How long before uncarina grandidieri flowers?

[Spi]

Hi-

I purchased a 5 inch tall(12.5cm) uncarina grandidieri a year ago. It is now a 40 inch tall beautiful plant. It did not flower this summer. I am wondering if this is something that I am doing wrong or if it takes a number of years before flowering starts. If you have experience, please let me know. Thanks.

[crimedog33707]

If you live in a place like I do(Florida),
Put it in the ground like I did.
It will quickly grow into a magnificent bonsai like tree that blooms regularly.
But watch out for those seed pods if you have dogs.
They get into the fur and have to cut it out with scissors

[Stan]

They flower small. If it did not...it needs more light and warmth.
The pods are vicious. They are equal to Jumping Cholla and when removed..leave a hurt that lasts for a while. I pick mine off while still green and rubbery. In ground? I would put a fence around it to keep pets away. I mean,in ground those hundreds of blooms would make too many pods to keep track of.
Why do so many great plants have a downside?

[Spi]

I’m in Chicago. It is in a container. I can’t put it in the ground. I brought it in for the winter and it has lost all leaves. I am watering every two weeks now too avoid it drying out too much. Do u guys fertilize your plants in the spring/summer? Mine was 5” tall from seed when I got it. It grew a ton in a year. I’m wondering if I’m not providing the needed care?

[BronxFatty]

I'm growing U. grandidieri in southern-Florida. I planted the small 3/4" diameter tree, in ground about 5 years ago. It flowered within a few months and has never stopped flowering. The main trunk is now as thick as my leg, and I had to severely cut back the sprawling branches to keep the tree under control and within the allotted growing space. It flowers profusely in the Florida sun and heat.

The second tree, a much smaller tree....U. peltata, is growing in Zone 7-b up in New York City in a large container. It is now about 40 inches high and has a one inch trunk above a caudex the size of a small sweet potato. The substrate is a very quick draining gritty mix. It flowers each summer, but it does go dormant from October, until the following April-May. When in full growth, it grows fast....and, also flowers. The growth in NYC doesn't even come close to the tree that's growing in Florida. My NYC tree will take years to reach the size of the Florida tree. In ground trees grow much faster than any containerized trees.

Your growing conditions in Chicago are probably very similar to my growing conditions: short-hot-humid summers, sweltering sun, heat, then quickly morphing into cooler Autumn...then long, dark winters. Growing season is gone in a flash, and plants barely get started. My plants spend more time in dormancy than when they are actively growing. It's frustrating.

I grow all my caudex trees on my back deck, in full blazing sun, and give supplemental water only if needed. The frequent rainy weather is usually enough, unless the tress get stressed from the intolerable heat.

My Uncarina goes into quiescence around October/November. All the leaves drop off and then the tree is moved into the warm house when night temps drop below 50 degrees. I give the tree very little water over the winter months, but just enough to keep the tree hydrated. I keep the tree in full bright light, and lightly mist the branches occasionally. I have a small fan blowing over all my dormant fat plants to keep the air moving and to quickly dry off the occasional misting.

I keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. I breath a sigh of relief each Spring when new leaves sprout.

Good luck with your plant. Give it heat, full sun, some ferts when actively growing and gritty, quick-draining substrate. keep the roots cool/shaded...leafy tops in full sun for more flowers.

[Spi]

Thank you very much for this post! It is much appreciated. I do keep it in full sun from the time night time temps are 50 or above until the same time in fall. This usually is mid to late may up to mid to late october. I water my plant once or twice a week depending on temp and also it gets all the rain in the season.

The problem is the canopy is like a big umbrella. It definitely blocks a great deal of rain. So, i water at least once a week. I was lucky enough to put the little 5" plant into a 10 gallon pot when I first got it. In 10 months, it was starting to get potbound! Ive never seen such a thing. So now this year when it breaks dormancy I will go to a 15 gallon pot.

Does It sounds like watering every two weeks in the winters (indoors) is too much?

I think i will try to promote flowering this year by using more bone meal and limiting nitrogen severely. It seems to have no problem growing! Does this sounds ideal?

Would you guys chop the leader to allow the plant to branch out? Since this is my first uncarina, I dont know if this would be a bad idea. Will this ruin the future structure of the plant? Or might it actually help to get a nicer specimen?

Sorry about all the questions! Trying to learn.

[BronxFatty]

Spi:

Your growing conditions, like mine, are what they are. We make the best of what we get. NYC and Chicago are not ideal conditions, no matter what we would like to think. Neither location is like Madagascar, so we celebrate whatever little triumphs come out way. At least Uncarinas respond to favorable growing conditions with plenty of flowers.

