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Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 9:28 am
by Stone Jaguar
Greetings.

This species has a bit of a reputation for being glacially slow-growing in youth. Herein, a slightly different take. I purchased these as very small seedlings in 7.5 cm/3" plastic pots last September. I immediately repotted them in a NPK + Mg + Ca-rich, very sharply-drained, slightly alkaline medium in clay pots. They were potted up again in late January and early June of this year. Until June they were grown on my west-facing bay window, but have been outside on the deck getting direct sun for several hours a day ever since.
Dracaeana cinnabari II  (1).jpg
Dracaeana cinnabari II (1).jpg (131.65 KiB) Viewed 4798 times
Dracaena cinnabari single.jpg
Dracaena cinnabari single.jpg (132.73 KiB) Viewed 4798 times
I'm quite pleased with the development of these dracaeanas so far. They have been fed and watered fairly aggressively for their entire time with me, so they appear to respond well to forcing. For scale, both are currently in 18 cm/7" slotted clay pots. As is typical for the species, leaves are thick and very rigid so care is required not to flex the leaves since that will usually result in breakage.

Cheers,

Jay

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 11:06 am
by Spination
Nice! A plant definitely on my wish list for some time, but has eluded me. Tried some seeds, but they were bad, or it was my bad...not sure. I've got draco, but cinnabari is the real deal as far as I know.

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 7:48 am
by Agavemonger
Quite an accomplishment, Jay! :8:

This extremely rare and exceedingly unique and bizarre species is among the most special plants in the entire world.

It would be so cool to have large amounts of them in cultivation.

A truly visionary master gardener with superb down-range vision could then approach the Board of Directors of a major public park (in a relatively frost-free area, of course) with his hundred+ year plan to set dozens of these on a grid pattern on some little-used hilly slope in the park, thereby creating a Dr. Seuss wonderland for future generations.

There are a couple of even more rare giant Draceana species that are equally bizarre.

The Monger

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 8:06 am
by Spination
Agavemonger wrote:Quite an accomplishment, Jay! :8:

This extremely rare and exceedingly unique and bizarre species is among the most special plants in the entire world.

It would be so cool to have large amounts of them in cultivation.

A truly visionary master gardener with superb down-range vision could then approach the Board of Directors of a major public park (in a relatively frost-free area, of course) with his hundred+ year plan to set dozens of these on a grid pattern on some little-used hilly slope in the park, thereby creating a Dr. Seuss wonderland for future generations.

There are a couple of even more rare giant Draceana species that are equally bizarre.

The Monger
even more rare? Wow. One time.... ONCE - I was able to finally find ... and get seeds from Portugal - 4 seeds @ $5 each. That was my Jack-In-the-Beanstalk moment. :lol: Except at least Jack got his beanstalks! I got seeds that did nothing, total bust. Once or twice I've seen seedlings on Ebay - cost prohibitive from my point of view. My experience is this is one super-hard to acquire plant. To think there are even more rare, equally bizarre species is mind boggling. Those must be literally impossible to find, for a simple hobbyist fellow like me. D))

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 8:21 am
by Agavemonger
Jay:

What you are growing is the TRUE "Dragon Tree" or "Dragon's Blood" tree.

This is the species that has the REAL "Dragon's Blood".

Known as "Cinnabar" in ancient trade going back beyond the Roman trade route days, the dried red resinous sap had (and still has!) a range of traditional medicinal uses. It is known as "Emzoloh" locally in Socotra.

This species is unique to the Socotran Archipelago off the coast of Yemen, where it is, of course, endangered by both human pressure and climate change (Socotra is less and less exposed to humid winds and is drying out long-term.) :frown:

I certainly hope that we can somehow come up with a lot more seeds being germinated, leading to plants in cultivation, and get these trees established in different gardens (Think Hawaii or Tahiti (or Guatemala! ::wink:: )).

That way, in a hundred or so years, they will generate tons of seed from which to disseminate & preserve this truly exceptional species. :U :D

Here are your plants in a few hundred years:

The Monger

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 9:17 am
by Agavemonger
Spiny---

One other species that I saw a plant or two of over the years is Draceana ombet, which hails from the Eygptian deserts and possibly a few other countries.

