Manihot grahamii

[WSimpson]

Often my Manihot grahamii plants dies back to the ground and comes back the next spring ,  but  I've had 3 mild winters in a row with the lowest temperature for those 3 years being 16F . Evidently Manihot grahamii trunks are hardy at 16F . Much of the more tender thinner trunk sections  do die back some , but the thicker trunk parts  of the plant  have survived , getting bigger every year . In the picture it is just starting to grow fast for the season . It will get huge fast . I do prune it some to keep it from sharing my Sabal Birmingham to the right and that Trachy behind it .

Will

 

Mekong Giants huge too .

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by Will Simpson

[BeyondTheGarden]

Last fall I received some small M grahamii which died to the ground in our bad winter.  They have yet to show signs of life this spring.  However I also received a couple of hardwood cuttings which did nothing last year but are now pushing new growth.  I also started some from seeds.  They had good initial germination rates but many of them died while very small for no apparent reason.  My seedlings seem quite intolerant of hot light.  

They're beautiful plants/shrubs/trees and I'm looking forward to having some in the garden this year, and hopefully hereafter. 

[Chester B]

I ended up getting two seedlings and a bunch of cuttings.  The seedlings are both alive and so far only the thickest cutting is producing leaves.  Some of the other cuttings definitely look like they've died back.  Even if I get 1 or 2 to survive to a decent sized I'll be very happy.

[DAVEinMB]

@Will Simpson I've just started messing around with these. Do they stay evergreen if they aren't zapped to the ground or do they act as a perennial?

[BeyondTheGarden]

I started 6 or 8 from seed a couple months ago, they all started putting  out radicles but only 2 made it to aerial growth. 

The lone survivor has this problem, the new leaves look good but soon shrivel up.  I had it in the high humidity growbox then moved it out, its been under a weak growlight, now its in heavy shade..   not sure why this condition exists. From everything I can find online these should be quite problem free.