Good Afternoon,
I live in St. John VI and there are lots of sea grape trees here. We have none on our property, however. I found a very small one today and pulled it up, but no roots came with it. The stalk is quite green except for about 4 inches at the bottom. The whole stalk is only about 2.5 ft. What is the best way to keep this growing for our yard? Should I root it in water first or let it scab over like a cactus or stick it in dirt?
Thanks for any advice.
propagation of the sea grape
Aloha lizbd, and welcome to our forum! How lovely to have you join us from the Virgin Islands! Can you give us another name for the sea grape tree? We are all tropical nuts here and would love to hear of your life on your island...
Jenny
Hi guys,
Jenny..it's a Coccoloba uvifera
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1869/
says you can do woody cuttings..
Rj
This message was edited Dec 4, 2007 6:18 PM
Not much on the way of cuttings, but I did find this
Seagrape is salt tolerant and can be happy very close to the ocean if not overly exposed to strong winds. It wants full sun and its favorite soil is plain beach sand. Better soil, however, is appreciated as long as it is well drained
When planting from a container, add some rich soil and water faithfully until established. Thereafter, no care except pruning for desired appearance is required
This message was edited Dec 4, 2007 6:21 PM
Thanks for the link, Rj ! Very interesting. They say they grow in Hawaii, but I have never noticed them.
Okay, Lizbd, looks like you are on the right track with your cutting, good luck!
Hi everyone. This is much fun. I don't think I really got the answer I was looking for. Should I put this cutting in water to establish roots, then go to the container? I have been told down here to get the frangipane going, I just put the woody cutting in dirt. It takes a while, but will grow. The caterpillar eats all the leaves here and then turns into a butterfly. The Frangipane looks dead, but will grow new leaves.
Back to the sea grape. Thanks for the name coccoloba. That's the name of a nearby restaurant. Guess that makes sense now. I'll put the cutting in water until I hear more from one of you.
thanks so much.
liz
From what I read, you should put the cutting directly in the dirt mixing a bit of rich soil with the sand.
Yes this is the dormant season for Frangipanis. In Hawaii or at least on Kauai I noticed that they all looked black and burned around jan, feb...then sometimes start blooming without the leaves. Is that true most Islands, or did I witness a phenomenon Jenny?
rj
Frangipanis here shed leaves throughout the year, but we always seem to have a drop after Christmas. Mine are never without leaves, but I have seen some varieties that are almost leafless but covered with flowers, must be the type..It's very weird here because almost of our trees (including all the fruit trees) seem to grow new leaves and drop the old leaves at the same time so they look a little thin but not leafless.
For frangipani, we let the cutting seal for a week or so in the open air before putting in into very well draining media. They tend to rot quickly if you are too kind to them. I have some cuttings going in pots right now, but because of torential rains they are acually swimming. I am planning on pulling them out of the "soil" this morning so that the air can dry them out a bit, otherwise they will be toast. Full sun and total neglect seem to work well for us here.
Aloha!
No kidding!! I've learned that about them..don't water them, don't pay attention to them..and they seem to do well. I started putting wicks in the Frangipani pots, and they seem to like that. Bananas seem like that too. Stick them in a dry spot, and they grow like weeds.
I bet those I saw on Kauai were the frangipanis your talking about.
When I lived in Liberia the trees were the same..it's like I'd come home one day and all the leaves had just fallen off the tree like someone pressed a button, and new ones were growing.
evenin folks...i have ventured out of the u/w forum to have a sniff around....good on ya lizbd for getting sea grapes going....the leaves make great quick cover-ups after a midnight skinny dip.....just funnin....but, the leaves will cover most of you......
I have 4 plumerias (frangis) and 3 out of the 4 have new leaves, growth...inflos starting...the biggest and what i thought healthiest, has shed most of it's leaves and looks horrible.....i was told that rust doesn't effect the health or growth of the plant, just makes it look bad, but time will tell if i get new growth soon....
Cayman has so much of it's shoreline covered in seagrapes...the biggest populations of plumerias are found at the numerous cemeteries around the island....locally known as graveyard bush.....thinking of that scene....pretty flowers, lovely scent...perfect for a final resting place.....had to share that ...local custom....
forgot to mention, rjudd....you have a wonderful garden and have brought lots of fun and enjoyment to many of the DG family....keep up the good work and good luck this winter....we never worry about temp. here...just named storms heading West from the Lesser Antilles.....lucked out this year.....oh, Hurricane Season officially ended 6 days ago....tell that to the folks in Maui.....
j
Mahalo J !
