Baobab Seedling

Description

A friend brought baobab seeds back from Africa to see if we could grow them here — turns out we can! These gorgeous seedlings are about 10 inches tall in pots that are five inches deep with super-solid root systems. Known as “The Tree of Life” in their native Africa, their large bulbous roots and trunks store water during times of drought; their leaves are edible and a giant fruit contains liquid that makes a refreshing drink. Along with their traditional values, baobab trees are often used in bonsai plantings because their notable drought tolerance makes them easy to grow, even for beginners.
And they’re a great choice for young gardeners. When I described the seedlings to two young men, they responded with “Rafaki’s tree — we know that plant!”

Growing directions:
First I have to say that I strongly disagree with at least three reports on baobab trees. To start with, some reports say they’re slow-growing. We sell seedlings that are about 12 inches tall but less than three months old. That’s incredibly fast for most trees. (Other reports say that they start fruiting at about three years old, which is truly amazing even for a tropical tree.)
Then, a second report notes that they need to be protected when temperatures drop below 54 degrees. This batch of seedlings came from seeds we got from Senegal earlier this year, but we’ve grown them before. A neighbor shared two dozen seeds more than five years ago. They weren’t grown in the protected area of our greenhouse (which we only heat to keep above freezing) and they were fine for at least three winters before I gave the rest of them away. I wasn’t carefully tracking temperatures, but I know we had at least one night of 27 degrees while we had them.
The literature also says to be careful of overwatering but they’ve come through Florida’s rainy season with no problems. Overwatering may be an issue if it goes on all year, particularly in the winter when they go dormant, but it hasn’t been an issue here.
All that said, I think that baobab trees should be very easy to grow for most gardeners who can give them six hours of sunlight a day and protect them from temperatures below freezing. We’ve fertilized these trees at three months with an organic 3-3-3 because some of their lower leaves were turning yellow but I’m not sure how necessary it was.
We’ve never done bonsai because it’s usually very time-consuming to take care of big trees in small pots, but those directions look easy. The fact that they tolerate long periods of drought also means that they don’t need water daily. (Watch your email next summer – we may try to ship bonsai baobabs.)