hey BRT guys - brazzzzilian raintrees

i feel like i'm calling a help line...

"hi... i'm actually calling for a "friend" of mine...

no it's not actually me...i really am calling for a friend"

a friend has this BRT with an issue around the base of his trunk







i gave it a scrape and i dont see anything wriggling, but treated it with an insecticidal soap just in case,
in giving it a scrape. it seems to scrape away revealing what looks like relatively healthy trunk underneath (not shown)

leo thought it could be a product of the environment
(but in all fairness he was only looking at the pictures on my camera)

any additional thoughts i can pass on would be appreciated...

The bark does exfoliate. Looks to be some mineral build-up perhaps. Maybe a combination of both creating that appearance? Have you friend use his expensive toothbrush on it. But gently, like it was your gamgams dentures. Here is one to look at to remind us of summer.

Is it growing new green shoots at all? If not, watch your watering. Looks like a really moisture retentive mix. Ease back, let dry a tad. Maybe clean up the surface and try to gently disturb the soil surface with your manicure....Some more spring shot

thanksalotlancealot !

he has turned it over to me for the remainder of winter/early spring, so i will try those...

My first thought was hard water buildup, but that's laying it on pretty thick. Then I thought insecticidal oil buildup, but nahhh... again, too thickly layered. Maybe a combination of the two? Can't see if the pot is glazed or not. If not, is there a lot of hard water minerals coating/coming through the pot? Does the soil seem like it doesn't drain well enough?

My BRT, when it exfoliates, is a dry peel, and there's no wrinkling effect on the bark like this.

hey david... i dont think its either of those...
but as it is now in my care for a little while, that is something i will look into to be sure.

and yeah... i dont think its an exfoliation thing as like you said, that is a dry peel.

Keep us posted.

I've never seen anything like that on my trees. It looks so odd. I'm very curious in case it ever happens to mine.

Good luck with it!!!
Have a great weekend!!!
Sam

hey sam... i was hoping you would chime in...
except w/ an answer !

still just hoping the change in environment will do it...
that, and getting it outdoors... eventually.

The exact same thing is happening to my BRT. The tree is in full sun in Florida and is in a well draining soil. I sprayed with insecticidal soap and nothing changed. I'm going to try a weak white vinegar solution. Have you tried anything else yet or seen any change?

Cheers
Jane

HeHeHe......."dry peel"....sounds like a real invasive bikini wax procedure!! Alright, umm...just what is it I'm SUPPOSED to be looking at? White-ish looking substance a little ways up the trunk? Wrinkling? Is there a fuzzy mass at that same location? Spots on leaves? Has it been pruned since it was brought indoors? And yes, I'm doing the "Pee-Pee Dance" too!! I mean, look at all those queries, right in a row. I'm like a kid, asking all these questions....

well jane, now you have me even more stumped because i was starting to be sure that it was due to environment, that having been a basement with plenty of light, and moisture, but not enough heat... not exactly floridian conditions (btw - your location says virginia ?)

but no, i havent tried anything else yet and no changes yet... but it has only been with me for about a week or so...
and it not belonging to me makes me hesitant to try anything without the owner being involved with the decision...

any chance of you posting pics of yours ?

lance - its the stuff around the base of the trunk that looks like white-ish dried mucus or snot...
but not green snot just regular dried snot... its kinda flakey...
no wrinkling
no fuzzy-ness (like mold fuzz)
no spots on the few leaves it has
and i do not believe it was pruned since he purchased it....

and lastly - i hope you didnt make wee in your underoos !!!

that having been a basement with plenty of light, and moisture, but not enough heat...


That's a part I'll build to.

Any leaves at all? And what IS there, do they close at night and open the next morning? Are there viable, plump green buds behind fading
leaves? Just how cold was it? I remember something Leo had put forth that perhaps these tropicals we try to grow in zone five, or worse,
may just experience a sort of mock dormancy if exposed to a little northin' chill. Dormancy means water requirements decline. Thusly, ya'
water less. I say that because that soil just looks nasty, like, drownin' roots nasty!! Could be a fungal issue.

i agree re: the soil (btw - the owner is one of our guys - tedd)
and i too think it might be fungal

and yeah, what leo calls "mock dormancy" i just call the winter blues... or being mopey.

tedds tree has very few leaves on it, but there is new growth popping and they do respond to day/night the way they should (opening and closing)

mine also has very few leaves, again due to the winter blues...
this is my first winter with mine and i am not panicking, figuring it will leaf out again come later spring/summer...

