by Owen McKinney

This article was submitted by one of our new members. What it describes is the frustration experienced by a member who had a tree problem but didn't know what caused it and how he was determined to find a solution to that problem - ED

Recently a colleague of my wife purchased a Pithecellobium tortum, or Brazilian Raintree, from a local bonsai store "just because she liked the looks of it." She had no previous experience with bonsai trees whatsoever. Of course, to make matters worse, she lives in the Louisville, Kentucky area so that means it has to either go to a greenhouse for the winter or it must come indoors with her. My wife and I spent quite some time explaining what she needed to do to keep it alive . . . and hopefully thriving. This woman's situation was near and dear to my heart since I did exactly the same thing not long ago! It seems we are both mutually and totally enamored by the look of this type of tree, and we were just drawn to it.

The first crisis with the raintree occurred not long after it was purchased. I took it to the library where the local bonsai club meets. The club was presenting a training session that lasted about three hours. The room was quite chilly for us, and I left the plant inside the entire time. The light was rather dim, too, so when the raintree closed up, I thought it was just responding naturally to its environment. Anyway, the leaves did not open during the trip home, and it was hot and mid-day. Finally, upon arrival at home, it was returned to the spot where it had been doing so well. That evening we went out to tend to some yard chores, and discovered that the top layer of the leaves had crinkled up, but were still green. This layer eventually turned brown and died within a couple of days. The rest of the leaves throughout the tree remained healthy looking.

My brain went into crisis mode, and I started trying to find someone in the club that could help us understand what had happened. We wanted to prevent more leaves from dying. Actually, at this point we did not know for sure that they were dying. All my wife and I knew was that if it was an outdoor plant, it looked like it had been frost bitten. Anyway, one member finally suggested taking it back to the store where it was purchased. The owner was a long-time bonsai grower and dealer, who had been a part of the club for many years.

We had to wait three days before it could be returned to the store due to its operating schedule. The plant was left in the car, because the store was air conditioned. We were not taking any chances this time. The raintree was not brought in until after explaining all the details. In the end the plant was in the store approximately fifteen minutes while the owner looked it over. Along the way, all the dead leaves were removed from that top layer. He told us to take it home, put it in the same spot, and see if any new growth would occur in that area over the next week or two. It was a mystery to him as it was to everyone else.

As some may already have guessed, after this second trip into an air conditioned building, the tree once again experienced the same phenomena. The "new" top layer (after the first top layer had died off) died off. It was shriveled by evening and totally brown within a couple of days. Once again it looked like it had been frost bitten. My wife and I are long-time gardeners, and have seen frost bite countless times over the years. At the same time, though, you must understand that no leaves below the top layer were affected. This still seems strange to us and several club members. Likewise, once it was returned to its normal place on the patio, it grew like a weed, but not in the affected areas.

It was about this time that a club member was found who grows raintrees in his residence year around, and with great results. This man has a generous heart, and invited my wife and me to visit with him, along with my "baby." During that visit, we sat outside in the heat of the summer, because no more chances were being taken with air conditioning! He confirmed that the two layers worth of leaves, stems, branches, and trunk were D-E-A-D. Additionally, he was nice enough to do some beginning styling on it, too, since we did not even own any tools or wire. In fact, at this point, we were not sure that we even wanted to be involved with bonsais! Another long-time member suggested that we were too involved with this one. Having more trees was the answer! That was all. Egad, we thought. Nonetheless, while sitting there at that moment my heart was "stabbed" every time our new friend cut another major branch or trunk area from the dead portion of the tree. It hurt me more than it did the tree. That was for sure.

The rest of the summer went marvelously. The plant just grew and grew. So when fall came around, it was time to consider what to do with it when it had to be brought in for the winter. We visited our local raintree expert/friend again. We took it in for a "trimming", just like taking a child to the barber shop for a haircut. My wife carried the raintree in her lap with nearly two feet of growth on either side of the trunk! We also drove with no air conditioning in the car with the temperature in the upper 90s! My wife was not happy with this situation, but she put up with it since she was just as concerned about the plant as I was. Can you relate to plastered hair and runny mascara?

