Kapok, also known as hero flower, blooms in February-March every year, with a long flowering period and leaves falling in May-June, with a height of 30-40 meters. There are oblate spines on the trunk, which is also one of the typical characteristics of kapok trees. The leaves are palmately compound, alternate, with 5-7 leaflets, which are rectangular. In early spring, they bloom first and then grow leaves, and the flowers are very big, and the red petals are divided into five petals.
In the early summer of May, kapok will grow long oval fruits after falling. When summer is ripe, the pods will crack and the cotton wool in the fruit will fall with the wind. White cotton wool will fly in the air like snowflakes all over the sky, becoming another beautiful scenery.
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Growth habit of kapok;
Kapok is a tropical tree species, which likes high temperature and high humidity climate and has low cold tolerance. In case of long-term low temperature of 5 ~ 8℃, its branches suffer from freezing injury and avoid frost. In Guangzhou, Nanning and other places in southern China, it is safe to overwinter in the open field in normal years and in cold years. In the northern part of South China and even the vast areas of North China, only potted plants can be planted, and they should be moved into greenhouses or indoors in winter, and the room temperature should not be lower than 10℃.
Kapok likes light, is not resistant to shade, is resistant to hot sun and high temperature, and should be planted in sunny places. The requirements for soil are not harsh, and sand or clay can be used. It likes acidic soil, which is more drought-resistant, water-resistant and wet-resistant, and has low requirements on fertility, usually soil with medium fertility and high dosage of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer.
Kapok is lush, colorful, full of water, and the soil with high nitrogen fertilizer is lush with branches and leaves and many flowers, but the color is not bright. When planting, decomposed cake fertilizer or garbage should be applied as base fertilizer, and phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be applied before and after flowering. The shape of the tree is not beautiful, but it is budding. In management, it can be cut off or pruned to make the crown plump, or 3 ~ 5 plants can be planted in one place to improve the ornamental effect.
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