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ichoudhury

Pruning Tropical Plant in an unTropical place

ichoudhury
12 years ago

:-D

Well, I have

-1 Bougainvillea

-1 Night Blooming Jasmine

-2 Eucalyptus Gunnii

-1 Eucalyptus Citriodora

-2 Olive (European)

-1 Arbequina Olive

-2 Feijoda

What can I say, I live in the wrong State :-p

So I got them off of Ebay and other places mostly this year around Spring and they've been on the ground (except those Eucalyptus and the Olives (Bonsai). I have been taking care of them well as they have grown very well.

This is almost September and I have to prepare for the cold months ahead. So I will be transplanting all of them to the pot but was thinking about Pruning . But should I not prune now and just wait for next "End of Winter" or beginning of Spring season to do the pruning? I am not sure what would be my best move given the current scenario?

Comments (6)

  • tropicalzone7
    12 years ago

    Pot it up and only prune it if necessary in the spring. If you prune it in the fall, it might try to grow indoors during the winter and then that means that you will have tender and weak growth that wont handle the outdoor weather when they go back out for the spring.

  • ichoudhury
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the suggestion.

    Bougainvillea and Olives are just too huge ... I have to do some pruning for sure. But I definitely get your point though.

  • ichoudhury
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I ended up killing the Bougainvillea (California Gold) by pruning it too late and pruning it too harsh. I have learned my lesion since then and got another California Gold, and let it go free (no pruning near the frost season).

    I left the Night Blooming Jasmine too long and frosty got to her before I did and she became a history. I was sad because I never knew how beautiful she smelled. Anyway, I ended up getting a Arabian Tea Jasmine Plant a.k.a Maid of Orleans and oh my!! The smell will take your breath away! I will have to try everything to keep it alive!!! So no pruning before 2013 (week after the last frost day)

    Silver dollar Eucalyptus or gunnii: I have pruned those severely but they grew even vigor, so I plan to try leaving them outside (Georgia, what do you think? Some people kept them outside in Georgia, so worth the risk?)

    Eucalyptus Citriodora was pruned severely as well but I did leave a leafy branch for it to rely on. It has grown nearly 4 feet tall (Still in a pot). The places toward the base where I clipped, sort of transformed to round ball shape wood (looks kinda cool)

    -2 Olive (European) - Pruned all the new growth and this year it grew very well. I kept them in the pot (even though my initial plan was to let them field grow for thicker shape) . Both are doing very well.

    -1 Arbequina Olive - I pruned quite a bit and this year it grown quite a bit. I may just leave it alone this year since Olive usually grows on last years growth, so I might just see some olive if I leave it alone.

    -Feijoa .. since the variety I had was from eBay and no idea what type Feijoa they were, I decided to buy a NZ Graft from a reputable nursery and hopping my existing two can be pollinator for the new one. They all are field growing and I am debating weather to bring them in or leave them out. I have to think about potting while its still hot out there if I do that. Anybody growing Feijoa in 7b outside?

    I have gotten into more Tropical stuff (I've been just germinating seeds left and right (Mango, Jackfruit, guava and so on). I know they may not fruit or anything, but just trying it out.

  • subtropix
    11 years ago

    My Eucalytus globulus overwintered last winter in the ground (would not leave them containerized outside in winter). I have my olives containerized, I worry that a cold and wet winter would kill them but I also have no place to plant them in the ground--they get taken up to a cold, uninsulated attic and seem to be fine. I don't have freudian but do have the true guava (Psidium guajava), it fruited for me in NJ so don't see why the cold hardy guava you have shouldn't fruit for you! Mangos? I have a funny story there. Friend had a plant about 1.5 - 2 feet tall. I said it is definitely a mango. He said, definitely not. I didn't argue the point further. I saw he the following year and he said you were right about the mango. I asked why, he said because it fruited! Moral of story, even dinky little mangos can flower and fruit in a container. Are you sure the Night Blooming Jasmine was dead?! Mine goes into a cold garage, dies back to the soil and resprouts in the spring.

  • ichoudhury
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I left the Winter Jasmine outside (I was trying to field grow it to make the trunk thicker) but frost got to it before I could manage to transplant. It was really dried up.

    I will risk the Eucalyptus Gunnii (Silver dollar) keep those outside. Some folks in Georgia had good luck with those planted outside.

    Your friend's mango story is encouraging :))

  • subtropix
    11 years ago

    Are you referring to winter jasmine or Night Blooming jasmine (Cestrum--not a true jasmine). Cestrum can die down to the roots and will regrow and rebloom in the same season.