mine is still about 3 inches tall (2 years old)
it dies back in summer and grows back really well in the winter and spring

i have it in a 8in pot thats about foot deep

I just got one for my husband for his birthday. We live in the town of Cave Creek. There is a wonderful cactus nursery out here on Cave Creek road just south of Carefree Highway.
We have it inside by a window and it is doing great. I have to just make sure that the D Cats don't chew on it. My husband waters it about once every other week a little water.
The nursery has several sizes all the way to ones costing thousands of dollars.
Mickey

Matergardenator and Mickey do guys have plans to put it in the ground? I put mine in this rocky slope part of my yard where it got plenty of sun. I planned on putting in a circular drip during its "growing season" from November through March and we'll see. This is what Reed has on his trees and they are doing great. Now , just have to wait .

What nurseries in Phoenix carry boojum trees?

Nick, I got mine (10) from a grower in Glendale. His name is Reed( # 602-504-9787), very nice guy who knows his Boojum stuff. His is in 1 gal pot. Arizona Cactus Sales in Chandler has larger size selections. It's their growing season, hope you get some soon. Nick

I was just at Arizona Cactus Sales this past weekend and, as usual, they had a nice selection of boojum trees in various sizes, from seedlings to grapefruit-sized trunks to log-sized trunks and then truly giant specimens. Great stuff.

My little boojum in a pot in the southwest corner of my garden looks as happy this week as it has EVER looked. The recent record cold and then record rains didn't bother it at all. I need to get it in the ground SOON.

Happy gardening!
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: Arizona Cactus Sales nursery

Anyone care to post pics?

I have no plans to put mine out side or in the ground. Too many animals eat my plants were I live. I rather take my chances with the cats.
I would love several more if someone finds them real cheap.
Mickey

Mickey, I too have lots of critters that eat my stuff. I suspect cotton tails and jack rabbits...boy if only I could round up all of them and put them in a room with my dogs..hmm. I corralled my small boojum trees in the ground with half inch wire mesh that I got from the feed store for $5 . I planted them in staggered rows about six feet apart. I really want to see a groove of Boojum trees in 5-7 years...time will go by fast.

Nick,
I live out in the town of Cave Creek. I had a bob cat sleeping in my front court yard! Rabbits and nothing the coyotes keep their numbers down.
My large in size problem was the javelina,so my husband put up a fence so they couldn't climb over the wall any more. To help matters out he also put up an electric fence for me. That helped a lot.
I found the major culprit was the pack rat. I had no clue hoe many pack rats we have out here until I started trapping them. I live trapped 50 this summer. You can not use a poison on rats. I won't go in to my long reason why but the nest creature that eats the poisoned pack rat will be killed. Than includes javelina, all hanks, owls and coyotes.
If you ever have the time you should take a drive up to the cactus nursery up here on Cave Creek Road south of Carefree Highway. Their boujums the larger ones are over 15 feet. They have one there that is split like a y too. It is an amazing place.
Mickey

Hey Waterbug_guy, why can't you have a Grandidier's Baobab, Adansonia grandidieri. I love that tree. Wouldn't that tree do great out here in Phoenix. How can we get one? Who's selling that.

You can buy seeds on ebay

to: riverchick.
Do you still have that Boojum tree you are interested in selling?

Thanks! for the update!

dan

Sorry I lost track of this thread. Here's an update after 3 years in the ground.


This one got the most sun, pretty much all day. It's the largest branch wise, but all are about the same trunk wise.


The other 3 were planted on the east side of house, about 5-6' away from the house. As you can see the one closest to the house isn't doing too well, not many leaves. But the leaves it does have look good. Its trunk is as tall as the others but smaller diameter. Because of less sun? Don't know. Given how uniform these all grew relative to amount of sun it's my only guess. It will be interesting to see if growth improves with more sun.

All 4 got the same water....a lot. On drip, pretty much everyday, standing water type deal. Planted in not amended soil which is top soil but a lot of clay. I do turn down the water in middle of summer, but I watered these for months when dormant. They seemed to handle the wet conditions fine.

I water them a lot thinking I could get more growth by extending their season. Nope. As soon as it just starts getting hot the leaves turned brown and they were done til winter. All 4 went brown at the same time and rather suddenly. And it has to get pretty cool to leaf out again. As far as I can tell water (rain or city) doesn't seem to affect leafing out. Kind of like a cat...don't really seem to care what I do, they just do their own thing. A very contrarian plant.

I was thinking of tossing these. I don't really like dead looking stuff. I've been redoing the yard and all 4 had to be moved or removed. After some noodling I found a new spot for them...so moving time.

Biggest was up first. I wrapped the branches because they are a little brittle and not sure how they would react to pruning.

I had no idea what kind of root structure these have so I started digging pretty far out from the trunk. Didn't find many roots at all. Dug down pretty far wondering if there was a tap root.

Turned out no tap root and no roots pointing down. What you see in the pic is pretty much all there was. Dirt fell away pretty easy and it ended up being very light.


The new location is full sun, on an elevated 18" bank I just made. They're right next to the broken concrete retaining wall, so soil wise this is going to be tougher on them.

Once I understood the root structure the other 3 were easy and the soil stayed with the root ball so very little disturbance.

All of a sudden I like these a lot more. Being up off the ground makes seeing their trunks easier. And working with them rekindled my appreciation. The mix of nice little green leaves and almost white branches and horns is attractive imo. The trunks are impressive to me and will be more so as they grow. The horns aren't as bad to deal with as they look which surprised me. Growth seems slow, I don't really notice them grow, but in 3 years they have actually grown a lot. The biggest is 4-5' across now.

One plus to the slow growth is it did allow me to plant them in a spot where a mature plant couldn't be since maturity is a long ways off. I initially placed them into spots they could grow into and I think that was a mistake. In the new spot they already look mature, like they belong, rather as something waiting to grow into a spot.

This week they're my fav desert plant I have. Next summer... probably less fav.

I will dial back the water. The roots look like they're made for sucking up water once in awhile and don't extend very far out.

Nice job Water bug ! I too water mine A LOT! Here's one of mine that been in the ground for about two and a half years. It has three heads!

I didn't realize they did that. 3 heads, like the trunk split into branches? Or babies at the base?

I was wondering yesterday how these reproduce. I stuck a few broken branches into soil in a pot to see if they would root. No clue.

Is yours full sun?

I Googled for how these reproduce...flowers. Maybe they have to be older.

But I also saw some picture of them branching and growing in crazy shapes. When I first looked into these this is the only type of shape I remember seeing.
{{gwi:2122724}}
At their growth rate I guess I don't have to worry about the giant crazy shapes in my lifetime.

I'm sure mine started to divide at the base after I planted it. I have several "two" heads that clearly came from two seeds. Keep doing what you are doing, time goes by fast. I hope you're still around to see them 7 feet tall. Yes , it's in full sun.

I'm sure mine started to divide at the base after I planted it. I have several "two" heads that clearly came from two seeds. Keep doing what you are doing, time goes by fast. I hope you're still around to see them 7 feet tall. Yes , it's in full sun.

I'm sure mine started to divide at the base after I planted it. I have several "two" heads that clearly came from two seeds. Keep doing what you are doing, time goes by fast. I hope you're still around to see them 7 feet tall. Yes mine is in full sun

You started some from seed too? Or did yours produce seed? I haven't seen anything close to a bloom.

7' feet would be cool. The 50 footers in some pictures I saw, probably not going to see those.

That Aloe Dichotoma is spectacular and I could see a lot of uses for that. Never seen it before. But it doesn't scratch my Baobab itch. Fat smooth trunk and the shape of that canopy.

I've been thinking about building a small scale fake one from concrete, steel branches. Get Cat's Claw or Hacienda Creeper to grow up inside and out onto the branches. I collected rebar from political signs for this project but I go back and forth on having a fake tree. It is done in some great gardens, and are well thought of, so maybe I should... someday.

The mature A Dichotoma in person is stunning! The nursery on Cave Creek Rd has lots of them. A metal Baobab? That's I got to see. Sounds like it's already completed in your head. Can't wait to see it.

The trunk would be mortar over steel. The trunks already look almost like mortar to me in texture and even color...though I'd have to study that closer. Maybe a little reddish tint. And then the branches where thinner would be just steel.