That said....keep the plant warm and minimally hydrated while quiescent/dormant. If the plant is in a dark-ish area, with poor light, chilly temps...mist the plant and substrate instead of dousing the roots with water. Keep air circulating around the plant to dry off extra moisture after misting. Most caudex-forming plants will continue to synthesize food within the greenish trunks and branches, reacting to sunlight even though they have no leaves. Leaves are a burden to support in poor growing conditions, so the plant sheds the extra vegetation until better growing conditions arrive with the warmer weather. Forcing water storing plants into out-of-season growth weakens the plant and may also lead to rotting roots. That's not a good thing. Warmer weather and plenty of sun will lead to explosive growth and flowering. Fertilize (weakly) with a slow release formula and water containerized plant when leaves flag. Make sure substrate is VERY quick draining and not loaded with goopy peat moss. Gritty, Bonsai soils will work, too. Substrate should be very gritty and filled with air....water should pour through and out the drainage holes.

The leafy canopy will divert rains away from the container. Water the plant (when in active growth) if you think the plant needs watering. Keep the plant in full sun, and yes....you can cut the plant back to induce side branching. Cut the plant back to where you want branches to sprout. I'd do this when plants have started to push out new Spring leaves. In a few weeks plants will start branching. Pinch out all unwanted branches and direct growth to where you want it. be proactive when shaping the future tree....or let Nature do its thing and cut the plant beck when there's too much branching. Either way...you have to intervene at some point. However, containerized plants are usually kept in check by restricted roots, anyway.

Good luck with your Uncarina. Under the right conditions it's a very easy, dynamic, and beautiful plant to grow....unlike some other caudex plants which tend to be meh, when not in flower.

A nice, heated greenhouse would help. Maybe in my next life......

[Spi]

ok should i move it out of my stairway, which can get as low as high 40's/low50's during the night? Should i bring it into normal home temperature?

I have watered way too much already then. I have been watering fairly well every two weeks for like 6 weeks now. Hard to believe that misting the plant will do anything.

[BronxFatty]

Hi Spi...

I think I might have misunderstood. If your plant is dormant.....give the plant just enough water to keep it from total desiccation. Uncarinas can store water in their fleshy, juicy trunks and branches. If you have a brighter, warmer alternative to your cool stairway, keep the plant there. Uncarinas a lovers of light....when in active growth, with leaves....but you can keep the plant bright and dormant by cutting back on the watering. As I mentioned, I mist all my caudex plants, including the substrate with warm water. Generously mist the substrate, and surface moisture will migrate towards the roots and keep the plant humidified. Don't go overboard with the watering. You'll either fool the plants into sprouting leaves, or you might rot the roots if the substrate hold to much moisture.

My containerized Uncraina is growing in a substrate that is mostly very coarse grit, small pebbles, 1/4" chunks of pine bark, and very little organics. The substrate hold very little moisture. However...if you want to know what's going on moisture-wise at the roots shove a Chinese bamboo chopstick down into the substrate and leave it there. When you want to know if the plant can use water, pull out the chopstick and touch the chopstick to your chin or inside wrist area. If the chopstick is cool to the touch, there's water/humidity near the roots....and don't water if the chopstick feels clammy. I use cheater chopsticks in all my containerized plants. You'll be surprised that it's so easy to think the plant needs water when the roots are actually surrounded with moisture.

Winter is the real challenge for us warm plant growers- who live in cold, dark, areas. The only southern exposure window in my house is over the kitchen sink. My large plants will never fit on the windowsill. So I set up growing area in my bedroom. My plants, even though leafless and dormant, are grown at 65*F-68*F and are under high intensity CFL lights 5,500 Kelvin (Daylight) bulbs. I have the bulbs hanging down and around all the caudex trunks and at the same height. The high intensity light washes over all the thickened, photosynthetic trunks, to encourage food production while plants are in a "dormant" or quiescent state. The lights go on early in the morning and go off when I go to bed around 12:00PM. Is this set-up ideal? Hell no! But it's the best I can do under my conditions. Some light is better than no light. So far the plants have survived now, for over 7 years, but all my plants would absolutely do much better if I have the luxury of living in a sunny, Floridian climate. But I don't. So, I pray a lot. So far, so good.

[Geneaz]

Would you guys chop the leader to allow the plant to branch out? Since this is my first uncarina, I dont know if this would be a bad idea. Will this ruin the future structure of the plant? Or might it actually help to get a nicer specimen?

I think I'd wait till spring when the plant starts to grow actively, then cut that main stem.

[Spi]

Would you guys chop the leader to allow the plant to branch out? Since this is my first uncarina, I dont know if this would be a bad idea. Will this ruin the future structure of the plant? Or might it actually help to get a nicer specimen?

I think I'd wait till spring when the plant starts to grow actively, then cut that main stem.

I would not do it in dormancy

[Spi]

Is it much harder for the plant to survive dormancy with a low level of light and temps between 50-65 degrees?