Three tips on Jaboticabas

[Carol 83]

Mine is this one, right now fron the back.
I just love the bark.

View attachment 316654

We saw some really big ones at the botanical garden this winter with fruit. Such cool trees!

 

[Mvpunv]

Do you mist the leaves? If so how often?

 

[Clicio]

Do you mist the leaves? If so how often?

I never mist my bonsai.
None.
They are outdoors 100,% of the time and they get rain, morning dew, and are watered once or twice a day.
I only mist the roots when repotting in the Spring and the temperature is high.
I don't think misting the leaves makes any difference, and in the Winter if the leaves are wet in the evening, the trees get fungal issues. So, no.

 

[Clicio]

We saw some really big ones at the botanical garden this winter with fruit. Such cool trees!

They are so cute!
Here in Sao Paulo the city in the fifties planted a lot of natives in the parks and some avenues, it is very nice!

 

[Firstflush]

Clicio, how old is the tree?

 

[AZbonsai]

Mine looks much sadder, long dead.

Mine as well. So sad.

 

[Clicio]

Clicio, how old is the tree?

I bought it two years ago from a Japanese friend who owns a nursery, and he says it was with him for at least seven years.
So I am not sure, but I guess 12 to 15 years old.

 

[Clicio]

Mine as well. So sad.

Any idea what was the reason for it to die?
I hate when trees die in my hands, but it happens.

 

[Forsoothe!]

A native of the wetlands of southern Brazil, Jaboticabas are one of the most sought after fruiting trees for bonsai in tropical countries.
So if you like them, here it goes:

1-) They love wet feet, as much as Wisteria, and their roots can never dry out or they die. A wet tray under the pot (with pebbles) is needed in the summer.

2-) They hate winds, so protect them from drafts. Their leaves get dry very quickly, beginning at the tips.

3-) They need a high organic content in the soil. Draining, but organic. Much more than trees in temperate regions.

BONUS: They need between 10~15 years to begin fruiting in nature; so trees from air layers or big cuttings are needed if one wants to grow them for the fruits.

View attachment 316608
View attachment 316609

Thank you for sharing real information. There is such a void when it comes to real, down-to-earth cultural information about our trees, especially trees foreign to the majority of us, that it is simply amazing that we can grow them at all. I've had J's for many years and they have been not very happy. I have been treating them like regular trees in smaller pots. I will move mine to a deeper pot (like most of trees which are over-potted) and I suspect it will grow like it's supposed to. Obrigado, Senhor @Clicio

 

[AZbonsai]

Any idea what was the reason for it to die?
I hate when trees die in my hands, but it happens.

I live in Arizona would be the short answer. Just could not create a suitable microclimate before it succumbed to the heat.

 

[Carol 83]

They are so cute!
Here in Sao Paulo the city in the fifties planted a lot of natives in the parks and some avenues, it is very nice!

I bet that's wonderful. Pretty sure I'll never make it to Brazil though.

 

[Mvpunv]

The leaves on my Jaboticaba weren’t looking too good around late spring / early summer so I decided to take the risk of defoliating the tree completely in hopes that it would grow back vigorously... and I am happy to say that it is looking more alive than ever!

Here is the before and after pic.

 

[coltranem]

@Clicio Any tips on getting them to back bud. This one had gotten some thick branches so I cut them back hoping to get some new growth. That was two weeks ago. Perhaps leaving the rest of the plant alone hurt my chances.

 

[Clicio]

Thank you for sharing real information. Obrigado, Senhor @Clicio

My pleasure @Forsoothe! I am sure yours will thrive in deeper pots, let us know!

 

[Clicio]

I bet that's wonderful. Pretty sure I'll never make it to Brazil though.

Don't be so sure...
If it happens, let me know beforehand and I take you around.

 

[Clicio]

@Clicio Any tips on getting them to back bud.

Ah, they do backbud when chopped, specially if it is warm and in the Spring. @leatherback took one from Brazil to Germany with no leaves at all and it sprouted many new branchlets some weeks after settled in Europe.
May be a matter of patience I guess.

 

[leatherback]

For me, it continues budding. I am rubbing buds away from the trunk!?

Full sun? Fertilized, growing crazy?

 

[Clicio]

I am rubbing buds away from the trunk!?

Make sure you are NOT rubbing away the flowers, otherwise no black fruits...

 

[leatherback]

Make sure you are NOT rubbing away the flowers, otherwise no black fruits...

hm..
Did not think about that. THat is how out of this world this species is!

Do the flowerbuds look like regular branch buds, pointed and double-budded?

 

[Clicio]

Do the flowerbuds look like regular branch buds, pointed and double-budded?

No, round and soon turns to white.
It can cover all the trunk and branches.
Some examples below: