Old (relatively) Baobab Bonsai maintenence

I have two questions and am hoping that I will receive some helpful answers:

1. I have been entrusted with looking after my Father's Baobab bonsai after he was forced to leave Zimbabwe for the UK about 5 years ago. He grew it from a seed he picked up around 1982, so it is now approximately 30 years old.

I know I should be re-potting it at some stage but am terrified that I will kill it!

I would appreciate any advice/pointers on how I should go about this and at what time of year (and also how often I should do this).

2. I would like to start some new Baobab bonsais and have quite a number of seeds which I collected late last year.

I have tried to germinate a number of these but have had no success - what is the best way to do this?

Thank you in advance.

..mmmm Zimbabwe...But you are sitting in the Heart of Baobab country. Wonderfull. Is there any people left in ZIM? They all seem to be here! hihihihihihihi, fantastic workers!

How long has the tree been in the same pot?
How healthy is it?
Does it have a lot of leaves on?
How big is the pot?

If it is healthy, you can do it now, we've got about 5 months till winter, so there is plenty of time for it to grow still. Not a good time to trim the roots though. There is a good change for rootrot. If you do trim, then dust with lime sulfur, and rest the tree for 72 hours in dry soil. But the tree must be healthy.

The best is to wait till the coming spring, in September. When its still slumbering.

But cant we see a pic?

Love and light
Andre

Hi Andre - thank you for your reply.

I no longer live in Zimbabwe (yes, we are scattered around the World) but fairly close by and still in the heart of baobab country

The tree is still very healthy, as far as I can tell, it has lots of leaves at the moment and had been in the same pot for at least 7 years. I will 'try' to upload a photo.

"Limbikani"

This photo was taken last year in about June/July - I will take some over the next day or so and post one or two at a later date.

An interesting aside - this tree is around 30 years old yet still has it's 'baby' leaves. I'm thinking it will never grow up!

Wow Great ...that is an awesome Baobab Zim! and it looks like one in the field in central Africa!

You defianately need to repot it! Poor tree, seven years you say! Can you iagine how quikly that soil can became depleted from nutrients and minerals in such a small pot!

Wait till spring...September. when it just starts to bud, lift it, trim the roots, dust with a fungicide and wait 72 hours before repotting. I doubt that there will be many roots, so go easy, just the tips. Get a nicer pot and add Bonemeal to your soilmix, thats what I will do.

Does anyone have a great idea for a pot for this stunning tree of ZIM?

Hi nice tree.

Another Zimbo here scattered around the world. Where did you guys live?