Transplanting a Tree

21 years ago

I have a three year old cumaru tree (Dipteryx odorata) that I need to transplant to another spot on a lot I have here in Manaus, Brazil. I am located at approx 2 degrees south latitude in the middle of the Amazon basin. It is now the hottest time of the year, the dry season, which runs through October normally. During this time of the year rain is sporadic and the sun is quite intense. The tree is about 3.5 meters high and has a trunk diameter of about 8 CMS. It would be best to wait for the rainy season to come in Novemeber or December, but I will not be able to do this. If anyone has any advice on how to improve chances of survival of the tree while transplanting I would greatly appreaciate it. I also have a simlar age rambutan tree that needs to be moved. It is flowering now for the first time.

Thanks for any help.

dk

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Comments (2)

fawnridge (Ricky)
21 years ago
dk - Your trees can probably be easily moved with little fear of loss if you follow several simple rules for transplanting.

1. Root prune first. Dig a trench around 30cm out from the trunk of each tree. Dig down at least 40cm. Refill the trench with most of the soil you remove. Don't pack it down too hard, best to water it down. Wait at least a month, if you can. If you can't you must wait at least 2 weeks.

2. Dig the new hole before you remove the tree. Be ready to put it right back in the ground in the new location. Dig the new hole twice as big as the size of the trench.

3. Plant the tree high in the new location. It will settle some but it's always better to plant high than low.

4. Put the tree in the hole. Be careful to dig the entire root ball, water it in from the bottom to get out all the air bubbles. Backfill with a mixture of good topsoil if the original soil is not that good.

Your Cumaru tree is in the family Fabaceae - pea pods. They need lots of water to grow roots and minimal water to flower and fruit. You need to grow roots. If the tree blooms, and it probably will, let it. But don't let it waste the energy to grow fruit.

Water it twice a day for the first week and then once a day in the early morning before full sunrise for at least a month or two.

If you have any old seeds I would love some to try and grow the tree in South Florida zone 10a. Please send me an e-mail and I'll send you a SASE.
amazondk
Original Author
21 years ago
Thank you for the advice. I will follow your instructions, in fact I can probably leave the tree in the spot for two months after root pruning. I should be able to get you some cumaru seeds with little problem when in season. I am involved in a forest management project in the interior of our state and we are buying some rather large areas of forest with good populations of cumaru. The tree here can be found both in primary forests and secondary forests. I had a house in Fort Lauderdale until January of this year and in fact brought quite a bit of plant material in for the yard on trips back and forth to Brazil. I get back to Florida at least a few times a year and will bring you some seeds. If not I could send them. The tree I have is really a pretty attractive specimen.

Thanks again. dk
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