What I have learned about Escambron

[JuniperSol]

Today I learned that Escambron will back bud anywhere and by any means. If the new growth grew any more, it would have pushed the bark off. First image is the culprit that I manage to rip out. Bark should be ok now. This might not have happened if I wasn’t lazy about watering the whole thing instead of just aiming for the pot (dry bark is tough, wet is flexible and whimpy).

 

[indoorbonsai]

Some do better than others. I’ve seen an improvement from my slanted Escambron since I put sphagnum moss on it for moisture retention.
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Do they need organic soil matter?

 

[penumbra]

Do they need organic soil matter?

I have just about 10% pine bark in mine, but my mix is very free flowing.

 

[milehigh_7]

Mine stays out year-round in Phoenix AZ it handles heat up to 120F (down to 30F ish) with no problem as long as you give it lots of water and afternoon shade. Mine does drop its leaves in the winter but comes back like a champ each spring. I hesitate to show a pic because it's pretty ugly. I fertilize with osmocote and Miracle Gro. It is extremely forgiving of the treatment I give it. I am going to be repotting it this weekend. We shall see.


by the way here is the thread that got me hooked: https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/escambron-totally-underutilized-native-tropical.28889/

 

[milehigh_7]

For documentation's sake, I am trying to propagate some cuttings. They are nearly all softwood from 4-6 inches. (For 2-3 I took some heel with the cutting and 1-2 are a little more mature wood) I stripped all but the top 1-2 pairs of leaves scratched the cambium and dipped in Clonex. Shoved them all in a 4-inch azalea pan and just misted them and put them under a grow light in my kitchen. They began to flag after a couple of days so I put them in a one-gallon ziplock bag which I inflated with a straw and then quickly zipped. They all perked up and after a week are all pushing new leaves. We will see what happens!

 

[milehigh_7]

So two weeks in and all are thriving. All have pushed leaves. The tall one has pushed 3 pair of leaves on top and three more pair along the trunk. this week my plan is to harden them off and next week take them out of the bag altogether. I really hope they go!

 

[milehigh_7]

Update: Out of the zip lock and under the grow light. All the softwoods are thriving and if you look closely at the pic of the soil you will see that two of them are even pushing roots above the soil. The two hardwood cuttings are struggling. Not dead yet but it seems the more mature the stems, the more difficult to root for this species. However, I am very pleased with the results, it looks like 15/16 (about 94%) will make it.

 

[milehigh_7]

Alright folks I'm a proud papa! Did the repot today. Exactly one month from start to finish. The first pic is what I started with tonight. The second is an example of the roots that developed. By the way by far the best roots were on the longest cutting it was about 7 inches to start. Also, heel cuttings root stronger than regular. However, all softwood (slightly lignified) rooted very well. Radial roots all around. I took the opportunity spread them out straight and root prune any that were overly long and straight. Eleven are going to be to sell and the one in the 6" strainer will be a mother plant.

 

[MSGhero]

I'll buy if any are available! Lots of info here for keeping them alive

 

[milehigh_7]

I'll buy if any are available! Lots of info here for keeping them alive

To be honest, they are a breeze to keep alive. I've had mine for about 5 years and it's been VERY mistreated for the past 3. It's going to be a bit before they are ready to ship I want to make sure they are healthy and growing strong first.

 

[milehigh_7]

Okay so upper limit of escambron cuttings prior to full establishment is 115F. They find anything above that disrespectful. I had to bring em in and baby them in hopes that they live. They decided to start dropping leaves like crazy. The mother plant is not blinking.

 

[Carol 83]

They find anything above that disrespectful.

Me too