Don't know if anyone will see this, but my baobab pics will be updated with this post. I have two now, both Digitata, both started from seed. The young one is just about a year old now. It went dormant with only a toothpick sticking out of the soil, and I feared that it would be too young to live, but aside from the bonsai soil drying out randomly, causing a few lower leaves to crisp up, it's growing well. Due to its immediate dormancy, it's only got a few months of growth at this point, whereas the big one got the first year and a half to grow continuously in a controlled climate. Neither ever go outside. I'll be hanging both in the air with the roots out of the soil when they do go dormant again this winter, or intend to. I was wondering when I should prune the roots and repot them. Do I just pick a month, prune to my heart's content, repot them in new media, add water and light and wait for it to come to life, or do I wait for buds to appear before I prune em and stick em in the dirt? I'll be keeping both as small as possible. The big one isn't likely to ever change pots as long as I'm alive, and the small one will only be given aesthetic container updates. I'm enjoying growing these; they're pretty durable and forgiving within wide parameters. There are a few commandments that can't be broken, but I'm looking forward to starting another two or three plants out of the next hundred seeds I sow. Guess it can't all be easy. I've noticed that as long as they keep getting bright light, clean water and nutrients, they don't go dormant. I think my utter withholding of water this past winter triggered it. Maybe I'm assuming I have more control over the cycle than I have, but as much as I like seeing the (for a baobab) explosive growth, I'll be "inducing" dormancy on them both by December, if they haven't picked up their own cycle by then. On that same note, it seemed to me this April that both were clearly still dormant, (if not dead) but they came back as soon as I put them back in the window and watered them. I know that the natural cycle for many Baobabs is four months of growth and eight of dormancy. I'm wondering if I can alter that with controlled conditions. Early April is when I'd like to "wake" them up. I'd like to stop watering them in December and attempt to have them both dormant again by the new year. This only allows for four to five months of dormancy, depending on how long it takes the tree to fall asleep and wake up again after adding or withholding light and water. Logically, the dormancy cycle of many Baobabs is necessarily relative to their environment. Trees that experience the monsoon-type climate would have a few months to flourish and the rest of the year to survive. I'm assuming the dormancy cycle is important for the tree's survival on some genetic level, but I'm wondering if limiting it too much will affect the plant's health. If the conditions for growth remain constant, will the tree ever go dormant? Anyway, planning on hanging my dormant bare-root baobabs in a dark, dry place while dormant at the end of this season. I don't remember where I got the idea, what the circumstances of the article's writer's baobabs were or even if it's a good idea in mine, so looking for a little advice on that, if anyone has experience. I'll probably have to break this up into about five messages and post new questions. Anyway, in order to "induce" dormancy and leave clean, exposed roots for pruning when the time comes, I was thinking of killing two birds with one stone; after watering them one last time and letting the roots soften, I thought I'd basically rinse the soft soil (mostly sand, actually) out of the roots the next day, after the tree had gotten a good, long final drink, and let it dry out and go dormant from that point, hanging in a dark, dry closet. Thinking the process through, I'd have a few dead leaves to deal with as they went dormant, but my intention with the final watering and rinse is to ensure that the roots are supple when the soil is removed to prevent as much damage as possible. Once they're dry, they have to stay that way, so hard, dry soil will also be hard to remove without damaging the roots further. It doesn't seem like a perfect plan. Maybe someone out there has tried this and can tell me whether or not I'm heading towards disaster. Anyway, here are some pictures for anyone that might see this. Sf_rhino, if you've got any updates on your plants and see this, I'd love to see them! Adam --- having a little trouble with the pictures. I'm gonna post the text and work on the pictures.

Hi Almeria, I really think that at this size your Acacia retinodes will resent being moved. The ones in the pots probably stand a better chance of moving (with as little soil disturbance as possible) than the others. If you are not happy with the ones you already have in the ground then you might as well risk the move...what have you got to lose? Most Australian natives do not like being transplanted much. If you grow them in the future I think it is best to get them in the ground as small plants up to 1 ft. high. Cheers, Dee.

Note: I am the originator of this post and a self-taught gardener! From my understanding, it's a great thing to have an established v-shape already, so YAY on your pickens! I would start by pruning for the three D's - dead, damaged or diseased. Also, the smaller branches I would completely cut back 10-20'' from the ground. Also, be very cautious about when you prune in the spring. This past year, I pruned around my usual April 1st timeframe, and then we got hit with an untimely and detrimental frost that messed the entire growing season for so many plants. I'm in New Haven, Connecticut for reference. My peach tree got inflicted with a serious case of leaf curl and I thought it would die! I saved it by making a homemade anti-fungal solution of water and oregano oil. I also gave it one dowse of a water and beach solution as a Hail Mary since the harvest for the year was shot. All these leaves had turned brown and fell off. Then, the tree came back with a fury, more than I could've imagined, and made a full recovery sprouting new leaves everywhere. :) Next year when I prune, I will be dowsing the tree in my homemade oregano oil solution to hold back the spores that come with the spring season and could possibly reestablish a fresh case of leaf curl. It's good to do this as a preventive since they are so susceptible to the disease. I've read to remove and burn old leaves, but I haven't done this and am going to see how the solution helps alone. If it's helpful, I'm also going to try this method on my peonies that caught leaf blotch this year, too.

I'm from The Netherlands and live about 20 miles from van Son & Koot. They are one of the leading Japanese maple propagators over here. An innovative company with a good reputation. It propagates many of its Japanese maples through cuttings as this is much cheaper than grafting (labour is expensive over here). How they exactly propagate JM from cuttings I do not know but my guess is that a misting system, additional bottom heat and a rooting hormone are required. I've seen Acer palmatum Atropurpureum, Katsura and Wilson's Pink Dwarf from cuttings and they do very well. In one season they grew from 1 foot to 3 to 4 feet with very good branching. Propagation of Japanese Maples Through Seed -- collect fresh seed in the fall as samara's go from green to brown -- I prefer sowing JM outside for natural stratification and not via the artificial method (putting seeds with slightly moist sowing compost in a zip lock bag in the fridge) as I experienced seeds germinating in January/February in the zip lock bag in the fridge and having trouble growing them on. -- cover the sowing with grit to prevent weeds and mosses like liverwort. Cover the pot with chicken wire or something like it to prevent animals or birds from having a go at your seeds (mice like JM seeds). -- Put outside in a somewhat protected spot but where the weather elements can reach it (probably incorrect English but I hope you understand what I mean!) -- Just wait. -- More waiting ... -- In (early) spring with rising temperatures a big amounts of the seeds will germinate. Don't expect that all the seeds will germinate because this does not happen in nature either. Some seeds will germinate in the second year after sowing. If you got 'old' seeds (i.e. not from the current season) more seeds will germinate in their second year than in the first year (but you can be lucky of course) This is one I did earlier: Japanese maple seeds that started to germinate in the zip lock bag in the fridge: