Red Obesums
This was an experiment to find out how quickly a tree will produce flowers if I did not cut the tap roots and did not up-pot after the first transplant.
Seeds sprouted May 12, 2015
June 12. Some seedlings started ramifying (producing branches).
July 9. Overdue for transplanting into individual pots…so they skipped requisite 4” pots and were placed in 5.”
Seedlings settled into their new media.
July 15. Single stem.
July 15. Multi stems. I did not cut the terminal bud to produce this, the tree ramified on its own.
September 2. Single stems – perfect root stocks for grafting.
September 2. Multi stems – will have lots of flowers due to branching.
December 12. First tree to develop a blossom at 7 months.
Restatement: “This was an experiment to find out how quickly a tree will produce flowers if I did not cut the tap roots and did not up-pot after the first transplant.”
Result: Flowers were produced quicker, at 7 months, when the tap roots were not altered and the trees were not disturbed after their first transplant. This is as compared to those trees that had altered roots and several transplants which had first blooms in the 8th month.
Note: There were flower buds on a ramified tree in the previous month, but the buds dropped due to excess rain. If not for that it would have had blossoms at 6 months old.
The seedlings had been planted in potting soil that I had amended with perlite for lots of aeration, a little Osmocote 14-14-14, and bonemeal. At transplanting, they were watered in with a transplant solution to help reduce shock.
