Neea buxifolia

Whee!
One of our good fairies (Ents?) fixed the picture.
Pot is by Nick Lenz. It is 13.5 " (34 cm) long. The rock is imported from China, several pieces of Ying Tak stone cemented together. I don't believe in permanently cementing the rock into the tray. Mine is wired in place. Other plants are two specimens of H. h. 'Iberia' and one H. h. 'Spetchley.' There is a very small mondo grass but it needs to be replaced. The pond is a reptile water dish from the pet store.
Any comments accepted.
Iris

I don't know if you're still interested or if anyone is still following this thread, but I'll post this anyways.
This tree is native and is most commonly found in the northern region of Puerto Rico. (It can be found in the east region and in the Virgin Islands, too.) The northern region gets at least 60 inches of rain per year, so this tree is used to water and sunshine. I don't know if you can use fluorescent lights only, but I think that as long that it's not for a loong period of time, it can be okay. I recognized it after looking it up on the internet, I've seen it before. It can grow wild if you let it.

This is as close as natural as I could find:


And someone mentioned Pedro Morales, here are two of his works with the Neea:



Also, I have one. It's not pretty, I haven't worked with it yet... Sorry for the quality:

I see last December I spoke too soon about this species growing slowly under lights.
<<This is as close to natural as I could find:>>
Yeehah! That is exactly what mine would do if I let them. Yes, they will go wild under fluorescent lights once established. Of course the growth is not as tight as outdoors, but they are decent if I pinch them every couple of weeks. Hah. I think they will be fine until they go outdoors the first week in May (with the orchids).
I water the top tree every day (it has muck & moss going down the rock in back). The rest get watered every two or three days. They get dilute fertilizer frequently.
Happiest tropical in my collection.
Iris

Since some trees are disappointing after being off to a good start, I am posting one more recent picture.



The only problem I found is that the two lowest trees are not yet firmly rooted. I suspect they may stay too damp or shady. I will work on that over the winter. The top tree needs to become more compact, but at least it is positioned better. You probably can't see it, but I usually show the planting with a little frog in the pond.
I have found that if you have a group planting, it is a good idea to keep one extra tree for insurance.
Iris

I have a question. Does Neea bud back often? I have a large material but the lower part has no branches or bud now. I am worried if it does not bud back on the main trunk I will have to do some grafting which I am not familiar with. Thanks.

I haven't noticed much back-budding on the trunk, but I'm the wrong one to ask. These all came as young starters that already had branches pretty much all over the trunk. There is one that doesn't, and I haven't noticed any buds lower on the trunk. Outside of that, it is a very vigorous grower, so if the trunk is thick enough, thread grafts should be easy. It has a strong tendency to grow long, whippy shoots, so there you are.
I'm still having trouble with those two weak-rooted trees.
Iris

roberthu526 wrote:I have a question. Does Neea bud back often? I have a large material but the lower part has no branches or bud now. I am worried if it does not bud back on the main trunk I will have to do some grafting which I am not familiar with. Thanks.

Since I am new, I can only share my observation.

I bought a few from PR a few months ago and they are all dug from the wild and trunk chopped. They all back budded, some almost down to the roots. Not sure if they will do the same w/o the trunk chop though. I also noticed that they sprout below any bark damage. This you can use to encourage lower branches if done properly.

Most of mine are stunted though due to shipping, repot, and cold weather. I expect them to sprout wildly this spring.

Any chance you can post a picture of your Neea?

Allow me to remind you that Indiana is not Texas, and the performance of tropicals in the North may have nothing whatever to do with their behavior in the South. And they all do much better if they are outdoors for the summer.
It is not always the case that tropicals do better in the South. I wrote a thread about my 15 year old Ficus benjamina 'TooLittle,' which does quite well for me. Somebody from Florida wrote in that he couldn't do a thing with it. So keep trying. Just remember that the North is a different planet.
Iris

Here is an update, from my recent Tu BiShevat display.



They are doing well, except the one on the right is still wobbly. I have it wired in place. Bill suggested that I plant something in the back to give it more depth, but that spot is too wet, due to frequent watering of the top tree. Nothing would grow there. I am encouraging the miniature ivy, 'Iberia,' to send a branch to the back. That's the best I can do.

Much has been written about how to grow a tree on a rock. This is the trick Yuji Yoshimura (of blessed memory) taught us. You fasten the tree in place and train the roots down a groove in the back of the rock. Cover the roots with peat muck and moss. A taproot will eventually grow down to the bottom. Here it is, essentially now a root over rock. The feeder roots are all under the rock. The root-trunk is fastened in place with a bit of wire epoxyed to the rock.



Iris