How to grow and propagate the kapok flower, and how long is its flowering period?

 Many people love the kapok flower; there was even a TV drama called "Kapok Flower's Spring," and watching it, there was no need to mention the tears, they just kept flowing. So what are the methods for growing and propagating the kapok flower? And how long is the flowering period?

How to grow the kapok flower:

Kapok is a large deciduous tree that grows in tropical and subtropical regions, reaching 10-25 m in height. The base of the trunk is densely covered with knobby thorns to prevent animals from intruding.

Kapok prefers a warm, dry environment with plenty of sunlight. It is not cold-tolerant, tolerates moisture only slightly, and dislikes waterlogging. It is drought-tolerant, resistant to pollution and strong winds, deep-rooted, fast-growing, and has strong sprouting ability. The optimum growing temperature is 20—30°C, and the winter temperature should not fall below 5°C. Deep, fertile, well-drained sandy soil is most suitable.

In hot, dry areas, the flowers open before the leaves; but under monsoon forest or rainforest climate conditions, flowers and leaves may be present at the same time. During the seedling stage, keep the soil moist and apply fertilizer once a month. A certain amount of humidity is also needed during the flowering and leafing stage. Mature plants are highly drought-tolerant, and the soil should be kept slightly dry during the winter leaf-drop period.

Notes on growing the kapok flower:

Plough and remove weeds in good time and water reasonably; emphasize applying thin fertilizer frequently, with an emphasis on nitrogen fertilizer.

New shoots are often damaged by leaf beetles and geometer moth larvae and other herbivorous insects, such as alder leaf beetles and Chinese pistache geometer moth larvae.

When the damage is minor, pests can be caught and killed by hand; when the affected area is relatively large, chemical control is used: commonly 80% dichlorvos or 50% fenitrothion at 800 times dilution, 25% phosmet emulsifiable concentrate at 800-1 000 times dilution, 80% chlordimeform at 1 000 times dilution, etc.

How to propagate the kapok flower:

1. Raising seedlings

Kapok seeds mature and can be harvested from April to May, and it is generally required to sow them in the same year they are collected.

For seedling raising, broadcast sowing is used, covering with 2 cm of soil and covering the surface soil with grass. Germination begins 6-7 days after sowing. After the seedlings emerge, loosen the soil and remove weeds in good time. When the seedlings are 4-5 cm tall and have 2 or more primary leaves, they can be moved into nutrient bags; when about 40 cm tall, they can be transplanted to cultivate large seedlings. When the seedling trunk diameter reaches 1-115 cm, grafting can be carried out.

2. Grafting

In the Panzhihua area, kapok is best grafted from February to March and from June to July. From February to March, the temperature rises quickly and kapok begins to sprout and send out shoots, so grafting at this time easily survives. From April to May, the temperature is high, which easily causes the scion to dry up. June to July is the period when the rainy season is more concentrated in the Panzhihua area, and the temperature drops somewhat; grafting should avoid rainy days.

3. Scions

From mother kapok trees that have already flowered, select two-year-old current-year non-flowering branches that are robust, plump, have full buds, and are free of pests and diseases as scions. The selected scions are required to have a diameter of 0.17-1.2 cm and bud spacing of 1-2 cm. The collected scion branches should immediately have their leaves cut off to reduce water loss from the branches, and the branches should be wrapped in a wet towel and placed in a cool place; it is best to use them immediately after collecting. When the scions need to be stored for several days, their two ends can be sealed with paraffin and buried in a sand bed, covering with a sand layer 4-6 cm thick, and attention should be paid to keeping them moist and ventilated.

Method: For kapok grafting, single-bud cut grafting is better. Trials have found that no matter how many buds are left on the scion, once the first bud sprouts and sends out a shoot, the germination of the remaining buds is inhibited.

The flowering period of the kapok flower:

In spring, the whole tree is orange-red; in summer, green leaves form shade; in autumn, the branches and leaves are bleak; in winter, the branches are bare and the tree looks cold. The seasonal changes are very distinct.

The kapok flower is orange-red and blooms from March to April, flowering before the leaves grow. Its tree form has a masculine beauty. The kapok flowers are large and beautiful, and the tree posture is towering and quite attractive.

Other names for the kapok flower:

Panzhihua, red cotton tree, hero tree, Molian, red jasmine, kapok tree, red kapok, spotted mango tree, Jibei, beacon fire

That is all for the methods of growing and propagating the kapok flower and its flowering period. Hurry and plant one in front of your own small courtyard.

