Delonix Regia or Royal Poinciana

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by Nath, Jan 5, 2009.

  1. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    That sounds nice Lorax, i didnt know there was a variety with yellow flowers. Are the leaves the same?
     
  2. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Yup - in all respects it's the same tree as the red ones, and the red-and-yellow ones, but with all-yellow (actually kind of buttery canary coloured) flowers. I'll get a pic after I move - one of the neighbours has a bunch of them.
     
  3. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    That would be nice, I'll look forward to seeing it. Are they native to Ecuador or do they grow elsewhere in Latin America? I'll be travelling around Mexico later on this year seeing family and friends and I'll be keeping an eye out for new things to bring back. I will be in the Yucatan for 2 weeks so I'm hoping for lots of Banana seeds.

    Nath
     
  4. aesir22

    aesir22 Active Member

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    Hi Nath and lorax,

    My internet still isn't set up. I moved in May and they are only just sorting it now, so using the internet at the folks tonight lol.

    My poinciana's are doing great. I had them in a medium that was too inorganic I think, so I replanted them in a more organic one and they grew really well. They look a lot like yours. I am going to repot them into larger pots tomorrow. My problem is space. I lack it in the flat lol. I want to put them outside but it's too cold up here for them some nights. Its like the beginning of winter up here it sucks lol.
     
  5. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    You could do with a conservatory really. The weather has been really warm and dry down here lately, we've only had rain twice in the last 3 weeks albeit that the showers we did have were of monsoon proportions. I have started watering my Poinciana's with rainwater of late as they seem to like that best a bit like my Mango trees.

    Let us know how things progress.

    lorax any joy on the fotos?

    Nath
     
  6. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Not yet - just finished the move and I'm not entirely certain which box the camera is in... LOL! As soon as I find it I will most definitely be taking pictures - in my wanders in search of almuerzo today I found that I now live less than 5 blocks from the big botanical gardens so I shall be visiting that as well and will post back with all the lovelies I find.

    I have no idea if the yellow Poinciana is in other areas of LatAm - I have only ever seen it in this one jungle town (Puyo.)
     
  7. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    Glad the move has gone well lorax! Are you still in the same city? Que Suerte vivir tan cerca los jardines botnicos! Que envidia! I hope you enjoy many a happy hour there. Try and post some pictures when you find your camara I'd love to see what they look like and what Flora and Fuana they have there!

    Another few months and I'll be in the Yucatan Jungle and then off to Cancun to dive of the fire coral reefs with the Barracuda and hammerheads. Can't wait!

    Nath
     
  8. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Nope - mudó casi media distancia tras el pais! I am now in the city of Puyo, at 1000 meters elevation more or less, and let me tell you, it really drives home how oxygen starved I was living in Quito! The climate is much more tropical here, which is lovely, as is the humidity.

    Yucatan jungle! Envidia, envidia! I may be close to the botanico, but I am far away from the orchidario now, boo hoo hoo.... I shall post back with pics when I have them - there are all manner of interesting little birds in the avocado tree off the balcony....
     
  9. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    The other thing is breathing will be easier for you. Im used to the altitude of Mexico City but it still takes a week when we first get back to stop wheezing or to be able to run around on the football pitch without burning lungs. I can't wait to get to the Yucatan there are so many things I want to see again, Tulum is one of the most beautiful old Mayan cities right on the coast full of lizards and a huge variety of palms and trees and Yucas. I want to dive a few Cinotes while we are there too there is a fantastic one near Chichen which is like a little bit of paradise as its open to the air but a long way under ground. Also can't wait to dive with the Barracuda again, then later back in Central Mexico we will go to my favourite City Cuernavaca which translated from Aztec means Eterna Primavera and that is just what the climate is like all year around eternal spring! It is so lush and green and full of pretty flowers of all discription, the Bouganvilleas are incredible. Thats where I intend to retire to one day.

    I will be stocking up on the seeds we can bring back and exploring the garden centres of Xochimilco in Mexico City too. I can't wait! I have just found out they have some Botanical gardens in Birmingham about an hour and a half drive away, so I will be trying to get to see around those one weekend soon.

    I'll take plenty of fotos while I'm there.

