Cinnamon Pot plant

[Emma Roid]

I was given the above as a bare root plant and have now divided it - after quite a few years - but lost three of them. Anybody know the very best conditions for this plant please?

[Lord L]

emmaroid said:

I was given the above as a bare root plant and have now divided it - after quite a few years - but lost three of them. Anybody know the very best conditions for this plant please?

I have managed to find this:

The Cinnamon tree is an evergreen which can grow up to 17m (56ft) in its natural state although trees in cultivated plantations are more often grown as bushes, no taller than 3 m (10 ft), as the stems are continually cut back to produce new stems for bark. It thrives best in a hot, wet tropical climate at low altitude and is usually ready to harvest after 3 years.

And this:

Cinnamomums prefer deep, well-drained, moist soil in order to perform their best. They hate root disturbance and should be grown in one container until they are put in their permanent place.

So it seems they need heat and humidity and leaving alone. Not the easiest of things to grow from what I can see. And if you are successful, you are going to need a tall conservatory!

[Fi]

But is it a cinnamon tree, or one of the many palants such as pelargoniums and basils that are called Cinnamon because of their smell? I can't really envisage a tree being divided. More information please Emma!

[Emma Roid]

well Fi, It does grow best in the bathroom. It does get very big very quickly but i only have the small plants in a 2" pot. It does have long roots. It is not apelargonium or basil as the leaf shape is not right, nor it's habit I think.

It produces 2 leaves on a very long stem, no lower leaves at all. It reproduces itself from the base.
It smells of cinnamon when you brush against it but you can also burn the brown stalks and it then gives of the best scent.

Thanks for your help. I have been to various garden centres here and they are nonplussed too!

The main plant is only 10" tall as i have it in an 8" pot.

Thanks

[Fi]

Then it must be a cinnamon, the needs of which are descibed by Lord L. Since the sites I could find by googling all mention it dislikes root disturbance and needs a high humidity. One also sugggested taking soft wood cuttings, again with high humidity, with bottom heat from a propagator, but also said the failure rate was high. Sorry, I know that's not very helpful. Maybe the thing to do with what you have left is to treat it with loads of TLC, but don't divide it when it gets too big - just pot it on into a bigger pot.