Detailed explanation of how to grow the kapok flower

The kapok flower, also known as Panzhihua, red kapok, and hero tree, comes from the dried flowers of the kapok plant in the Malvaceae family. The kapok tree is tall, majestic and burly, with spreading branches. Its flowers are red as blood and as large as cups. When in full bloom, the leaves have almost all fallen, and from a distance it looks like clumps of flames burning freely and leaping joyfully on the branch tips, extremely imposing. Therefore, it has always been regarded by people as a symbol of heroes. Amid the green of the mountains, it is like beacon fires burning. It is an “indicator plant” of climate, and there is a local saying: “When the red kapok blooms, warm spring has come.” In Dai love songs, girls often praise their beloved young men as tall kapok trees. Kapok is a beautiful ornamental flower; it grows leaves and blooms in spring, with large red flowers that are gorgeous and pleasing to the eye. Those gorgeous flowers dye half the sky red. The Song dynasty poet Liu Kezhuang wrote in a poem: “Several trees are red for half the sky as if dyed; the residents say they are kapok flowers.” Chen Gongyin of the Qing dynasty wrote in his Kapok Flower Song: “In the February and March days of the Yue River, thousands upon thousands of trees bloom with vermilion flowers. Like Yao shooting ten suns out of the blue sea, even more like the ten thousand torches of the Wei palace encircling the high terrace……” This describes the beautiful scene of kapok flowers blooming. Kapok is mostly distributed in the southern provinces such as Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Taiwan, China. It exists in the wild and can also be cultivated. It likes dry heat and tolerates high temperatures, and mostly grows in tropical and subtropical jungles and river valleys. From ancient times to the present, the Dai people of Xishuangbanna have made clever and full use of kapok: in ancient Chinese texts, Dai brocade is mentioned many times, made from kapok fruit floss and called “tong brocade,” famous in the Central Plains; kapok inflorescences or fibers are used as filling for pillows and bedding, very soft and comfortable; at the dining table, dishes cooked with kapok petals also appear from time to time; the flowers, bark, and roots of kapok all have medicinal value. The kapok flower has the effects of clearing heat and promoting urination, detoxifying and relieving summer heat, and stopping bleeding.

Cultivation methods

The kapok tree likes high temperatures and dryness, has strong drought tolerance, and is most suitable for planting in fertile soil. Its propagation methods are mainly seeds and cuttings. Spring and autumn rainy seasons are good seasons for sowing, and once it is growing, only a little fertilizer is needed. Because the kapok tree is tall, it is most suitable as a street tree. If you want to grow it in a pot, you can sow seeds and raise seedlings, starting from young seedlings. The cultivation site must have sufficient sunlight, ventilation, and good drainage, and only needs complete fertilizer once or twice a year. Kapok is a large deciduous tree with strong adaptability that is easy to plant and manage. It mostly grows in the south. The trunks and branches of young trees are covered with thorns, giving them strong self-defense ability and preventing damage by wild beasts and livestock. The afforestation survival rate is as high as over 80%. Generally, it flowers and fruits after five or six years, enters full flowering stage after ten years, and can continue to produce seeds for about 100 years.

Harvesting and processing

In spring, harvest the fully open flowers and dry them in the sun or in the shade for later use. When drying, spread the calyx thinly with the corolla facing downward, and after drying, turn them over and quickly dry them until completely dry. Those that are dry, bright red, strongly fragrant, and free of loose or broken petals are best. When storing, be careful not to crush the flowers, and also pay attention to moisture-proofing, avoiding light, and preventing mildew and deterioration.

How to grow the kapok flower and points to note

1. Morphological characteristics

2. Growth habits

It is not demanding about soil; both sandy soil and heavy clay soil are suitable. It likes acidic soil, is relatively drought-tolerant, and also slightly tolerant of waterlogging. Its demand for fertility is not very high. Generally, in soil with medium fertility and relatively high phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, it blooms profusely and the color is also bright; in soil with sufficient water and relatively high nitrogen fertilizer, the branches and leaves are luxuriant and it also blooms more, but the color is less bright. When planting, it is suitable to apply decomposed cake fertilizer or garbage as base fertilizer, and before flowering and during full flowering, apply additional phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. The tree shape is not very attractive, but it has sprouting ability, so in management, trunk truncation or pruning and shaping can be used to promote a fuller crown, or 3-5 plants can be planted in one place to improve the ornamental effect.

3. Species distribution

In China, it is planted in Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Kunming, Shenzhen, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, and other places. In particular, in Guangzhou and Xiamen, kapok is planted all along the streets as a street tree. Every year just after the Lantern Festival, the kapok tree begins to bloom.

4. Cultivation techniques

Cultivation methods

Cultivation of rootstock

Grafting time