Someone once asked me why I plant baobab seeds as I will never have the privilege to to see them as bonsai. You see, a baobab is considered to be a seedling up until the age of 5 years.  That is when they “grow” the fastest at around 500 – 800mm per year.  A baobab is only considered to be an adult when it is 80 years or older.  At 53, I do not have 80 years or so. So you see, why I have to cheat?

A few years ago, I experimented with a few baobabs by planting them in the garden in our soak pit.  (For those of you who do not know what a soak pit is, it is a hole in the ground where your flushed toilet water runs into and a whole lot of nunus take over and do their job). Far more environmentally friendly than a sewerage farm. I think.

In any case, I tried various methods on 5 and left one as the “control”.  I managed to grow one from 10mm circumference to 350mm in 3 years.  It was blown over during a storm and I cut it up in 7 pieces. Two grew and one is evidence that you can grow a baobab from a cutting.  Baobabs have ONE enemy and that is water.  It will die if it gets too much. I find that after 2 years, the baobabs are very hardy and I water them every day.  The ones in tubs are not really getting bigger, so today, I planted a whole lot of 1 year old seedlings in the soak pit again. And I am going to forget about them.  Here’s to hoping getting the same results and not to fiddle until they get blown over again.

Why do I plant baobabs from seed? Because I am ever the hopeful! When I started out in 2011

 

 In 2014 when a storm blew over my 4 meter baobab

 The same piece as above but the ants hollowed it out.

 In 2016. I still need to work on the taper.

 The “cutting” in 2016.  It lacks the bottled shape taper, but I am working on that.