Grow baobab in our climate

Fans of The Little Prince know this iconic tree very well and while the Little Prince (by Antoine Marie Roger de Saint-Exupéry) had to protect his planet from baobab seeds, we shall show you how to sow baobab seeds. Baobab is a huge tree that comes from Africa. The typical feature is its massive trunk with a small crown. It is not a frost-resistant at all so, if you want to grow it in Europe you need to do it indoors. But that is not a bad thing.

Introducing Baobab

Adansonia digitata belongs to the Bombaceae family. It is a rather small family and consists of only a few representatives. The common feature is a massive trunk and a high crown, which is made up of strong, short branches. Baobab is a though tree and can cope with extreme heat during the day and cold temperatures at night, but frost would kill it. You need to grow it as a houseplant and shape it as a bonsai tree.

Photo: Pixabay

Growing from seeds

Baobab is easily grown from seeds. Check purchased seeds before sowing. They cannot have dried pericarp. If you see it, remove it. If you leave pericap on seeds you may have a problem with a mould later and you do not want that. Most purchased seeds should be clean and ready for sowing.

Speed up germination

There are two methods that you can apply to accelerate germination. The first method is to break the hard shells of seeds. You can do this with a knife or a file. Work very carefully. Do not hurt yourself and make sure you do not cut the seed all the way through. The second method is soaking. Soak seeds in lukewarm water for two days. A good idea is to change the water every day. Soaked seeds will germinate much sooner – three or four weeks after planting.

Sowing

Sow seeds in a sterile substrate. The easiest way is to purchase a sterilized substrate in a garden store. If you did not, you may sterilize the substrate in a microwave oven. Sow in a sterile substrate and keep it moist from that moment on. The substrate must never dry out completely. Once the seeds germinate, the plant grows quite quickly. After some time, you need to transplant into a deeper container. Create a drainage layer at the bottom and fill the rest with a loamy soil (mix two parts of substrate designed for houseplants with one part of coarse sand).

Wintering

Do not water in winter. Move it to a room where the temperature is maintained at around 20 °C. After you move the plant it may lose its leaves, but do not worry. It is all good. The plant simply tells you do not water me anymore. Leaves will grow in spring again of course.

Source: https://www.osiva-semena.cz/blog/139_africke-baobaby-ze-semen.html

Preview photo: Pixabay