Jacaranda mimosifolia Seedlings

Although my Jacaranda seedlings seem to be doing well, I'm a little worried.  Some of the leaflets seem to be dropping for no apparent reason.  The weird thing is they're in the middle.  Not the old leaves, not the newest leaves, but the middle ones.  There aren't any insects, the leaves have no discolouration and they aren't dried out.  The leaflets are just dropping for no apparent reason.

This leaf drop seems to have stopped but I have no idea what was causing it?  Does anyone have experience with Jacaranda leaf drop?  Maybe I underwatered it for a bit?  Very strange and any help you can provide would be much appreciated.  This plant has gorgeous leaves and when one drops I die a little inside. :)

Brazilian Fire Tree Seedlings (Schizolobium parahybum)

This plant is said to have some of the largest compound leaves in the world and is an extremely quick grower.  I originally potted four seeds into each one gallon pot.  As soon as the first spouts came up I realized I had underestimated the size of the plants.  After about a week I already needed to split them up into their own pots.  Luckily there was no shock and the plants started growing again rapidly.

I'm really excited for these plants.  They spend the first few years looking similar to a large tree fern.  Eventually they begin to branch and grow into mature trees.  I should be able to keep them relatively small when grown in pots.  I'm just not sure if they'll keep one stem or begin branching early because of cramped roots.  The leaves in these photos are still juvenile and will become much larger with hundreds of leaflets.  I'll just have to wait and see what the future holds.

Royal Poinciana Seedlings (Delonix regia)

I transplanted my Royal Poinciana seedlings about two weeks ago.  There was no new growth for about a week as the plants put out adventurous new roots.  I didn't see any signs of shock and there was no leaf drop whatsoever.  Then about a week ago they started putting out new and even larger leaves.  I'm a huge fan of large leaved plants, and these compound leaves make the plants look even more elegant.

I have no idea if I'll ever see flowers from these plants.  In my opinion, the foliage alone is a good enough reason to grow them.  I've been in contact with a local hotel with a glass atrium that is interesting in taking a few of the seedlings.  I'll keep some for myself and try to donate others to greenhouses and garden centres.  If you'd like to swap a plant (and are reasonably close in Ontario) just let me know!

If you ever plan on growing Poinciana for indoors I would recommend choosing "Dwarf Poiciana". It's actually a completely different species but more shrub like and therefore manageable indoors.

Jacaranda Seedlings

It's been about two months since I first started soaking my Jacaranda seeds.  After three weeks I only ended up with two sprouts. I was a little disappointed that the germination rate seemed very low so I figured I'd wait a little bit longer.  After another two weeks I still didn't seen any new sprouts so I transplanted the two seedlings into larger pots.

Although they're not growing very quickly, they seem to be healthy and vigorous.  These may be the most elegant looking seedlings I've ever sprouted - the leaves are just gorgeous.  I absolutely love Jacaranda and although they won't grow in my climate they can be grown in pots rather easily.  I'll put them outside for the summer and then overwinter indoors under lights or in a greenhouse.

By the way, you may have noticed my pots are actually plastic cups.  All I did was punch a few holes in the bottom.  This way I can see how root growth is progressing and it's a lot cheaper than buying actually pots!

Empress Tree (Paulownia tomentosa) at 2 Months

The Empress Tree has a reputation for growing extremely quickly.  That being said I was a little disappointed with the growth rate of the seedlings.  They germinated within less than a week but were quite delicate and took their time developing.  At just over a month the growth rate started to pick up.  Within the last two weeks they have doubled in size!  I kept one seedling that was putting out 3 leaves at a time instead of the usual two.  Unfortunately, it seems to have reverted to the standard from though.

Although the Empress Tree should be hardy here, I decided to only leave a few outside and move these ones into the greenhouse for the summer.  They've been growing so well that I thought it might be time to transplant already.  When I checked, there were no roots growing out of the bottom of the pot.  It seems that at least as seedlings they have a much smaller roots system then expected.

I should mention that these trees become invasive in warmer climates.  This can be controlled by cutting them down every year.  Unfortunately this mean you won't be able to enjoy the lovely purple flowers.  I'll probably leave some trees to grow large and cut others down each year.  The new growth has very large leaves which can add some dramatic foliage to a garden.