Temps are one less thing to worry about there which is nice. I definately can relate to the named storms! We did luck out this year too, but Rita's foot prints are still haunting around my garden. Yet, on the side of good, it blew down a huge 100 year old pecan tree next door that really shaded the garden during the summer...
The Sea grapes look cool, now I want one!
Here's a pic of that Pecan tree. It's funny, we talked about it the night before and had all sorts of tools inside with us in case we needed to cut our way out. We almost did..The tips of those branches were literally up against the bedroom window...( I stayed in another bedroom that night).
aaaooohhh..Your the one that's our eye into the underwater gardens..! Talk about brining enjoyment to lots of DG'rs...thanks
We have a couple Sea Grapes in our yard in Vieques (two islands West of you), and currently have a problem with how many little coccoloba uvifera seedlings have sprouted in the grass from the fruit having dropped there this Fall. I am going back down in two weeks to see how I can get rid of them --shall I save you a few?
Glad to have your company, John. RJ, having seen the spot myself the devastation was really monstrous. Had no idea. Hoping all is well for Jenny today. The weather is really off balance. 81 here today and tomorrow then they say it is to be really cold. About time.
Oh for sure..save a few.. I can put it next to the Root beer plant and they can have a contest on who's leaves get bigger!..
I haven't seen anything yet - been workin in the garden.. My Castor bean in the back is laying down, almost on the garage. It is pulling up the border..Going to trim it the next few days.
Yes it's very warm today , 81F here too. Humid! It's getting cold tomorrow!!?? We stay in the warm bubble until Wednesday, then it looks like 60's and 40's...I noticed that there is some leaf dammage here and there from last weeks 34F degree temps...Now I'm buying "OFF" because the mosquitos are active from this heat!..
No mosquitos. Had to clean the filters in the pond today so was glad it was warm. Fish growing big time but not eating what I provide. Have pulled the food for now. Going to eat Vietnamese food tonight. Love Pho soup and fresh spring rolls...not fried.
mmmm... I love spring rolls too.
I have mosquito fish in the pond, plus the gold fish..but ..still can't get rid of them..I went around the garden and dumped every little cap, saucer and little folds of plastic on the mulch bags of water.
I love this weather...
Spring rolls were great. Language barrier and I got tripe in the soup. Spent a lot of time taking it out. Better luck next time.
Great use for the sea grape leaves John! Much better than a fig leaf!
Jp nice to see you back again, how is your garden doing?
Lizbd, Yokwe! Welcome! I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to read this post...I have been gone, then home but swamped. I have tons of Sea Grape on my little island. I even have one in my yard, that I BEG the maintenance folks to tear out, but they won't.
First of all, your piece can be rooted directly in the dirt, but it may take a bit of time. Easier to pull/dig up a piece with some roots already attached.
Secondly - they get huge! and spread everywhere! So be careful of that. The "grapes" grow in clusters of tiny white flowers that fall all over your yard - but are pretty while on the tree, and slightly fragrant. The "grapes" sometimes form, but not terribly often because the emerging buds are a favorite of flys. Sometimes the tree looks like it has black flowers because of all the flys hanging on the bud clusters.
Third - If you acutally get grapes, they are used most often to make a kind of jelly/jam. I don't think they are very good to eat alone, straight off the tree...very bitter. Used in traditional medicines here.
So, that is my take on Sea Grape. Very nice - somewhere else! The leaves are handy when you run out of plates at a barbque, but otherwise...I'd take just about any other kind of plant. The one in my yard is about 20' high, and spreads out at least that far...blocks out a lot of sun that my other plants would love to experience...but on the other hand it does provide lots of shade for my ferns and alocasias.
Good luck and keep us posted on life in the VI.
Yokwe,
Shari
I use rooting hormone and put in the ground or pot. Just take some clippers and clip some limbs off all pieces root. I did the same with rubber and Banyan trees just chop them up. If you happen to get a big limb like 2-4" thick leave it long and put it into a bucket and change water every 2 days for a few weeks. Remove 99% of foliage and put hormones on the bottom 12 " and sink it 12- 18" inches. As long as the ground is moist and drains good they will root almost 100%. You will have an instant big tree the second year maybe the 1st depending on growing conditions.
Jim