每日吃瓜

This message has been stated over and over.

My rule of thumb for the baobab, ficus, and jaboticaba has been move them inside when temps will drop to 50F/10C in the fall, then move them out in the spring when it appears to be above that long term. They moved outside about three weeks ago. Then last week temps dropped to 40 for three nights, so I moved them back in, and the jaboticaba dropped most of its leaves. After three days they went back out, temps went up to 85F/30C says, 65/20 nights and the jaboticaba has been growing lots of leaves but still looks scraggly.

The low tonight is 42/5. Move them in?

Forecast is to hover around 50 three days after that then go back up. This is pretty much normal around here for April. The outside trees take it in stride. One year it dropped to 27/-3 three nights and everything went into the garage. This will probably be the last cold snap.

You have Jabuticaba!??

Please share. I have one too since last fall, which I gave a thourough trim today, and I tried to clean up the chops given to it in fall. It took till early march for it to start growing. But when it did, it exploded! 25cm branches in some 6 weeks.

It was the last mail order tree I will ever buy. It came with sort of decent thickness, etc., but with the traditional mallsai s bend and I'll never get another tree I can't look at first. It is the picture of the outdoor tree that should be outside all the time, except that it freezes around here. Every year I have to clean up a huge fall of leaves from being inside, and I will also never get a tree that can't stay outside year round.
Right now it looks pretty poor because all the leaves fell off. This happens every year just about the time I think I want to start trimming and pruning, so I don't. I can't get it to back bud so it keeps looking too leggy.
Maybe what I should do is chop lots off (I have always been hesitant).and let happen what happens.

Next week (after grades are in) is photoshoot week and I will be taking pictures of everything. My wife suggested a couple of years ago that I should create a photo album, and maybe this year I will.

However: inside tonight or outside?

Mine is still inside.

As for backbudding.. Is established they backbud like crazy I have found:

After cut-back, before cleaning out rootball fall 2019:


20th april 2020

leatherback wrote: Mine is still inside.

As for backbudding.. Is established they backbud like crazy I have found.

What is the weather there like? Have you reached my 10C move out point?

I have usually been hesitant about major chopping. Last year and this year I have gotten braver, with good results. Maybe I need to be brave. I'll have to think about where to cut.

BTW, I left it outside it only got 1C below my 10C decision point.

my lawn was frosty white this morning...

Here is the jaboticaba. It looks awful because all the leaves fell off but the are coming back as new growth at the end of old branches. Every year when it is time to think about chopping big pieces off it loses lots of leaves and I decide to wait till next year. I think I am going to do it this week.

Looks nice though, without visible scars!

I think you can tell from when I did that the trees deal well with chops.

In fall, barerooted, rootball trimmed to 10%. All branches lopped off. Moved around, insecticized. Potted and straing into winter. Now a ball of green (Well.. I trimmed it, so no ball of green anymore now)

I wonder if there are different varieties of jaboticaba. Mine has never grown a leaf while it has been inside, which is usually late October to mid April.It sits in a bay window facing south and has lots of sun, but it also has all the issues we talk about with indoors - lack of air movement, insects, low humidity, etc. For some reason I have no problem remembering to water outside, but inside I can be forgetful.
Insects are a big problem. It sits very near the ficus, which is covered in leaves and virtually impossible to soak completely with neem oil or anything else, so it is a safe harbor for bug to come out and climb all over the jaboticaba and the baobab. We have frequent warm periods in the winter, temperatures > 70F/20C, and they go outside then for spraying.and sit a while.