I want to monitor the growth of my little Boojum tree in this thread. When I got it the tag says Idria columnaris, and lately I have read it is now known as Foquieria columnaris.

From what I have read, it forms a nice caudex, very drought tolerant, very slow growing, summer dormant, fall active.

Initially when I got it last 06July2018, it is still in leaf. I got it from Poots Cactus Nursery. Still leafing.


The next day brought it out in part sun/shade area. Temps are quite warm to hot already, since heat wave season is at hand. So just documenting how it looked like as well as its caudex. As days go on, some leaves starting to yellow.
Caudex staying firm. I am trying to understand what kind of dormancy it does, is it similar to Adeniums and Plumerias where no watering required at all, or should I water lightly.



Went bare stemmed the rest of July, so I am witnessing its dormant stage. Finally, I read I still have to water lightly to keep the roots alive. Temps in July to early August has been so hot and dry, ranging from 95F to 105F, overnights at 60F.

By 20 August, it still looks dormant, but I see some change in color in the stem, a slight green hue, seems to be waking up, but still no new leaves. The spiky thorns have reddish hues at the base of each thorn, reminds me of cacti spines that turn red.


Temps has cooled down, we suddenly had Fall-like temps just in the low to mid 80F's, overnights at 56F to 58F.
28Aug2018
Looks like new leaves trying to form:


29Aug2018, yes! New leaves indeed! Boojum tree is awake woohoo!



Will continue to monitor as it goes. Want to see how it grows further this Fall and during Winter.

I love the pictures showing the subtle changes in your plant over time.

These plants enjoy lots and lots of sun at an young age (maybe 6 inch pot size, when you repot). In our mild climate they do not go dormant in the summer if the roots are not being cooked by the sun... I nested one pot inside another and the results were very good. I would think lots of sun is better, especially in fall/winter. You cannot provide too much light at that time of year.

You will note a change when the plant is in active growth where the top of the stem turns green. Probably around the time the plant shoots out another one of those skinny branches, this fall or winter. Like a smaller, younger version of this:



And that's when most of the stem growth occurs.

But yes these plants do well in reasonably small containers for years, presumably because they grow in cracks in the rock in nature and are adapted to small spaces (until they crack the rock or pot open).

Very nice!

I have heard 10 years for the first foot or so, after that it speeds up.

I guess what they grow is indeed a caudex, but it really just looks like conical trunk here is a pretty big one at Boyce Thompson Arboretum (given that they grow them there they must be somewhat frost hardy).



I have also read that once they have leaved out you can water them a lot as long as the soil is fast draining and dries out pretty fast. In have a 6" tall one in the ground that just put some leaves on now that it is not 110+ any more and we had some humidity come through.

Here is one at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

A container plant in an 8 inch pot... with brand new spine leaves and some green stem in late summer.



I water weekly year round. Be careful how often you water a potted cirio, especially in summer, when more is not better. I have heard horror stories of tragic late-summer meltdowns after too much water. Here we have very little actual heat so the plant never gets to dormancy, and there's probably no particular risk, but I would not want to push it. The soil goes thoroughly dry each time. As long as you are reasonably sure that's happening, water as often as the plant demands.

Thanks a lot for all the growing feedback! I really needed those! Good to know that once in leaf it can take frequent watering. So it behaves like the Adeniums and Plumerias in that sense. Good to know it can handle frost, we get those warnings on certain occasions.

So does that mean it also handles winter rains well? That is another thing I am a bit unsure at this time.

Was not really sure what pushed the dormancy in this one. When I got it, the temperature at the nursery and here in our area was the same. Maybe it hated the change in location. But on the other hand, the weeks of heat wave came one after the other, so that may have sealed the dormancy stage too.

I wonder how this one will behave by Sept. Our long range forecast suddenly showed we are going back to low to mid 90's and I saw a triple digit day on Sept. 8th..ugh! Actual Fall season seems to be coming in warmer afterwards till end of Sept...oh well! It will be October again till we get back to this nice low 80's.

The cirio loves our winter rains. It changes dramatically in appearance in a rainy winter. I think you're in a safe zone (zone 9b is the limit I think), just try to avoid the combination of cold and wet if you can. In habitat (as is true here and maybe up to where you are) these plants get most of their rain from December through March, plus regular storms during hurricane season.

You are most likely going to see your first new branch starting late fall or winter, about the time the rainy season starts.

Fouquierias in general are pretty finicky about conditions, changes as simple as the move and car ride from the nursery to your home might have made it decide to take a break and drop its leaves.

Good to know it likes winter rains! What is the lowest temp they get usually. Sometimes we get into 20F here in January. Last year was nice though, we only went down to 30F.

It would be excellent if you could share some pictures during that time. I'm curious to see how it progresses.

I would not water a cirio like a Plumeria or Pachypodium or Adenium. Maybe if you've got warm, dry conditions you would need to water more often. But no more often than your run of the mill succulent.

I also have an ocotillo seedling (F. splendens) and that one I water twice as often, actually. It is always in leaf and maybe a quarter the time in growth.

But the cirio is on my regular watering plan, which works for most succulents. My goal is for the soil to go dry each time.

Whether a cirio drops all its leaves in summer or not is really not informative about anything. You can call that dormancy but some dormant cirios don't drop all their leaves. I think the stem is photosynthetic (fresh stem certainly is) so there is never a total shutdown. Here in our mild climate.

I've had it go both ways (leafy or not at the end of summer) and the outcome in late fall was just the same when the plant woke up. The signs of active growth (short red branches with the spine leaves, the green area at the top of the stem) are much more meaningful, in terms of its growth state. Plants in the ground behave sort of differently, to be sure, and are much more forgiving overall. But the container cirios are more in active growth or not, rather than in leaf or not. That's the way I look at the situation anyway. To the extent it changes my behavior at all. Mother nature shows up with winter storms to take care of business.

Thanks for the info Baja. Yes, I am still trying to see what watering frequency it should get here. I like that it will be actively growing in winter. Just when some of my succulents go dormant, it will be my focus of attention this cold season.

Just an early September update, after a cool down, we are back in the low to mid 90F's. Boojum tree definitely awake, leaves much more visible now and growing nicely.

Fall is here and with it a new crop of leaves... still no new branches, though. Maybe after it rains.



Hope your plant is gearing up along similar lines.

My boojum tree is doing well now in Fall, actively growing new leaves, enjoying the cool mornings and warm afternoons. At least it is now reassuring to know that over here it will rest during the long hot summer and just come back once temps cool down in Fall.

So this October, daytime highs at the low 80F's and overnights going 49F to 53F. Just noting down temps and conditions, for my reference. Still very dry as always, humidity during the day around 12% to 30%. Early mornings increased humidity is nice, at least it manages to go back to 60%. Succulents and other drought tolerant plants are relishing it nicely.

Hi guys, I have Fouquieria Macdouglii, Diguetii, and Splendens that I have grown from seed. They are definitely putting on more growth in these cooler temps. I just recently picked up Fouquieria Purpusii, but it hasn't put out any new growth yet.

Any chance of pictures? I'm curious.

A couple of pages here about Fouquieria care from an expert grower....

https://plantsforthesouthwest....
https://plantsforthesouthwest....

Baja_Costero said:Any chance of pictures? I'm curious.

Sure here's most of them. Not shown are the F. Splendens. Macdouglii in the rear, Diguetii in the front. Purpusii on the rear right.

Very nice set of very unusual plants!

You have a nice collection there Dee!