    Cuidate Mucho y luego hablamos!

    Nath
     
  10. gurucubano

    gurucubano Active Member

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    Hello Nath,

    I'm living in Munich, in the south of Germany, and traveling frequently to La Habana, Cuba. From a trip in 2000 I've brought seeds of Framboyan and Leucaena and somehow 9 years later, this summer when my trees flowered for the very 1st time it turned out with the help of this forum that they are not Framboyan, but Leucaena leucocephala.

    A bit frustraded, but never the less, I did a second approach with 37 seeds, this time really of Framboyan without any mixture, in July. 7 of them turned into seedlings which now have already the 7th leafs and are 5-6 inch high. I have them in smal pots of 4 inch diameter and can't let them stay outside from now because the temperature in the night are falling down below 8 degrees. But they do fine in my living room, and one in my office next to me, and directly behind the window. Concerning this a question: would it be a good idea to give them from time to time some water to the foliage with a very fine airgun which they sell for this purpose in the garden markets?

    All this story and photos as well are in another thread in this forum, see: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=53687. Concerning the climate requirements (and other) you might check as well this pages: http://www.floridata.com/ref/d/delo_reg.cfm, perhaps you know them already.

    Un abrazo

    Matthias
     
  11. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    Hola Gurucubano y bienvenido a este link acerca Delonix Regia. for the sake of the rest I'll carry on in English. One of my trees is now just about 3 feet tall and what I have learned is that its not so much the depth of the pot that matters but the width as the roots spread out almost as wide as the branches. As to spraying the leaves with water all that deos is speed up the pace with which the leaves fall off the lower branches they turn yellow and then fall. Poinciana definately don't like a lot of water and i only water once a week when its very hot or once a fortnight when its cooler. Even when the temperatures hit sauna levels in the conservatory they don't mind as the leaves have a defense mechanism whereby they close up and fold like butterfly wings only downwards as they do at night and then open again when it cools down.

    In Fuerteventura they stand the very strong winds and sea breezes nothing seems to phase them apart from too much water or damp. I now will experiment with how much cold they can tolerate. We shill see this winter.

    Espero que por lo menos ellos sobrevive el invierno dentro del conservatorio.

    Avisame como te vas con los tuyos este invierno porfa!

    Cuidate!

    Nath
     
  12. gurucubano

    gurucubano Active Member

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    Hola Nath,

    Entonces, ¿qué sería el tamaño ideal para un arbolito de 3 pies, en altura y diámetro? What would be the ideal size of the pot for a 3 feet tree?

    Gracias de antemano

    Matthias
     
  13. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    Hola Matthias,

    I don't know about ideal as I'm by no means an expert but mine are in 18 inch pots with the same depth mas o menos. Since I put them in these pots the growth has taken off and so i am guessing that this is because the roots now have the chance to spread out. Probablamente lorax sabes mejor que yo lo ideal medida de maseta para utilizar.

    I have found in my little experience of the trees that the smaller the pot the more restricted is the growth of the tree. Sin mas conocomiento de este tipo de arbol es dificil aconsejarte mejor. Solo se que son uno de mis favoritos arboles y siento un poco mas cerca a Mexico al verlos creciendo en mi conservatorio.

    Un Abrazo

    Nath
     
  14. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Bueno, para criarlos bien, una maceta de MINIMO MINIMO 18 pulgadas, pero preferible 24'' y más ancha que profunda si puedes conseguirlas. Algo como los que se usan para tomates grandes. The roots on even sapling Framboyan are very wide and spreading, but not terribly deep, so as long as you keep this in mind you'll be able to keep them in pots without stunting them too badly.
     
  15. gurucubano

    gurucubano Active Member

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    Hola Nath & lorax,

    I've three of the plants at home and one in my office next to me. All are sitting in front of a big window which goes to the west. I don't spray them as you adviced (I never did). At home, when it is sunny, I move the plants out to my garden and put them onto a small bank outside the window so they will get more light. In the nights the temperature goes now down below 10 degrees and I move them into my house again. The one in the office never moves. After some weeks I can now say that the plant in my office grows better. It has no yellow leaves, while two of the plants in my house nearly lost all leaves of the first branch. All have now 8-9 branches (don't know if this is the correct word in English). The picture shows the one from the office.

