Is your Pseudobombax ellipticum losing leaves already?

[idontknowhatnametuse]

It's January already and my Pseudobombax ellipticum (Sold as the pink form) has been losing leaves at a very slow pace and other Pseudobombax around my city have been losing them at a faster pace. Most of its leaves are still green. Is this normal?

[Silas_Sancona]

26 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

It's January already and my Pseudobombax ellipticum (Sold as the pink form) has been losing leaves at a very slow pace and other Pseudobombax around my city have been losing them at a faster pace. Most of its leaves are still green. Is this normal?

White one finished dropping it's leaves about a week ago.  Pink one has been hanging onto them, though they've slowly been  drying out and falling off. That could be because i stopped giving it water, rather than it deciding it is time to shed them.

Gave it a sip of water after moving to my " winter warm spot " since the trunk looked a bit dry ( ...Starting to pucker. like plumeria branches can when they're thirsty )

If you've been applying water since fall, that could be why yours still has it's leaves / is just now starting to shed them. 

Looks very healthy regardless.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

11 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

White one finished dropping it's leaves about a week ago.  Pink one has been hanging onto them, though they've slowly been  drying out and falling off. That could be because i stopped giving it water, rather than it deciding it is time to shed them.

Gave it a sip of water after moving to my " winter warm spot " since the trunk looked a bit dry ( ...Starting to pucker. like plumeria branches can when they're thirsty )

If you've been applying water since fall, that could be why yours still has it's leaves / is just now starting to shed them. 

Looks very healthy regardless.

I will stop watering it then, don't think it will affect it since it's winter. Do you think it has the size to flower already?

[Silas_Sancona]

13 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

I will stop watering it then, don't think it will affect it since it's winter. Do you think it has the size to flower already?

Tough to say...  If a majority of the growth on it is from this year, it might need another before it is ready..   You'll know for sure  when it resumes growth in a couple months ( Developing flower buds will look completely different than new leaves )

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Is it normal for them to lose leaves like this? The color looks strange to me. It lost the yellow stripes in the trunk as well but it has some new growth that looks like flower pods. Could it be a disease?

[Silas_Sancona]

23 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Is it normal for them to lose leaves like this? The color looks strange to me. It lost the yellow stripes in the trunk as well but it has some new growth that looks like flower pods. Could it be a disease?

Terminal growth point rather than flower producing buds.. Not that i can see at least.. Flower buds look like long, fuzz covered Cigars / Sausages..

To me, looks like it got nipped by a one off chilly morning ( Foliage burn ) ..My pink one did the same thing before i moved it to a warm pocket in the yard. Has 2 leaves left on it that will likely fall off soon. 

Allow those leaves to shed on their own rather than being tempted to trim off..  They usually fall away pretty easily after a few days Don't apply any water to it either ..let it rest. Plenty of water stored in the base of the trunk to get it going once it warms up enough to wake it up.

As long as the base / future trunk feel solid, esp. the newer green and extra tender growth toward the top,  it should be fine.

If the base feels soft / squishy, that could be a different story ( Sign of potential root rot caused by cool and very moist soil conditions this time of year, which these don't like.  )

[idontknowhatnametuse]

27 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Terminal growth point rather than flower producing buds.. Not that i can see at least.. Flower buds look like long, fuzz covered Cigars / Sausages..

To me, looks like it got nipped by a one off chilly morning ( Foliage burn ) ..My pink one did the same thing before i moved it to a warm pocket in the yard. Has 2 leaves left on it that will likely fall off soon. 

Allow those leaves to shed on their own rather than being tempted to trim off..  They usually fall away pretty easily after a few days Don't apply any water to it either ..let it rest. Plenty of water stored in the base of the trunk to get it going once it warms up enough to wake it up.

As long as the base / future trunk feel solid, esp. the newer green and extra tender growth toward the top,  it should be fine.

If the base feels soft / squishy, that could be a different story ( Sign of potential root rot caused by cool and very moist soil conditions this time of year, which these don't like.  )

Thanks the cool conditions are pretty much gone now though.

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Thanks the cool conditions are pretty much gone now though.

