Indian Frankincense: Boswellia serrata

[dvg]

The tags on these 4 " short pots say that the seeds for these two Boswellia serrata plants were sown back on February 21, 2007.



This plant has a couple of braches poking up from beneath the soil's surface and another starting out atop of this plant's caudal-like base.


The other plant also has a swollen base with a couple of small roots heading down underground,



but is showing very little if any active green growth up above at the moment.



However, once the plants were unpotted, I was surprised to see the root systems these plants were quietly growing in their small pots.


These plants can be propagated from tubers that they produce underground - there is a small tuber in the bottom left corner of the photo below.



This tuberous root system grew to the bottom of its pot and then began to branch out.


Now when I repot them, I can take advantage of the thickened roots by raising a good portion of the root above the soil level and allowing it to convert into a fully functioning trunk.

If any one is interested in growing any of the 19 Boswellia species, I would highly recommend getting a copy of Jason Eslamieh's Cultivation of Boswellia to help with the differing in culture needs of each species.





dvg

 

[theplantman]

Nice plants. From my experience with arid plants it seems like they're growing fairly slowly and the leaves are showing deficiency symptoms. I think the problem could be that the lava rock media, while coarse enough for drainage, may not have enough CEC to hold a lot of fertility--in other words, the food is not being retained by the media and is leaching out before the plant can get it. I think a dilute feeding with every watering, especially with a bit of limestone, would jumpstart them. Or, since you plan to repot them, try mixing in some sand or anything with a smaller particle size than those lava rocks. Good luck with them though!!

 

[dvg]

Thanks for the tips Theplantman.

Of course you're right, especially with the fertilizing - something that these plants haven't seen too much of.

I've been informed by some knowledgeable growers that these plants don't appear to be B. serrata or even a Boswellia species.

So for now these are an unidentified pachycaul tree species of some kind.


dvg