Lorax7 Monkeypod #1 progression

[Lorax7]

I’ve had this tree for a while, but apparently I’d never gotten around to creating a progression thread for it. Started from seed in fall of 2017, but I don’t have photos going back that far. Here it is in July 2021:


September 2021 (white patches are cold damage, I believe — I’ve come to regard this as the most cold sensitive of my tropicals and it is now the first tree that comes indoors in the fall):



May 2022:


August 2022:


This is what it looks like today. I did a trunk chop about 2 weeks ago:

 

[Lorax7]

It appears that this species may have some sensitivity to Neem oil. I applied Neem oil in the evening to some of my tropicals to prophylactically reduce insect populations before the plants come indoors in the next month or so when nighttime temperatures start to get down into the low 50s (Fahrenheit). A couple of days later, I noticed some of the leaves had turned white at the margins. In the past, that symptom has appeared when nighttime temperatures got down below 50, but it’s been too warm lately. So, that cause is ruled out as a possibility for this particular instance of leaf damage. The timing suggests that the tree may be particularly sensitive to Neem oil, although this is anecdotal since it’s only occurred once. The cutting taken from this tree earlier this summer was not sprayed and does not exhibit the white spots on its leaves. I plan to avoid future application of Neem oil to this tree and will try horticultural dormant spray (mineral oil) instead to see if that’s better.