anyone growing baobabs (outside Madagascar)?@

[PalmatierMeg]

4 hours ago, greysrigging said:

This Madagascan Boabab thriving in the George Brown Botanical Gardens, Darwin. 

North Western Australia has a magnificent native Adansonia ( Gregorii ) that is locally common throughout the WA Kimberley and Vic River District in the NT. They grow very well in Darwin and there are quite a few old historical specimens in the older suburbs of Darwin. 

 

 

Those are stunning trees!

[greysrigging]

1/- Young Boab tree in natural habitat, Victoria River, Northern Territory. 2/- Mature specimen on the Gibb River Road, Kimberleys WA. 3/- Infamous 'Prison Tree' at Derby, WA. Used by mounted police in the 1890's to house Aboriginal prisioners prior to trial.

[Hillizard]

ICYMI, Frenchman Cyrille Cornu has created a documentary on Madagascar's baobabs. Here's more info and a link to the trailer: https://filmfreeway.com/396799  For those with Amazon Prime accounts, you can watch the entire film.  He's found one tree that may have the largest circumference (girth) of any baobab on Earth.  That specimen would take up my entire lot (incl. house)!!

[Cindy Adair]

I really enjoyed these amazing photos and the trailer and look at my two little baobabs with renewed excitement. Thanks!

[greysrigging]

Some more pics of Adansonia gregorii in habitat..... these trees are locally common and endemic to the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory of Australia.
The trees are deciduous in the 'dry season',  the seed pods are falling and splitting open and the new leaves are just starting to appear with the first storms of the season imminent.
The seeds strike easily, and initial growth is surprisingly fast.
Fairly hardy too ( by Australian standards ) with specimens in the Kings Park in Perth, several thousand kilometers south of their natural habitat.
Would be worth trying in the warmer zones of the US....

Seed pods

Gregorii flower.

[greysrigging]

https://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/kings-park/area/wa-botanic-garden/the-giant-boab
https://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/images/horticulture/docs/pn_adansonia_gregorii.pdf
http://www.rarefruitclub.org.au/Boab.htm

[greysrigging]

An historical old Boab Tree on the banks of the Victoria River.... on the register of Trees of National Significance due to the carvings by the earliest European explorers of the region dating back to 1855.
 

[Komang]

Hi

Had plant it in Bali 

My ex boss in Bali sneek it in from South Africa 

This tree loving tropical climate it grow more than a meter in a year 

Last time I see it already almost 10meter tall (7 years a go)

The difference is it go up no big trunk, probably it got lost of water and no need to store it.

Hopefully when I'm going home and have chance to visit him and take picture the amazing Boab

Cheers

Edited December 1, 2019 by Komang

[waykoolplantz]

Updated pics

[Cindy Adair]

Your trees are stunning! Thanks so much for the beautiful photos and hope to see them again in 2020.

[greysrigging]

A young Aussie Boab I photographed in Dec 2012.

The same tree today  ( 11/12/19 ) 7 years later .....

And all the local ones around Timber Creek, Northern Territory of Australia just starting to flower....

Edited December 11, 2019 by greysrigging
spelling

[greysrigging]

Back in Timber Creek, Northern Territory of Australia. All the local Boabs in full leaf with the first ( delayed ) rains of the Northern 'wet'
They really are a magnificent tree !
The last couple of pics show one that must have been fe.lled during a storm and re sprouted






 

[Silas_Sancona]

13 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Back in Timber Creek, Northern Territory of Australia. All the local Boabs in full leaf with the first ( delayed ) rains of the Northern 'wet'
They really are a magnificent tree !
The last couple of pics show one that must have been fe.lled during a storm and re sprouted






 

Nice Pictures Doug!..  Just a few more weeks to go before i can start some seeds 

Oh, and a little, slightly off topic tease..  Getting close..   Cheers!

[greysrigging]

10 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Nice Pictures Doug!..  Just a few more weeks to go before i can start some seeds 

Oh, and a little, slightly off topic tease..  Getting close..   Cheers!

