't have any of that. Also, much thanks on the thorns. When I had first reached into the box to take out the tree, I didn't know what it was. So I reached my hand into the popcorn that covered the entire tree, not knowing what was inside, and it bit my thumb. OUCH! Those thorns hurt. Do they grow back alot or not at all?
I will probably have more questions as my new tree progresses so please stay tuned.

All,
If you do not have a watering can with tiny holes in it to reduce the flow of water, I have come up with a solution. I figured this out on a spur of the moment need of a watering can.
Heres what you'll need.

One waterbottle not yet opened.
One sewing needle.
One desired tree/plant

Heres what you do.

Take the water bottle that has not yet been opened and put it on a flat surface. Then take your sewing needle and start punching in a ring around the edge of the cap inside the ring that you drink from. Your pretty much making your own watering can. Put in enough holes spaced roughly 1/8 inch apart all the around. Then you have yourself a watering tool. Remember, it is best to poke the holes while the bottle has not yet been opened. This makes it more sturdy.
And then, when your bottle runs out of water, just take the cap off that has the holes through it, and either A-re-fill the water bottle or B-go get a new water bottle and switch out the caps.

Now that you have your new watering bottle, go try it out on your tree/plant. Squeeze gently so the water does not become too pressurized to the point that it will blast away your soil or rocks.

Just thought I might share what I created.

Take Care

[Gnome]

Ken,

I will take a look into that book.

There is not much more information on this species in this particular book. It is a fair work on indoor bonsai, one that I refer to, but I did not want you to purchase it and find it lacking.

Norm

[Kenshin14435]

I'll probably get it from the library....
I don't have enough money...LOL


Take Care

[uzeyr]

hehehhh
lets face the facts for those of us who have more than one tree , for those of us who have an obssesion for bonsai , i find myself always out of money because either i have bought this for the bonsai or i have bought another bonsai altogether
i don't know why my thirst for more species keeps growing and they tend to be the more expensive ones............. think ur in the same boat

[Kenshin14435]

Maybe in the same boat. Well........yeah......pretty much. Now that I got a new bonsai, it has reawakened the feeling of want to be an avid bonsai collector. So now I'm looking at some pretty cool trees on Bonsaiboy.com. Infact, I'm looking at getting a Mount Fuji Serissa - Large
(serissa foetida) which is 12 inches tall and 10 years old and is going for 60 bucks. I'm also looking at a Japanese Kingsville Boxwood - Medium
(buxus microphylla 'compacta') which is 6 inches tall, 9 years old, and going for 40 bucks.
But before I even get to that I need to buy new Tropical/SubTropical for this new bonsai and some new equipment. I didn't buy the stuff that is really needed in bonsai. I bought some lousy stuff at Home Depot. I bought the stuff that wouldnt last too. I think the only good thing I bought from there was a bag of pebbles and a branch trimmer.
*shrugs*
Theres always birthdays.

Take CAre

[Gnome]

Ken,

A few thoughts if you don't mind. Accumulating numerous species can be fun but it can also be difficult. It may be better to concentrate on one or two species until you get the hang of them. Serissa has a reputation for being difficult to keep and I would hate to see you spend $60.00 and not have it do well.

As far a the Buxus is concerned I feel you can do better at most any local nursery. You can get more tree for the money and, by doing the initial styling, learn more to boot. For instance have a look at two of Tom's Boxwoods here and here.

Also keep an eye out for any neighbors looking to remove any from the landscape. You can get some nice old specimens this way.

Norm

[kdodds]

Have to agree on the specific care offered by Scott. Pay particular attention to his advice on styling. I prefer to leave the thorns. Because of the zig-zag growth pattern, a lot of styling can be done by simple pruning. Although I've seen other styles, this species, to me, is best suited to a "pierneef" <sp> type of style, which is sort of a modified literati.

[Kenshin14435]

Norm,
I think I may have a boxwood outside of my house but I a not sure. Tomrrow will tae some pctures of it and see ifyou know what kind it is. I did note though that you gave me a link to an english boxwood. I am looking to buy a Japanese Boxwood duet the very small size of the leaves. Now, that does not mean I will competely shrug off your advice. You are probably correct in saying that I couldget more tree for my buck. I think I will look for a fairly cheap Japanese Kingsville Boxwood although I have no idea how rare or not rare they are.

I will also take pictures of my "boxwood" out side. Do not hold me on saying Boxwood because I really have no idea what it is .

Those pictures of my brazilian raintree will be up soon. The have been taken so its just a matter of picking the right ones. I think you'll like 2 of them. hehehe

kdodds,
Nice to talk to you again!
I am proud to say I have cut off all the thorns. I did not like them. In my opinion, it took away the scaled down look and made it look more bush like.

Those pics should be up soon.

Take Care

[Kenshin14435]

Finally got those pictures uploaded. They are a bit blurry but will do.
I have views of all 4 sides.





















Now heres a view of the compound leaf.




Take Care

[uzeyr]

wow cool tree i can see that it has good potential especiall as informal or fromal upright
i think it needs abit of work i mean shaping wiring and pinching
what do u guys think ??

[thesdbux]

Yeah I am liking that one as well.

Wonder if it back buds into old growth.

Its so tall the bottom looks kinda bare.