  Have noticed that ( Mine at least ) usually don't awaken from their winter nap until day time temps are consistently above 80 / 80+F / 27 / 27+C for at least  2 weeks straight..  Can take a week or two longer if not in full sun.

These, and all my other Ceiba sps seem to have a very similar post - dormancy wake up pattern as all my Plumeria...

[idontknowhatnametuse]

@Silas_Sancona Just a quick update. The wood on some parts of the tree's branches feel soft. But the lower part of that wood in the branches feels okay. The trunk and base are okay as well. Should I cut off the soft parts?

[Silas_Sancona]

55 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

@Silas_Sancona Just a quick update. The wood on some parts of the tree's branches feel soft. But the lower part of that wood in the branches feels okay. The trunk and base are okay as well. Should I cut off the soft parts?

Greener " top " portion of it that feels soft / spongy,  and is changing from green to brown?  If so, yea, that part may need to be removed... 

Got a shot or two of how it is looking atm.?

[idontknowhatnametuse]

7 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Greener " top " portion of it that feels soft / spongy,  and is changing from green to brown?  If so, yea, that part may need to be removed... 

Got a shot or two of how it is looking atm.?

[Silas_Sancona]

21 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Using shot #2,  assuming the circled area is the area you're concerned with?  If so, def. looks like it may be rotting to my eye.. 



Unfortunately, that's a bad spot for that to start happening and because it is really tender growth, the top part that is still green will be quite a challenge to try and root again, if it doesn't shrivel up while trying to root it.

Where the arrows / marks are along the lower part of the trunk? = if you have something sharp like a box cutter / carpet knife / exacto blade,  carefully scrape the surface of a tiny section in each area to see if the tissue just below the skin of the trunk is green.. Even on the older portion of the trunk where the bark may be brownish, tissue just below the surface should be green.

Good sign = If it is green.  Not good if the tissue is dark brown / black-ish looking.

Remove everything that isn't green ..until you reach healthy tissue.

Stem rot can travel up / down from where it sets in on these about as quickly as it can on Plumeria.    Because the trunk of these stores water,  in a similar way that Cacti do, once rot has made it into the tissue where the swollen portion of the trunk is, not really much you can do to save the plant.

Hopefully the tissue is healthy / green in the area between the green lines.

In the event you do loose / have replace it,  i myself would plant in an area w/ out anything growing around / under it and in sun, even if that means you'll have to apply white wash to the trunk to keep it from sunburning during the summer until the plant grows large enough to shade itself.. 

Moisture loving Tradescantia  and this plant = polar opposites in watering requirements.

[Silas_Sancona]

I should have added these in last night, but ...here are some shots of mine and how i " keep an eye " on things  while they're taking a " winter " nap..

Older White - flowered specimen...  Because the wood between the top and mid section is old enough, i may lop off and try to root that portion this year.

Soil it ( and the pink one ) are in is a 95% mix of Pumice, Grit, Turface MVP / Calcined Clay ..and just 5% organics ( Coco Peat ).. Need to add a little more since Thrashers here like to dig through it and toss soil out of the pot..



Sun- facing side of the base of trunk w/ brown wood. Has some sunscald ( Magenta circle / Arrow )  from this past summer but, if i scrape just a little below the older, brown bark / softer looking tan tissue, there is green or white -ish looking tissue just below the surface ( Green Circle in shot #2 )..   If you cut the trunk of one of these open length or width - wise, healthy inner tissue would have the same color / similar texture as a Potato, Jicama, or Taro Root.  

Will be reapplying white wash this year..







Older portion of the leader forming older tan bark on the sun facing side, still green on the side that doesn't get blasted as much.. Darker brown streaks = normal.




Same idea further up..  More water you provide ( during their growing season ) the more green " striping " you see as the trunk expands / adds new wood. As mentioned, never want then to stay wet for long after watering at any time of the year though..








In this area, despite this particular branch looking damaged ( Orange circle )  Tissue just below the skin is perfectly healthy ( = Green circle )





Same idea on my pink one..  Tan " skin " near it's base ( = Orange circle ) might concern some people this time of year..



Gentle scrape of the surface tissue w/ the blade below  = bright green tissue below the skin = healthy and just waiting to wake up...





