This is my first post here. GW was not much help so I figured I would give DG a try. This will be my first winter with Cananga odorata and I will need to bring it indoors for the few cold snaps we get here in South West LA. Some last several days so I want to provide the best indoor contitions I can. The tree is still small so space will not be an issue this year anyway. Any coments are welcome
Overwintering Cananga odorata
Hi Heavinscent, and welcome to Dave's! Canangas are fairly cold sensitive, especially while they are immature trees. The mature ones can do quite well outside in the ground in Southern California and South Florida as long as it is planted in Zone 10. Sustained temps below 40 will cause damage and even death of a small tree. I have a couple of them: one is a regular one, and one is a dwarf one. I have a portable greenhouse set up again this year, and so they both get a place in it again this year as they did last year. My big one hasn't flowered yet, but my dwarf one has. The problem with my dwarf one is that I get no scent from the flowers whatsoever. The whole tree has a kind of musky, fruity smell though, especially the leaves when they are crushed. Canangas like warmth, moisture, and humidity so the closer you can mimic that atmosphere, the better off your Cananga will be. Bright light will be helpful as well unless you are going to put it out in the daytime and bring it in at night, which would be the most ideal situation. Frequent misting while it is inside will help to keep the leaves from getting dried out. You may want to give it a good once over with a miticide/fungicide/insecticide, such as All-in-One (made by Schultz) or Neem Oil, as they tend to be prone to many different insects as well as mites. Here's a great article on Canangas: www.agroforestry.net/tti/Cananga(ylang-ylang).pdf Here's a link to PlantFiles which shows my Cananga inside the portable greenhouse: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/54369/index.html
Edited to add: the link to the article didn't work for a moment, but it looks like it works now.
This message was edited Nov 4, 2005 5:27 PM
Thank you Clare, I do plan to bring it in at night and out at night while I can. How large is you tree and how long have you had it? I just got mine and it is about 31/2 ft. I hope it will flower soon. its time for me to call it a night! good night to all!
My regular Canaga is about six or seven feet tall, and my dwarf one is about three feet tall. I've had both for a couple of years now. The regular Canangas need some maturity to flower well, but the dwarf flowers when small. I'm guessing that mine will start flowering when it is around 10-12 feet tall. These get to be enormous trees so I figure that I better find a place for it in the ground somewhere soon. I don't know how long I can keep it happy in a container. They are said to have long tap roots that don't like being disturbing when transplanting.