Ancient Medicinal Tree you Should be Growing | Frankincense

Boswellia sacra is a small tree that grows up to 20 feet tall, distinguished by peeling, papery bark prized throughout history for aromatic resin that exudes when the bark is cut. It is native to Ethiopia and Somalia in eastern Africa and to Oman and Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. Natural frankincense forests are in decline due to over-tapping and are of near-threatened status.
While it grows best in warm frost-free climates, frankincense can be grown anywhere in containers and brought inside to protect it from freezing temperatures.
Frankincense has been used for thousands of years as a source of incense. Its value as incense and healing properties (most notably anti-inflammatory) have contributed to the demand for the resin. Coupled with its limited availability, frankincense resin commands high prices.
It is rare to find frankincense trees outside of their native climate; however, I have been growing the sacred frankincense variety, Boswellia sacra, over the past 10+ years. I also grow b. neglecta in my central Arizona backyard in the US near Phoenix in zone 9B.
This video goes through the history of frankincense, its uses, how the resin is extracted, how to grow the plant, how it is propagated, and seeing 4 examples. I highly encourage growing this amazing plant no matter where in the world you live to reap its health benefits, enjoy its rich history, and help prevent this plant from becoming extinct.
Miniatree for seeds: / miniatree-garden-10005...
Cultivation of Boswellia by Jason Eslamieh - www.amazon.com...
Frankincense playlist - • Frankincense

[@thegr8stm8]

Interesting video…always interested in medicinals… like fungi they contain terpenoids… I take Boswellia in conjunction with Turmeric to help with joint inflammation… Hope you had good harvests… 🍻 John

[@LG-gw6xw]

Wow very nice.

[@edibletropicaltrees]

Thanks for all the good information. I have one Boswellia Sacra Frankincense Tree I'm growing. Just started growing this tree a little over a year ago.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

You are welcome! Did you start it from seed?

[@edibletropicaltrees]

@@EnlightenmentGarden No, I ordered a small tree online about a year and a half ago. It has several side branches, so I'm going to try and propagate a few more. I've been researching how to make the essential oils. My wife has a lot of pains and I feel Frankensteins oils might help.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

@@edibletropicaltrees It's a great natural anti-inflammatory/ant-microbial and given most diseases are correlated with inflammation, it certainly can't hurt. Best of luck with your propagation!

[@LemmingsRun]

Nice. So nice to be able to grow your own. I use frankencense resin ( purchased) in tictures and salves and in a DMSO tincture topically for arthric joint pain.

[@shashakeeleh5468]

OMG, how magnificent! I don't see how it's possible to grow them in humid conditions. I live just north of Houston in 8B and we're more humid than Florida. I have my native figs in pots and have a pretty good draining soil. They're not nearly the number of figs you have, but I love them. If you decide to sell seeds and make a video on how to start them, I'm in!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

I recall reading Jason's book, Cultivation of Boswellia, where he pointed out that it's very humid on the Arabian Peninsula where Boswellia grows and thrives. They are very adaptable plants when it comes to humidity and soil types. Figs are challenging in humid climates but sacra should do well in your climate in container culture. The channel Todd's Tropicals in FL has some good content on starting seeds. You may want to check out his channel and Miniatree for seeds. TFW!

[@shashakeeleh5468]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Thank you so much!

[@causeforchrist4730]

Awesome presentation! I love that you brought up the Biblical account in Matthew where frankincense was presented to Jesus. It must be a very special plant to be presented to the King of the world. I also reside in Zone 9B and am very interested in what you have learned as an AZ gardener.

[@TouchGrassGardening]

Hi Natasha. I love that you just put it in the ground to see if it would work in AZ because no one else had tried! Couple questions... is it deciduous? I know you said it has leaf growth primarily once monsoon season starts, but I'm curious how it looks in our winters. On the seedling, why do you think it's so much slower growing? Do you think the seedlings are true to their parent as the cutting would be? I'm resisting ordering a tree right now because we just redid our kitchen and went way over budget, but it will be on the top of my Christmas list. Thanks for this video!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks! It is an evergreen. While my 12-year-old tree is a bit bare, the others are full of leaves. In some years, this tree can invest more energy into blooming than leaves. The worst and coldest winter occurred in Jan 2019. I lost trees that year but the frankincense stayed green. You can see it at the 2 min mark in the video, "Urban Orchard Freeze Damage" where I filmed the aftermath of that winter. This tree is considered true to seed so genetically there is no difference. A cutting cheats the system because once rooted, you have effectively shaved off years it would take for a seedling to grow to that size. Best of luck and enjoy your new kitchen.

[@pibblesnbits]

Would you ship the seed pods within the US? I wanna try growing one of these trees Pretty cool!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Yes; amazing trees. The channel Todd's Tropicals in FL has some good content on starting seeds. You may want to check out his channel. I don't have any plans for selling seeds but there are quite a few sources for that in the US. I highly recommend Minatree for seeds (link is in the description of the video).

[@pibblesnbits]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Thanks!

[@jasonmaitoza6713]

Thanks for sharing! 😊 I was just curious if you can get Frankincense from other varieties like Elongata, Dioscoridis, Socotrana, Nana, etc.? Do they produce a different aroma, have different resin colors, health benefits or drawbacks? 🤔

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Glad you enjoyed it. All Boswellia species produce a gum resin with similar chemical properties, but the resin's purity, colors, and aroma differs among species. Sacra is the best-known and prized given its historical significance and resin quality and is also the hardest to germinate. Other species like nana have a high germination rate of 80%. I highly recommend the now out-of-print book, Cultivation of Boswellia by Jason Eslamieh if you want to learn more about all 19 species. I bought my first plant from Jason when his nursery Miniatree was operating. On the medicinal side, your best bet is to research peer-reviewed scientific journals for studies done on boswellia.

[@jasonmaitoza6713]

@@EnlightenmentGarden I'll try to look into it when time permits. Thank you for your insights! 😊

[@MrOrcslayer]

Have you ever kept Monastery bamboo in AZ 9b?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

No; I have never grown it. It is a very cool species of clumping bamboo. Others in the Phoenix area like Queen Creek Tropicals are and have made some videos on it.

[@MrOrcslayer]

@@EnlightenmentGarden I like the old hammii the best but they have a hard time in summer. They need two drinks a day minimum.

[@paulm965]

Ditto your comments about growing from seed. It's been a long, slow process.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Are you growing sacra? Yes via seed is the frugal choice but it takes lots of patience and time. All my plants in the ground were propagated via cuttings and would not be nearly as big if they were grown from seed. For me, it was important to get them large fast to hold up to our winters. The little 2-year-old seedling I propagated would have died out in the elements; frankincense seedlings need babying for quite a while.

[@paulm965]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Yes, the seeds are from Oman. One seedling made it through winter just fine (under a 1-gal cider jug I converted into a cloche. I've got four more seedlings coming up. I'm wondering if they're sensitive to pH...? Anyway, your trees look great!