I think I'd start small, maybe 6', learn and maybe try taller if it went OK. Viewed from maybe 20' away they might look real,,,cause not something people are used to.

Kind of strange for the image of a Baobab to get so stuck in a person's head. I feel like Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

I like the A Dichotoma. Sounds perfect for our climate.

When you get the baobab tree built, show us some pix.

One of the transplants is not looking good. This was the first one that I'd removed a lot of dirt from while the others I kept the soil around the roots.
{{gwi:2122725}}
All of them lost some leaves right away, but that seems to have stopped now. The one that was almost bare has lost all leaves. I'm hoping the plants have just gone into reduced water mode due to suddenly fewer roots. We'll see. Will wait at least a year as long as the trunks look OK.

Water bug, I wouldn't be too concern about it. It's normal for them to drop all their leaves after the transplant shock. It's on a raised bed so drainage is good. I would throw a screen over it to reduce some sun ray ( I would keep a screen on all your recent transplant this summer!). This is their growing time so you can mist it so the branches won't be too desicated. We're getting some rain soon so it'll help. When do we see your metal baobab tree?

I'm watering once a day, but not much water, no catch basins. Unfortunately for any plant in my yard there won't be any sun screening.

The concrete baobab tree is right after 7 other projects I have currently started. But how much time would a short tree take to build? All my projects start with that question. Unfortunately the answer is always the same...a lot longer than I thought.

This post was edited by waterbug_guy on Thu, Jan 29, 15 at 19:51

I kept mine in a window in my house for several years and watched it grow to about three inches tall. Then I planted it outside and kept it protected from the full sun during the hot summer months for two years. When it was perhaps four inches tall my daughter accidentally ran over it with a lawn mower, cutting it off to almost ground level. I kept watering it and now, two years later, it is about eight inches tall and has developed a trunk. Even though it was covered with ice about six weeks ago when we had a deep freeze, the green leaves have reappeared and it is looking very good. It is one tough S.O.B.

Hi I just sprouted some boojum seeds overnight in a contact lens container with water and paper towel in my pocket for warmth. That was fast! How do I care for them now? I am in Canada so they will be inside for a few months yet. Don't want them to dry out inside the house, around 70 degrees F. Don't want to overwater them. Not sure how to keep them warm enough. Maybe make a little "greenhouse" over the pot which will have bare mineral soil in it I think. Should I add some organic material?

I just saw on this site that boojums have a lot of mycorrhizal root associations. Sine mine started from seed nowhere near Mexico how will they do without this, or will they naturally pick up ones from the Pacific Northwest? BTW, 3 of about 15 seeds turned into happy little boojums. The cotyledons are out and the first real leaf buds are starting.

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/226620509_Mycorrhizal_characterization_of_the_boojum_tree_Fouquieria_columnaris_an_endemic_ancient_tree_from_the_Baja_California_Peninsula_Mexico

The fact is, I know next to nothing about boojum trees except that mine seems to be doing just fine when all I do is water it every now and then.

I have no idea what the words mycorrhizal or cotyledons mean.

My wife bought mine from a nursery in Tucson many years ago, when it was an inch or two tall and I put it in a window and watched it slowly grow.

After about five years I planted it outside and provided shade for it in the summer. I told you about my daughter accidentally mowing it down to ground level but now, two years later, it is about a foot tall, with green leaves all over it. I wish I could be of more help, but..........

Thanks. If you are in Arizona you don't have to worry about mycorrhizae... they are the associated fungi that attach to the plant roots and greatly extend the reach of the roots and allow additional nutrients to be gathered by the plant. The plant provides energy for the fungi and in return the fungi provide nutrients. Without it the plants are more "naked". In Arizona you should have these spores outside all over the place and they will naturally "infect" your plants without you doing anything but up here I presume we do not have the right ones for boojums and the fact that it will never be planted in the ground means it will not likely ever get them.

I have a tall boojum tree that I am thinking of selling - it is about 10 ft. tall. Not sure if I am ready to sell, but would consider for right price/person. Love my boojum tree! I got it when it was about 3 ft. tall and have moved it twice with no ill effects. This year I got some seeds off of it and am going to try my hand at raising some from seed!

Jane, how long dit it take from 3 feet to 10 feet? Do you water it often? Fertilizer? We would like to see pics.