What is so cool about these species is that they grow in unbelievably harsh environments, although they respond extremely well to talented cultivation (witness Stone Jaguar's excellent record in speedily achieving well-hardened and fast-growing plants! :8: )

I would assume that these might be frost tender; I lost an entire crop of young Draceana dracos once to about 27 degrees Fahrenheit.

These exceedingly rare species are very difficult to obtain at any price; If you get a chance to pick one up at an at all reasonable price, then jump on it!

Jay: Pot those suckers up and keep 'em speedily growing! You are doing a great job, and deserve a medal for getting these past the danger phase and well along into cultivation! D)) :U

The Monger

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 10:33 am
by Spination
Thanks for the tip Monger, I'll have to check that one out (ombet) and keep an eye open for it, although it sounds like ever coming across one would be like winning the lottery. :lol: I'd be thrilled just to find viable seeds for cinnabari!

I have dracos that I grew from seed, largest one (pampered the most) now 20" tall with lush green leaves. I think that's probably the most common and probably very easy to grow. I know that one of mine saw 26F a couple of times this last winter, and you'd never know it - looks great.

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 10:35 am
by Stan
Are those grown in the bay area or Guatemala?

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2023 10:28 am
by Tiki66
Hello Jay - was there a particular soil or types of medium you can point me to for this fast growth? I've got a 5 inch tall Cinnabari just received from overseas and I would love to increase growth rate but am also new to understanding soul types. Thanks!

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2023 12:37 pm
by Spi
Im also wondering if the limestone and calcerous media is important.

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 12:12 pm
by Elreymark
Hi, I really like these Dracaena Cinnabari plants. They are awesome. I would like to grow some of my own. Any idea where to buy seeds from the Dracaena cinnabari?

Cheers
Mark

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2024 8:23 pm
by dragonboy
Stone Jaguar wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2016 9:28 am Greetings.

This species has a bit of a reputation for being glacially slow-growing in youth. Herein, a slightly different take. I purchased these as very small seedlings in 7.5 cm/3" plastic pots last September. I immediately repotted them in a NPK + Mg + Ca-rich, very sharply-drained, slightly alkaline medium in clay pots. They were potted up again in late January and early June of this year. Until June they were grown on my west-facing bay window, but have been outside on the deck getting direct sun for several hours a day ever since.

Dracaeana cinnabari II (1).jpg

Dracaena cinnabari single.jpg

I'm quite pleased with the development of these dracaeanas so far. They have been fed and watered fairly aggressively for their entire time with me, so they appear to respond well to forcing. For scale, both are currently in 18 cm/7" slotted clay pots. As is typical for the species, leaves are thick and very rigid so care is required not to flex the leaves since that will usually result in breakage.

Cheers,

Jay
Hey Jay!

I recently got a d. cinnabari and was wondering how often you watered and how often you fertilized when you say aggressively. Also, what kind of fertilizer do you recommend? Thanks!

db

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:25 am
by Meangreen94z
dragonboy wrote: Wed Mar 27, 2024 8:23 pm
Stone Jaguar wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2016 9:28 am Greetings.

This species has a bit of a reputation for being glacially slow-growing in youth. Herein, a slightly different take. I purchased these as very small seedlings in 7.5 cm/3" plastic pots last September. I immediately repotted them in a NPK + Mg + Ca-rich, very sharply-drained, slightly alkaline medium in clay pots. They were potted up again in late January and early June of this year. Until June they were grown on my west-facing bay window, but have been outside on the deck getting direct sun for several hours a day ever since.

Dracaeana cinnabari II (1).jpg

Dracaena cinnabari single.jpg

I'm quite pleased with the development of these dracaeanas so far. They have been fed and watered fairly aggressively for their entire time with me, so they appear to respond well to forcing. For scale, both are currently in 18 cm/7" slotted clay pots. As is typical for the species, leaves are thick and very rigid so care is required not to flex the leaves since that will usually result in breakage.

Cheers,

Jay
Hey Jay!

I recently got a d. cinnabari and was wondering how often you watered and how often you fertilized when you say aggressively. Also, what kind of fertilizer do you recommend? Thanks!

db
As far as I can tell he hasn’t been on here in 6 years. I messaged him 3 years ago and he has yet to read it.

Re: Dracaena cinnabari seedling growth

Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 9:52 am
by Paul S
I believe he prefers to do his pontificating within the safety of a blog, free from any risk of interaction from us hoi polloi. :D