    I think I will just let sit the three at home also all day in the window and don't move them anymore. Comments? Thanks in advance.

    Matthias
     

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  16. aesir22

    aesir22 Active Member

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    Good point about the leaves yellowing. Mine are driving me to the brink of insanity. Every time a new branch begins, yellow leaves fall everywhere. They look happy enough and grow well, but the yellow leaves are a royal pain!!
     
  17. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Looks healthy to me too, Matthias. I'd suspect that your office tree is doing better because it's not getting disturbed the same way that your home trees are - most of the Mimosa family do better when they're left alone. I've noticed movement grumpiness even in very hardy trees like Inga edulis (guabo).
     
  18. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    A couple of things cause the leaves to turn yellow and fall off. fisrtly overwatering and keeping the compost too damp, remember that in the Canary Islands they don't get a lot of water but plenty of heat and wind. Change in temperature will do it, in some parts of the US the trees will losse their leaves during the wet mild winters and then start to grow new ones again in spring and summer, this happens in parts of florida and Texas I'm told by people who leave there. On the younger trees the first branches or lower ones are only the baby branches that will die off naturaly to allow longer newer ones to grow above. Also if the pot isnt big enough as lorax mentioned a minimum of 18 better 24 inches for root spread, otherwise they will grow up and be lanky but the lower branches will be stunted and die off. These things I have learned from growing my trees and my best is at 2 to 3 feet tall now. The one in the smallest pot had problems with leaves yellowing and falling, i transplanted it into a wider pot and it is now much happier and growing well again.
     
  19. gurucubano

    gurucubano Active Member

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    I'm planning to buy a new pot for the one in my office (which can be seen in the photo in my last message). The actual pot is 8cm high and 12cm in diameter. The foliage of the largest branches is already 30cm in diameter. I'm thinking in bying a pot of that diameter, i.e. 30cm and 20cm in hight. Any comments about this and the soil mixture to fill in? Thanks

    Matthiass
     
  20. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    Matthias,

    I just use a standard compost mixed with a mulch and they are quite happy growing in that type of soil, it is free draining and dries out quickly so you can avoid killing the roots by letting the compost get damp. I feed a bit of miracle grow once a month and have used rain water rather than tap water and they seem to be happy. As Lorax said i would get as big a pot as you have room for in circumfrance to allow the roots to spread.

    Suerte

    Nath
     
  21. gurucubano

    gurucubano Active Member

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    Nath,

    Thanks for the feeback. Another question: when I now put in the seedling into the new and bigger pot, I could put him a bit deeper into the soil, for example so that the point where it have had the two first leaves from the seed, which is now some 5cm above the soil, is on ground level. Should I? Thanks

    Matthias
     
  22. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    I wouldn't - that's asking for the stem to rot out. Sinking it in a little bit won't hurt it, but that much will be an issue.
     
  23. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    I agree with Lorax, when i repotted mine I left the roots at the same depth as in the previous pot. All of the Delonix that I have seen often have roots exposed to the air aound the spread of the trunk, they like to grow outwards rather than down. The main tap root will decide for itself how far down it wants to go so hold the plant by the stem and slowly filter the compost below the rootball until it is sitting on the fresh compost at the height of just below the rim of the pot. You should be ok then to cover over with a sprinkling of compost and firmly seat it in place.

    Parece que estos arboles pueden aguantar un poco de maltratamiento entonces no te preocupes tanto, solamente chequelo diario para averiguar que el arbol esta feliz en su nuevo ambiente y qee esta recuperando bien.

    Nath
     
  24. gurucubano

    gurucubano Active Member

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    Hello Nath & lorax,

    I've repotted the small tree from the 12cm (4.8inch) to the 30cm (11.9inch) pot and when I pull it out of the smaller pot I saw that its roots already, after only a few weeks, have had reached the border of the pot. It's amazing how fast the roots spread out. Now it has plenty much space to grow.

    Matthias
     
  25. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    Matthias now you have done that you will see how quickly the tree begins to gain hight, the more the roots can spread the taller the tree will grow. My largest one has started to get woody at the bottom of the trunk and more shape and form.

    Nath
     

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