Wow ! Outstanding !!
You have the ideal climate for them to naturalise....

Edited January 4, 2020 by greysrigging

[greysrigging]

Boab seeds sprouting..... only planted 10 days ago....

[tropicbreeze]

The seeds are easy to germinate and have a long viability. Last year I gave a nursery 70 seed I'd had for about 12 years. They all germinated and a few months later the nursery was selling small plants.

[greysrigging]

21 minutes ago, tropicbreeze said:

The seeds are easy to germinate and have a long viability. Last year I gave a nursery 70 seed I'd had for about 12 years. They all germinated and a few months later the nursery was selling small plants.

And they are surprisingly fast growing from seed..... they slow down a bit later ( deciduous so have a short growing season ) but will grow a fair bit south of their natural range.

Edited January 23, 2020 by greysrigging

[jimmyt]

Very cool tree fellas!  Good growing there.

[Silas_Sancona]

8 hours ago, tropicbreeze said:

The seeds are easy to germinate and have a long viability. Last year I gave a nursery 70 seed I'd had for about 12 years. They all germinated and a few months later the nursery was selling small plants.

Good to know seed can remain good for several years. Weather here should be safe enough to start a few by the middle of next month. 

[greysrigging]

Some pics of African Boababs growing at the George Brown Botanical Gardens, Darwin. The collection was started by the man himself, former Curator ( and Lord Mayor of Darwin ) of the Gardens, George Brown. He sourced seeds from a collector over in Broome, WA.
The African and Madagascar species grow very well in our climate. The photos show them in full leaf......to be expected as we are slap bang in the middle of our 'Wet ( growing ) Season at the moment.


This one blown over during Cyclone Marcus in March 2018.... hasn't bothered it, powering on !










And last but not least, the single Australian species, Adansonia gregorii.
I have actually visited this very tree depicted on the plaque.... and being a keen amateur historian, I picked up on an error on the information.... can anyone else pick it ?








 

[NOT A TA]

8 hours ago, greysrigging said:

I picked up on an error on the information.... can anyone else pick it ?

Year of carving.

Didn't realize there were so many Adansonia, thanks for sharing!

[Peter]

Great photos-thank you!  Approximately when were the African baobobs planted? 

[greysrigging]

3 hours ago, Peter said:

Great photos-thank you!  Approximately when were the African baobobs planted? 

Not sure of the exact dates, but George Brown became Mayor of Darwin in 1992, so I would guess the Baobab program was commenced prior to that year. 

[greysrigging]

6 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Not sure of the exact dates, but George Brown became Mayor of Darwin in 1992, so I would guess the Baobab program was commenced prior to that year. 

[tropicbreeze]

The Africa Madagascar garden was established over the debris of TC Tracy. Because the debris contains a lot of asbestos it was covered over with extra soil. When TC Marcos blew over the large Boab the roots pulled up some contaminated soil. To right the tree they would have had to dig down, pulling out more contaminated soil. They decided to leave it as the tree'd keep growing anyway. It's always going to be an issue. The trees keep getting bigger and the roots keep going through the debris. Fingers crossed!

[greysrigging]

On 1/31/2020 at 2:57 AM, Peter said:

Great photos-thank you!  Approximately when were the African baobobs planted? 

Here is a pic of a digitata planted on the Fannie Bay foreshore.
And quote from the guy who planted it....
"I've worked for the Council since 2001, grew that digitata from seed I collected at the Bot Gardens in 2004 and planted them in 2005."

[bubba]

WayCool is carrying the torch for Florida. Madagascar in habitat are insane from Bo. Australian specimens from greysrigging are boldacious! The Florida Champion Adamsomia digitata is located in Hollywood, Fl. and is 55 ft. tall with a crown spread of 78 ft. with a circumference of 416 ft. It is near Young Circle and US 1 and has a drive cut-through.

[Silas_Sancona]

7 minutes ago, bubba said:

WayCool is carrying the torch for Florida. Madagascar in habitat are insane from Bo. Australian specimens from greysrigging are boldacious! The Florida Champion Adamsomia digitata is located in Hollywood, Fl. and is 55 ft. tall with a crown spread of 78 ft. with a circumference of 416 ft. It is near Young Circle and US 1 and has a drive cut-through.

@Loxahatchee Adam has a pretty good collection he has shared here in the past as well.. Any updated pics Adam?

[CodyORB]

Here is my roughly 1 month old Adansonia grandidieri seedling. Germinated in about a week. Fast and healthy growth so far, loving the hot and wet weather!

[Silas_Sancona]

This years trial A. gregorii seedlings, looking a little limpy and ready for a break from constant 110+ heat and 5-10% humidity as Monsoon season begins..

[necturus]

Where did you guys get those seedlings? Very cool!

[Silas_Sancona]

45 minutes ago, necturus said:

Where did you guys get those seedlings? Very cool!

My  A. gregorii seed were collected by a fellow PT member in Australia.

[greysrigging]

14 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

This years trial A. gregorii seedlings, looking a little limpy and ready for a break from constant 110+ heat and 5-10% humidity as Monsoon season begins..

They do a little bit.....still. the heat should not really bother them too much.....they see temps like that in the Kimberley before the monsoon breaks. A bit cooler and a bit more moisture in the air they will look better. I would water several times a day with that sandy soil mix and your extreme heat ( not on the foliage )

[Silas_Sancona]

14 minutes ago, greysrigging said:

They do a little bit.....still. the heat should not really bother them too much.....they see temps like that in the Kimberley before the monsoon breaks. A bit cooler and a bit more moisture in the air they will look better. I would water several times a day with that sandy soil mix and your extreme heat ( not on the foliage )

Agree.. They've done well w/ it, just need a break from the furnace, lol.  Hopefully soon. Hit them with water about 3x's a week.. Sounds contradictory but the grit they're in holds moisture pretty well.. Surface might dry between watering, but plenty of moisture a few inches down.

[greysrigging]

1 minute ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Agree.. They've done well w/ it, just need a break from the furnace, lol.  Hopefully soon. Hit them with water about 3x's a week.. Sounds contradictory but the grit they're in holds moisture pretty well.. Surface might dry between watering, but plenty of moisture a few inches down.

Don't freak out when the cold season comes and they drop leaves and look dead....nope, just dormant waiting for warmth and water again.

[Tracy]

On 11/17/2015 at 8:36 AM, waykoolplantz said:

we got the Bob bug a few years before Adam...but share some of the same sources.

I got this Adsonia digita and planted it in 2016 or 2017 from my friend George.  I recall that he brought these in with some Cuban palms he was bringing out from Florida.  You may know something about the origination of the seed and plants I'm guessing.  Unfortunately its no bigger out here than it was when I got it.  I"m guessing that the lack of heat in my mild climate just slows things down to much.  Buds didn't appear the last couple of years until late May leaving it a rather short growing season given that it drops its leaves in October here.

[waykoolplantz]

George got the bobs from Dr Balasky...same source for most of mine, other than Digitata. as well as some of Adams..

Seeds brought back from Mad by Dr B

[waykoolplantz]

updated pics

[Steve the palmreader]

On 7/13/2020 at 1:13 AM, Silas_Sancona said:

My  A. gregorii seed were collected by a fellow PT member in Australia.

I am growing this variety from seeds I got from MBC maybe they are from the same source.

[Hong Kong Robert]

We have about 20 African and Australian babies between 1-3 years old growing in Hong Kong.  I recently got some nice Grandieri seeds I put 5 in a moist towel for a week.  One seed has doubled in size, ready to pop, so I put them in a nursery pot.  Can't wait to see the first one.  I have seen some seedling photos and they look completely different than other species.  Very excited! 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Hong Kong Robert
Photos