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Baobab bonsai seedling. What should I expect? 5 years 6 months ago #44163

  • rabidjellyfish
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Hello! I'm hoping there is someone out there who might be able to help guide me with my little tree. A friend of mine procured some baobab seeds and successfully sprouted them after learning that they do well as bonsai trees. Now I have a little tree that is 3/4 months old. It is about 8 inches tall, it has a very thin stem so far, but has 10 good sized healthy looking leaves. It is thriving under the grow light I have set up for it.

Now fall is approaching and I know they go dormant in the cold. I have some questions:
-Should I change the light timing? They are equatorial, (right?) so 12 hours year round should be fine?
-When/how much to prune it and when to start training?
-Basically what should I expect and do at this point? Just let it do its thing and keep on keeping on until the stem is thicker? How tall is too tall?

It is healthy and well and thriving and I'm thrilled with it, but I'm really looking forward to having a mini baobab tree in a few years time and need some more guidance on how to achieve this!

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Baobab bonsai seedling. What should I expect? 5 years 6 months ago #44173

  • Auk
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A seedling is never a bonsai.

You will not have a bonsai in 'a few years'.

Let it grow. Grow a decent trunk first. There's a lot of information on this website and in this forum. Read it.

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Baobab bonsai seedling. What should I expect? 5 years 6 months ago #44199

  • rabidjellyfish
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Hi. Thanks for correcting me. The definition of bonsai according to this website is "planted in a container" Considering it is a plant in a container you might see my confusion. I'll be more careful in the future.

Excellent. Knowing it is going to take more than a few years is the kind of feedback I was looking for. I read up on some basic bonsai stuff and the website says to let it grow for 3-5 years before training, but they refer to more "typical" trees. But Baobabs are not like many trees and have many characteristics of succulents.

What I was looking for was someone with experience specific to baobabs since I have heard you should prune them after the first year and wanted to talk to someone else who might have experience with them since they aren't common where I am. But your condescension makes me think I'm looking in the wrong place. Thanks.

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Baobab bonsai seedling. What should I expect? 5 years 6 months ago #44200

  • Ivan Mann
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I have a baobab, too, and wonder the same. I found some sort of general information on homeguides.sfgate.com/care-instructions-...nsai-tree-75797.html but it doesn't tell me what I really want to know, when is the dormant period, that is, when can I print heavily and repot. It may have been last February but I don't know.
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