Blade i use to check trunks / stems when questioning the health of something that isn't growing right, but isn't exhibiting obvious signs of cold or sun -related damage  and /or  any possible disease issues, esp. new cutting -started / young plants like Plumeria, Bursera, etc.  

Need to get a new one ( ...or two, lol ) since i broke the tip off this one and the blade is starting to get dull. 



 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

On 2/9/2025 at 1:37 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

I should have added these in last night, but ...here are some shots of mine and how i " keep an eye " on things  while they're taking a " winter " nap..

Older White - flowered specimen...  Because the wood between the top and mid section is old enough, i may lop off and try to root that portion this year.

Soil it ( and the pink one ) are in is a 95% mix of Pumice, Grit, Turface MVP / Calcined Clay ..and just 5% organics ( Coco Peat ).. Need to add a little more since Thrashers here like to dig through it and toss soil out of the pot..



Sun- facing side of the base of trunk w/ brown wood. Has some sunscald ( Magenta circle / Arrow )  from this past summer but, if i scrape just a little below the older, brown bark / softer looking tan tissue, there is green or white -ish looking tissue just below the surface ( Green Circle in shot #2 )..   If you cut the trunk of one of these open length or width - wise, healthy inner tissue would have the same color / similar texture as a Potato, Jicama, or Taro Root.  

Will be reapplying white wash this year..







Older portion of the leader forming older tan bark on the sun facing side, still green on the side that doesn't get blasted as much.. Darker brown streaks = normal.




Same idea further up..  More water you provide ( during their growing season ) the more green " striping " you see as the trunk expands / adds new wood. As mentioned, never want then to stay wet for long after watering at any time of the year though..








In this area, despite this particular branch looking damaged ( Orange circle )  Tissue just below the skin is perfectly healthy ( = Green circle )





Same idea on my pink one..  Tan " skin " near it's base ( = Orange circle ) might concern some people this time of year..



Gentle scrape of the surface tissue w/ the blade below  = bright green tissue below the skin = healthy and just waiting to wake up...





Blade i use to check trunks / stems when questioning the health of something that isn't growing right, but isn't exhibiting obvious signs of cold or sun -related damage  and /or  any possible disease issues, esp. new cutting -started / young plants like Plumeria, Bursera, etc.  

Need to get a new one ( ...or two, lol ) since i broke the tip off this one and the blade is starting to get dull. 



 

The base of my tree seems to be fine, it doesn't feel soft but I will wait until it forms leaves to cut the damaged wood. By the way, do you know how to graft these? There's some pink flowered trees in a local park and they are flowering right now. What's the size of the branch that I need to cut and what should I do to root it?

[Silas_Sancona]

13 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

The base of my tree seems to be fine, it doesn't feel soft but I will wait until it forms leaves to cut the damaged wood. By the way, do you know how to graft these? There's some pink flowered trees in a local park and they are flowering right now. What's the size of the branch that I need to cut and what should I do to root it?

Grafting is a good question... Don't  recall it ever being done w/ these,   though that doesn't mean it can't be done  either..

Rooting cuttings is pretty straight forward though.. 

** Select a branch no skinnier than approx 1 1/2- 2" wide,  No shorter than about a foot long.

** Set in a soil mix that drains well ( Total mix contains no less than 70% inorganic soil ingredients ..Pumice / small Lava rock, wash / river grit, and Turface MVP / Seramis < Not sure how Calcined Clay is offered there >

** Soak and place somewhere where the cutting(s) will be in bright shade / no direct sun ..but stays warm / hot..

** You'll only water < Lightly, around the inside edge of the pot > occasionally until it starts producing new leaves / branch in the pot doesn't feel wobbly when you give it a nudge...

** When the growth tip has put out about 6 new leaves/ branch doesn't wobble much, that is a good sign it is rooting..  Should be ok to water a little more often by that time.  No fert. needed.

Depending on how quickly the cutting(s) adds new growth after rooting, you might be able to transplant by fall ..or this time next year ( Better, honestly ..Gives the plant time to build a root system that will handle being transplanted better.. )

Just going on what i've noticed < Feel free to correct me if not correct > because the weather there is hotter ...a few weeks sooner than we start really heating up, ...and it's often a little more humid there than we are thru the summer,  imagine you shouldn't have a tough time getting these going.. About as easy as rooting Plumeria cuttings..



All else fails,  watch your local trees closely for seed pods developing after the flowering season has ended..  Will look like mini footballs dangling from branches, rather than the skinny, Cigar shape of un-opened flowers..

I know some say the pink flowered specimens don't set seed but, ..it isn't true.. Seen plenty of pink flowered specimens w/ pods dangling on them on iNat, and knew someone who would start new plants of that form from seed off a pink flowered tree..

Not sure how long it takes for them to mature but, when the seedpods open, you'll see a bunch of black or brown BB -sized seeds mixed within a lot of cottony fluff..

If the pods mature more toward the fall?  ..seed off these ( ...And pretty much every Ceiba i've grown ) is pretty durable. Won't have any trouble if you hold off on starting them until next spring..

Seed is typically germinates pretty quickly, and seedling get off the ground pretty quickly as well.

Have started seed from a Silk Floss Tree i collected off of ..8 years ago..  / other seed of some other Ceiba sps someone had sent me 7 years ago w/ out any issues.  

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

All else fails,  watch your local trees closely for seed pods developing after the flowering season has ended..  Will look like mini footballs dangling from branches, rather than the skinny, Cigar shape of un-opened flowers..

I know some say the pink flowered specimens don't set seed but, ..it isn't true.. Seen plenty of pink flowered specimens w/ pods dangling on them on iNat, and knew someone who would start new plants of that form from seed off a pink flowered tree..

Not sure how long it takes for them to mature but, when the seedpods open, you'll see a bunch of black or brown BB -sized seeds mixed within a lot of cottony fluff..

Here's a good iNat observation from near Guadalajara showing what the seed pods look like before and when they open..

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/158811480

How can i tell this one is a pink flowered specimen?  in shot #4 of the 5 photo set,  if you look on the ground behind / around the trunk, you can see the remnants of spent flowers that still retain their pink color, even long after being shed.. On a white - flowered tree, the old flowers would be brown ..Absolutely no pink hue in them.

Looking over other observations, i noticed that seedpods on White flowered specimens were wider and greener than on this and other observations of seed pods noted on pink flowering trees..

Btw, you should post some shots of the flowering specimens there..  Mine is still sound asleep,  lol..

[miamicuse]

Mine dropped leaves from Jan through end of Feb.  First bloom was on March 3 about ten days ago.

I have already collected enough dropped pink flowers to fill three five gallon buckets which I use as mulch.

The white version two blocks from me always dropped leaves and bloom a full month sooner every year.

[miamicuse]

I have never seen seed pods on my mature pink version of this over the years.  Not on the tree and not on the ground.  I wonder where they are hiding.

Now they are in full bloom.  I don't see a seed pod attached anywhere up top and I don't see a seed pod amongst all the litter on the ground.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, miamicuse said:

I have never seen seed pods on my mature pink version of this over the years.  Not on the tree and not on the ground.  I wonder where they are hiding.

Now they are in full bloom.  I don't see a seed pod attached anywhere up top and I don't see a seed pod amongst all the litter on the ground.

It is weird that these can set seed reasonably easily in Mexico, but rarely do the same here ..as seems to be the case at least...

I'm wondering if there is a specific Moth, Bee,  ..or Bat sp. perhaps  that pollinates these that may be more common in Mexico, but not as commonly seen in the states  ...around the time of flowering in each area at least..

Possible too that weather conditions at time of.. / ..shortly after...  flowering  might influence how well / not so well successful pollination occurs..  Winters in Mexico are generally warm  ..and dry  and that could effect anything from bee / other pollinator activity,  to whether or not any pollen transported to a stigma(s) can sit on them long enough to actually fertilize before getting washed off in a rain storm.

Would be an interesting study, if it hasn't already been done.  Let alone to find out that overall, a majority of pink flowered trees are self - incompatible,  ..requiring two or more  non- related specimens  ..and / or the presence of a white flowering specimen < which may be more self compatible overall > nearby for higher pollination success..