We transplanted it from my in-law's house about 13 years ago when it was only about 3 feet tall. We have actually transplanted it a 2nd time to the house we are currently in. This photo is actually about a year old- it is a bit taller now. Love it!

Beautiful boojum Jane!! I have a bunch of them. The tallest is about two feet tall. They are begining to come alive again with cooler weather.

Hi, new member to the forum. I had a beautiful 20 foot boojum that died because a gopher got it's roots. Nick do you sell any of your boojums or know where i can buy one? I live in Calif. in the the SF bay area but have a second home in Arizona.

Mick. So sory about your boojum tree. Dang gopher!! Next time when you're back in AZ, go to Arizona Cactus Sales in Chandler. They have a bunch for sale there in various sizes. Keep us posted.

I put this plant in the ground 35 years ago when it was a foot tall. We live in the San Francisco bay area and when I put it into the ground I wasn't sure it would survive. But as you can see by the photo it did quite well.

I've been to Arizona Cactus sales and they have amazing plants.

Fun new updates and pics! I love boojums too although I have killed three small ones over the years. I just can't quite get their watering correct I think. I'm so surprised some of you have had great success with so much water. Interesting!

The Desert Botanical Garden has several large mature ones that flower each year, so definitely check them out. As folks mentioned AZ Cactus Sales down in Chandler, and Desert Foothills Nursery over in Cave Creek often have huge ones, and smaller ones for sale. Love these updates--you're all giving me a craving, hah!

My 3 Boojum trees are now for sale, $15 each. Near 7th ave & Indian School. They're in the ground and leafed out. About 3' tall and across. The trunks are about 6".

These were transplant 1 year ago with a root ball about as large as the crown so they should have a good root ball. I'll dig them just before pick up.

waterbug_guy -

I'm in Phoenix and would love to give your Boojum tree's a home in my desert/cactus garden. I currently have two smaller boojum's in containers that are doing really well (growing and leafed out) but am looking for slightly larger ones like yours to plant in the ground. I could swing by and pick them up at any time (even today in the rain if need be!).

-Jeff

I would love to buy 1 or more of your Boojum trees. I'm the guy in California that lost my 20' Boojum because a gopher ate the roots. I will be at my Arizona home between Christmas and New Years. I can send you a check now if you will keep them until I can get there to pick them up. Let me know.

Mick

I guess there's no way to exchange private messages so please contact me at hoa@waterbugDesign.com and we'll set up a time. Thanks

I just dug these for Jeff and here's what I saw. I was disappointed by the root system. Hardly any added roots in a year compared to how thick they were last year. Partly due to transplanting but I think the main issue was lack of water. Two got very little water all summer or fall. One got adjacent water on one side. The one getting the most water had the most leaves...and that's the one that looked the worst after transplanting.

This along with my previous experience of watering a lot leads me to think these need a fair amount of water for lots of growth. Like the same as for Mediterranean type plants. Maybe not so much in mid summer. They don't really seem to react like cactus and ocotillo.

The trunks still look full and good so they certainly can survive without much water but growth slows to a crawl. I even wonder now if they're putting down roots in the summer if water is available. Don''t know.

Hi all, I'm selling a beautiful Boojum tree that would plant out at 6 feet tall. It's bushy and really green right now. If you bought this at a nursery it's cost between 6 and 7 thousand dollars. I'll take 3500 or best offer. It's in a 15 gallon bucket. You can email me at jjp62@cox.net Thanks! It actually is a double ..

I bought my little one at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior, AZ, a wonderful place where your dog is welcome and they have a fantastic plant sale. They also have some large boojum trees.

I have 2 in my yard one 3 ft tall when we had it planted. The other one 15 ft when we planted the second. Both did well and grew like weeds. The smaller is now 6 ft and has grown now for 5 years, what a bushy tree it is. The taller on has just got root rot. Grew 3 ft in 4 years and was doing wonderfully. Within 2 months it went from healthy green leaves to a tree you could put your finger into at the base. This was all in Arizonia February to end of April time frame. You would think overwatering but both trees are on the same cycle. We cut it back to non rotted tree stump and have planted it along with treating the soil for fungus. It's bout 5 ft shorter, lets see what happens.