To say thank you to JUN and to show a few Tamarinds

Hello to All,

L.L.B,
my first attempt at an airlayer of a Tamarind, didn't work, but because you showed an interest, I tried again. Success!
Only about 2 weeks from the mother.

Additionally 2 images of my small Tamarind project. As I get more time I will add a few more images.

I thought the second tree was just about 5 years old, but it seems as though it might be closer to 10 years as of this year. The bark is beginning to flake and I am focusing on twiggy branches with a trunk closer to 5cm [ 2" ], but it is being allowed to age in that pot at it's own rate.

The third image is an attempt at creating shorter and hopefully leading to 8cm [ 3" ] specimens.
Feel free to say anything, yay or nay.
Thanks for looking.
Khaimraj

[1] An airlayer




[2] height - 30 cm [11 3/4"]   trunk - 3cm [ 1 1/4 " ]




[3] height 23 cm [ 9"] trunk - 2 cm [ 3/4"]

Nice LLB.!

Glad it works...It works here I am sure it will work to in your area as we have almost the same weather.


Now you'll have more options with your tamarind and keep the tall ones with low trunks in a more bonsai looking appearance with lower branches...Shohin size will look lovely with little fruits don't you think so?

regards,
jun

I particularly like your cascade, Khaimraj.
Jerry

Sifu,

that is just an airlayer in a pot, building a root core. Apologies for the confusion, not a cascade, don't what it will be with time.
Thanks for looking,
Khaimraj

A few more.

Had this one for a while.



This is the test for growing in a yellow clay bonded with Calcium Carbonate, and it is porous. I have added the centipede droppings to the surface, to see how the material feeds the tree. Thus far this poor tree has the least amount of leaves, but I will re-do the mix next year and send it back to a normal life.



This one will simply be defoliated, and observed to see how many branchlets I can get it to support in that pot. It will also be allowed to thicken the trunk at it's own rate. 30 cm tall. The slab covers the cut leaves being fed back into the soil. See you guys in 5 or so years.

Lucky you! I wish I could grow such species where I live...

I also particularly like the cascade, I think the particularly "aerial" feel of the leaves are at their best in this style.

Talking about cascades, this is the kind of stuff I like to listen to when I'm with my trees. Probably shows how "conventional I can be at times   :



PS: Maple Leaf Rag by the same artist is a must  Much happier, jumpier than the Sountrack of "the Sting", closer to the feel of Rev. Gary Davis's guitar version  

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:Hello to All,

L.L.B,
my first attempt at an airlayer of a Tamarind, didn't work, but because you showed an interest, I tried again. Success!
Only about 2 weeks from the mother.

do you mean these photos were taken 2 weeks after you separated them from the parent tree?

how long did you leave the air layer on the tree? i have a air layer on a tamarind tree now for about 6 weeks, i figured it would need at least 3 months so like to know your experience?

also, how far back did you air layer from the outside of the canopy? i'm air layering about 3 meters back towards the main trunk on a pretty old tree, guessing 30 to 50 years or so. i'm doing it there to get i nice thick branch (about 2") with lots of movement, but the problems its totally shaded there, so no green. i'm hoping the leaves will kick in after i separate and give it some light.

thx steve

Alain,

thanks for looking, and thank you for the music. I see the insertion of the youtube bit was okay with the Moderators.
I am afraid in school I never got past the recorder [ burn in hell vile instrument ] and writing very basic music. I wanted to learn to play the violin or the sitar, but my folks just didn't take to music lessons.
Stay Well.
Khaimraj

Steve,

yes, that airlayer is only two weeks off of the parent and in soil. I did thin out the leaves, and some fell off naturally. However, this airlayer, is from a tamarind in training as a bonsai and only 14" [ 35.5 cm ] in height. Age of the parent is close to 10 years, from seed.

We don't use firewood save for barbeques on the beach, and our mature Tamarind trees are tail and straight to just slightly wavy.

I accidentally broke the first root off, searching for signs of rooting in the moss of the airlayer. I had to wait a little longer.

On our side, the Tamarind, will gain a trunk of 3" [ 7.5 cm ] in the first year and 5 or 6" [ 12.5 to 15 cm ] by the second.
If you use the guideline of 1" to 6" [ 2.5 cm to 15 cm ] for a slender more feminine tree, or 1" to 5" [ 2.5 cm to12.5 ] you can have a basic 15" [ 38 cm ] tree for the first year and a 30" [ 76 cm ] in the second year.

Unless there is erosion around the tree, Tamarinds over here do not exhibit surface roots, but create a unique feature around the bole of expanded build up. [ I am on Trinidad in the West Indies [ Caribbean ] not Western India, by the way.]

Anyhow, what I wanted to get to was, you take take a piece of aluminium wire as found in the black cables of the telephone lines, and bend it to a shape of your imagination or off of a real branch on your tree. Then use the bent aluminium wire as guide to bending a piece of rounded iron from concrete construction [ when making low grade pillars or foundations.
Plant a Tamarind seed and place the iron in the ground next to it, using cutlass wire [ a wire you should have that is coated with probably zinc - I have seen plants from Thailand imported to over here, with the wire embedded into the trees and rusting] wrapping around the seedling as it grows to the shape of the wire.
Allow the wire to bite in slightly, but not embed, the tamarind will shed the bark for the secondary stage of it's growth [ furrowed bark.

When you reach the end of your wire, allow to grow freely. It will normally just grow straight up.

As soon as your shape is fixed, release the tree and allow it to freely grow.

You should get your girth and probably the first 3 to 6 branches. Like the Japanese black pine, the Tamarind may need only 6 branches to give it power, as appearance goes.
Wishing you the best of luck.
Khaimraj

* You may find it easier to first start off the seed /seedling in a plastic rice colander, and then place that in the ground for continued and rapid growth.

interesting, thanks for the info.

actually, since tamarind seem to grow quick in the tropics, i'm going to try an experiment. i'm going to grow about 6 or 8 seedlings in a circle around a center seedling, about 2-3cm radius. when the seedling are about 6-10" tall but still very bendy, i'll bend the outer ones in to the center to form a single trunk and wrap them around each other so they are forced to grow tangled up in each other.

so the idea is to create a root flare by pulling the young trees towards the center trunk then create a trunk flare by bending seedling trunks out at different heights to form the branches.

according to my wife who has grown a lot of tamarinds, if a tree gets full sun, lots of water and fertilizer and good soil, it should be about 1/2" to 3/4" diameter trunk in 1 year from seed. so if i have 6 trees growing together, that's a good size tree already