Hi A complicated question lol My main interest is epiphytes which of course grow on trees and since I hate the look of "pots" I started using driftwood and many other materials as support. By far the best is a living tree but quickly outgrows it's location. It occured to me that I just might be able to keep them much smaller with different culture methods. Sort of Bonsai without the art form lol. This has evolved over the years into simply what "works" and what doesn't lol Have never used "soil" Compacted sphagnum, scintered glass ,volcanic rock,rock wool . Several I grow in standing or flowing water with no media at all. My largest a ten foot paradise tree i grow in lava rock in a 20 gallon pot buried in the ground. This is kept full of water so the tree is always in a state of stress. I use it to support various species of orchids, several epi vines pencil trees, and asmall form of tropical pitcher plants. The pot is underplanted with several species of marsh plant and outside that amazon lilies. The alloted space is 4 feet wide by 10 feet high max. All plants have an alloted space and kept within those boudaries Root pruning is not necessary due to the water source Certainly not a Bonsai but definitely a dwarf lol About 5 percent of it's potential size. My others are mostly ficus species kept at about 6 feet using different culture methods. So I guess thse are way above "Bonsai" yet definitely "stunted" Maybe "Bonsai dish gardens" ?? A Ficus benjamina is growing on a rock so is actually a "semi epiphyte " It depends entirely on aerial roots for survival as the regular roots are pruned off. Isn't it amazing how much abuse a plant will tolerate?? lol gary

The fat multibranced Thai Adenium specimens are grown using: 1) a seedling genetically dispositioned to produce compact growth and multible branches, presumably some sort of socotranum-arabicum hybrid (for instance, "Adenium Thai socotranum"). 2) light of course, but A LOT of light from all directions, to produce really compact growth and initiate branching. 3) high temperatures, say +77 F degrees (25 C) on average, and plenty of water, some fertilizer (they often use chicken manure) to accelerate growth. 4) branch- and root pruning and wiring techniques. The famous Thai Adeniums are bonsai trained, without any doubt.

In my experience my baobabs have taken a couple of years to settle on a good dormancy cycle. Here in SF I get about 6-7 months of dormancy starting in Sept and ending in March. I assume the reason for irregular dormancy is because I germinate the seeds at atypical and random times over the year. Where they grow in west Africa the rains typically come over the summer so it stands to reason that seedling tend to germinate in the middle of the summer. I only water mine when they have leaves. I let the plant break dormancy on its own and then I start watering. Extra water is worse than not enough. They have a lot of reserves and are pretty tough. I'd stop watering it until it is ready for it. Since you are in south Florida you should go looking for established baobabs growing there and see if there are seed pods. Where did you get your seeds? There are several growing near Ft. Lauderdale and in the Miami area. Also most of the botanical gardens have them around there. If you see any I'd be really interested to hear if you can collect seeds. I've only got digitata and am looking out for other species.

I kept meaning to summarize my results but life was just too busy. I ended up getting some unexpected results; however the overall take-home for the experiment was that germination seemed to be pretty high regardless of the method (other than nicking). Update to my latest baobabery: To reiterate the setup-- 7 seeds nicked at the crest, soaked in boiling water 6 seeds not nicked, soaked in boiling water 6 seeds not nicked, soaked in epsom salt cold water 6 seeds not nicked, soaked in cold water All the seeds were placed between wet paper towels in plastic baggies and put near a light (my heat mat broke so this was my best source of heat). A nicked/boiled seed was the first to sprout (day 5); however the remaining nicked/boiled seeds were rotten by three weeks into the experiment. The germination rates were: Nicked/boiled: 1/7 Boiled: 5/6 Salt/Cold: 4/6 Cold: 4/6 So overall (not including the nicked seeds) I got 72% to germinate. I should note that by two months into the experiment the boiled (5) and the cold (4) seeds had finished their sprouting, however only 1 of the salt/cold seeds had germinated. I assumed the salt/cold seeds were dead at this point and tossed the baggie into a pile of trash. Earlier this week I was cleaning up stuff and noticed that 3 more of the seeds in the salt/cold bag had sprouted (4 months!) so I removed them and planted those as well. The bag hadn't been sealed to the paper towel was almost totally dry. Other things to note: When the seeds sprouted I found that the best method was to remove about half of the seed coat manually (without damaging the embryo). Total removal worked but was difficult and probably didn't help the little guy too much. In almost every case where I didn't remove the seed coat, the leaves got stuck in the coat and I had to chop them in half to free them otherwise they tore and began to rot. Chopping the leaves had no ill effect on the plants. After a few of the seeds got moldy from I tried peeling them (they had not germinated at this point) and shockingly two of them grew although one died after a few days so I didn't count that as a successful germination. Many more of the seeds sprouted than I had anticipated so I quickly ran out of space and small pots. Initially I was using these biodegradable pulp pots and shockingly all of these seedlings eventually wilted and (without intervention) died. The seedlings placed in plastic pots (even 3 oz plastic shot glasses w/o drainage holes) all thrived. i was able to save two of the wilted guys by replanting them but I ended up losing many of them. All in all I have 8 healthy plants at the end. I still have a ton of seeds left so if anyone wants to trade or just wants some let me know. I didn't count them, but my bag of seeds is about 9oz so there are several hundred and I have no space for a forest. Maybe I'll go Johnny-Appleseeding around the city :) I'll attach some photos in another...