I took my BRT to a local Florida bonsai grower to see if he knew what was going on with the dry white stuff on the trunk.  Thought you might want to know what he said... He said the tree was healthy and the white stuff was bark peeling, not a fungus.  Temperature aside, on the whole BRT's like a lot of light and to be kept on the drier side.  All things I was doing. As I said above, my BRT is kept in full sun so I'm glad to learn this coating is not something we cause.  Aesthetically this white stuff bothers me so I am going to work on the bark with a toothbrush. If it doesn't come off easily I'll leave it alone.  So, if your friend's tree is otherwise healthy the white stuff is nothing to worry about.


Tried to load some pictures but no matter how I orient the pic on my computer it appears sideways on this post.  Anyone else ever have this problem?  What am I doing incorrectly? Apologies for the neck pain.

BTW - My family and tropical trees spend the winter in FL.  We all spend the summer in Virginia with the deciduous trees.


Jane

Jaybirds wrote:Temperature aside, on the whole BRT's like a lot of light and to be kept on the drier side.

I disagree with the "dry" comment. Mine prefer to be on the wet side.

Personally, it doesn't look like flaking bark. Usually the bark is dry and quite sturdy and pulls off pretty easily.

I hope it's something simple like bark exfoliating but you don't have to use a brush to remove exfoliating bark. It just comes off with your fingernail.

Keep us posted

Have a great week!
Sam

Hey Jaybird, are you sure that you have a raintree? I can see the leaves are the same, but the trunk....Looks like coloring reminiscent of fig bark. Maybe this is a Texas Ebony? The bark is just really throwing me off. I've never seen bark like that on any raintree I've seen. No offence, just asking!! It's my Friday for work so I'm a little excited. Have a ripper' !!!

jane... re: the picture orientation, you need to open the pic on your computer in an editing program (any one will do, like the one already installed on your computer) and once you have rotated it, you then re-save it, replacing the original w/ the new "edited" one.

whereabouts in florida do you hang your hat in the winter ?

and this stuff on my friend's tree is definitely not exfoliating bark...
i have been slowly working it w/ a toothbrush and the bark under the gunk looks pretty close to normal...

the tree is also starting to show some buds...

i still really think it was an environmental thing... moist, plenty of light but little warmth.
now it has plenty of warmth to go with the light.

but i will be asking our mad horticulturist (leo) to take a look at it when the Milwaukee Chapter of the Arbor Arts Collective  gets together this coming saturday.



shameless plug

Regarding pics, I have found that when trying to post pics using my iPad, the orientation was subject to change and the image would come up in a random orientation. Don't know if that applies here.

Looking closer at my raintree, I did notice some horizontal lines on the trunk, much like yours. The bark on your tree is very cool and interesting. Lots of texture.

i'm posting this follow up for jane and who ever else might care...

i had leo the mad horticulturist take a look at the tree in person and after close scrutiny, his deduction was one word:

SALT

of course as we know leo, that was followed by many words

the gist of it is that, as the tree wicks up moisture, if there is salt present, it will be left behind on the surface of the bark as the water evaporates... (note he said "wicks" up as opposed to "taken up")

it then shows its presence beginning at the bottom of the trunk and working its way up...

the cause could be the soil/fertilizers being used, and/or the environmental conditions...

in jane's case = florida... salt is everywhere... 'nuff said.
in tedd's case = basement... no air circulation, cool temps, and who knows whats in the soil until he repots it.

at any rate, in its new temporary environment (full sun garden window and plenty of air circulation) it has now all been removed from the tree (scraped & toothbrushed) and the bark under it looks normal...

and the best part is that it is not dead and is now showing some new buds.