When we arrived, our dear friend had already turned off the air conditioning in his residence so that we could work on the tree inside this time. The lawn chairs around the pool that were used previously had been put up for the summer. So while we all perspired, the raintree received its much needed trimming and wiring. There were no adverse effects from this latest trip, either.

During this second visit we were able to actually take notes on what our new friend did to grow and maintain his prize winning raintrees. Discussions followed about feeding, watering, misting, lighting, and a whole lot more. We came away with pages of notes.

The next "crisis" was to fix up an area inside to receive the raintree. This was quite a circus for us. The "study" was chosen so that the raintree could be enjoyed all the time. Next came clearing a table that was loaded with piles of papers and journals and a computer. For those of you who doubt, we love this plant.

What came next was the issue of lighting. We don't have a south-looking window available, only one facing west, and none facing east. Windows are actually there, but they are not "available." In the end an area was created away from any windows, and had to totally rely on artificial light. Before anything was hung (except for my wife wanting to hang me!), a great deal of time was spent researching how much light was needed to grow such a plant. We checked the Internet, the bonsai store, local nurseries, many books, local club members, the local county extension agent's office, the library, etc. Nothing was found that told us how many lumens, lights, or whatever was needed specifically for raintrees. Information was found for some other plants, but not specifically for raintrees.

Our local expert raintree growing friend recommended a 40 watt, 2 bulb, and 4 foot long standard shop light. This being the closest specific information, we set off for the Lowe's, Home Depots, and the like in our area where we encountered a plethora of shop lights, watts, bulb length, bulb size, amount of lumens, type of bulb, specialty bulb, the different types of light being emitted, and a wide range of prices! This was another "egad!" moment. One store was kind enough to give us 3 catalogues of specialty lighting specifically for plant growth. These eventually went back to them, because we just kept going around and around in circles with them.

Eventually we purchased a $9.00 shop light that was 4 foot long, with 2 bulbs, and 40 watts. It lacked a real reflective shield that would have added more light intensity down on the plant, but it was the only 40 watt unit available. For a light bulb, a "cool white" bulb that emits 3300 lumens in the 6500 Kelvin range was chosen. We could hang this within a couple of inches above the plant to gain as many lumens as possible, and the "cool white" technology would not burn the plant like an incandescent bulb would.

As for bulbs, it was discovered that 3300 was the largest number of lumens for less expensive (as in cheap) bulbs (within our price range, anyway), but there are many specialty bulbs and light units that give off much greater light. As for lumens, we discovered that this is similar to a foot candle rating. A foot candle is the equal amount of light within a foot of the flame of a candle. A lumen on the other hand is a similar amount of light, except that you would put the sphere of light created by the light coming out equally by one foot in all directions from the candle flame into a square box just big enough to hold it. A lumen is then the amount of intensity that would fill up that box equally in all directions and corners.

Bulbs also have a Kelvin range which is the type of light given off. For example, bulbs with a Kelvin rating in the 2500 range (red and yellow) are geared for plants that have blossoms or fruit. The 6500 Kelvin bulb (blue) that we chose is specifically geared for green plants without flowers or fruit. For green plants, the one light range not needed would be the green, because green plants reflect the unusable (the green) and thus gives the appearance to our eyes as the plant being green.

The table used to hold the indoor plants is 2.5 feet deep from front to back. We divided it into quarters, and hung the shop light over the plant on the 25 yard line on a 100 "yard" table top. If that is confusing, I could say that we hung it over the line between the first and second quarters of the table starting from the back. The plant was then placed directly under the light. Unfortunately the plant still did nothing. There was no growth during the first month. Of course, my wife and I were totally upset again. What now!!!

All the resources were checked again. We wanted to see if something had been missed. In the end we could not find anything that had been missed or misunderstood. The last option seemed to be to add another shop light, and double the amount of light over the plant. This may sound simple, but I still had to get it past my wife. This was a decorated room, and "shop light" (not only one, but two now!) just did not seem to go with the décor. Naturally the first one was the hardest to get approval for, and the second was not as hard. So up it went. Ceiling hooks were the type used to hang plants or chain lights (that meant two separate "showers" of plaster dust all over everything). As for the chain, a traditional silver chain was used that was cut to length at the hardware store. "S" hooks were used to hang the chain from the ceiling hook, and to attach the shop light to the chain. There are two chains for each unit.

The second shop light was hung on the "75 yard line" of the table. The plant, itself, was then positioned on the "50 yard line" (right down the middle) with the longest limbs going out along the 50 yard line to either side. Due to the thickness of some branches, lower branches were not getting very much light with just one shop light. By placing it the way we did now, the light was now coming at an angle from both the front and the back. That placed all branches in full light. Unfortunately we still didn't get much growth. We were certainly getting more than before, but we were still not happy. With continued efforts, one of the Brussel's experts, who not only works for them, but also grows raintrees for himself, was contacted.

From the expert at Brussel's, who was very generous with his time, gave us the following tips to follow. First, it must be misted nearly every day, since the house was probably dry. Secondly, it should be watered when needed; not too much, but not too little. He waters his trees every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Thirdly, the shop lights should be on 16 hours a day seven days a week. Fourth, he provided a feeding schedule for the entire year for liquid fertilizing. Please remember that this is specifically for a raintree.

Weekly: April 15 - Oct 31
Bi-Weekly: Nov 1 - Dec 31
Monthly: Jan 1 - Feb 28
Bi-Weekly: Mar 1 - Apr 15

SuperThrive was also recommended. For the monthly and the bi-Weekly, it could be given in between the routine applications of fertilizer. If it were monthly, the fertilizer would be given one week, then two weeks later an application of SuperThrive, and finally another application of fertilizer would be given after another two weeks. For weekly fertilizations, SuperThrive could be given in the middle of the week away from the fertilization application at two week or monthly intervals. With SuperThrive and any fertilizer, one needs to set up a routine and stick with it. The plant will actually respond better than if it's haphazard. The same goes for the shop lights. Put it/them on a timer, and maintain the same hours all the time. Our raintree actually starts to anticipate the time when the lights are going out by starting to close some of its leaves. Finally, we have a monthly calendar (a month per page) in a binder that keeps track of watering and applications of fertilizers and SuperThrive. This is also in the same binder where we keep notes on all the trees, with one tree behind a different page divider.

Now that we have a plan and are working it with fertilizer, vitamins and hormones, water, misting, and light, our raintree has once again started growing like a weed. The leafy areas are filling in along the branches, and not just at the end of them. The one thing yet to be resolved is the fact that during the initial phase of getting things worked out, many of the leaves grew larger when it was in search of more light. That has stopped now, but the ones there are there. We are hoping this will resolve itself when the plant once again returns to full sun-light outdoors next spring.

We've made every possible mistake so far, except for totally killing it. We know it is said that the way to become a good bonsai artist is through killing trees, but this is one that we do not want to kill! Along the way we have purchased an assortment of wire, tools, light meter, tool box, soil, pots, small table top water fountain, a temperature and humidity gauge, etc. The "need" to buy never seems to be very far away from working with bonsais. A number of trees are in the process of becoming bonsai trees, but there is still only one raintree. To date most of the trees have been gifts, collected from the wild, or have been developed from cuttings. A humidifier was even purchased for the room, but it quit working after the first day! We are still considering getting another one, though. No need to say this to the old-timers, but a tree like this is like having a baby in the house. It is definitely high-maintenance. Finally, we are still looking for that magic number of just how many lumens it takes to successfully grow a raintree.