Seed to Harvest! (A. Acuminata/A.Floribunda)

[floribunda]

Hey everyone,

I am new around here but have been lurking around for a while. I wanted to make this post in the 'The Ethnobotanical Garden ' section but I am unable to post in their yet.

I just have a couple of questions that I am hoping you could answer for me in regards to growing Acacia plants.

1: I live in the north island of NZ where the temp never drops below -1C and never gets hotter than 30C. Do you think this temperature would be suitable for growing A.Acuminata?

2: Currently I do not own a piece of land to plant on but am able to keep potted plants (large pots!). Is it possible to grow A.Acuminata big enough in pots to be able to get enough plant material to extract from (phyllodes)?

3: Lastly how many years does it take before you can take 100gm+ of phyllodes off a plant without damaging it? Or maybe how large does a tree need to be before you can safely take phyllodes off it? 1m tall?

Sorry if these sound like newbie questions. I appreciate you help!

If this should be posted elsewhere then please let me know!

Thanks in advance for your answers...

 

[floribunda]

Anyone?!? I know there are a lot of people on here that have great experience growing A.Acuminata!

 

[fathomlessness]

There were lots of Floribundas where I used to live, they grow pretty slow, like years, in maybe a decade or two you might have some sustainable bark to harvest the whole tree and you could probably pull 1kg of dried leaves every two years without hurting it too much if it was over 3m high as a rough estimate but maybe less in a cold climate. 1m plants barley have any leaves on them...

I would try and find another source, or even move somewhere where there is a source if its that important. just don't import MHRB like that other poor nz guy Stuff

 

[nen888]

^..it is true that such acacia species are very slow in the wild..they only grow when it rains..
this is why the damage done by wild harvesting is all the more sad and disturbing..

BUT, in cultivation, in good conditions with regular water, many acacias can grow quite fast..

in cultivation, A. floribunda or A. acuminata can be grown to up to 1-2 meters in 2 years from seed..
they will tolerate down to at least minus-6 degrees C..
at that height phyllodes and twigs can be carefully removed, allowing the tree to grow on..
but they will grow their fastest once established in the ground..while they can be grown in large tubs, this will eventually limit the size they can reach due to the restriction of tap root depth..

for tips on growing acacias/conditions etc, see The TOP 8 ACACIAS to Grow WORLDWIDE - The Ethnobotanical Garden - Welcome to the DMT-Nexus
for very fast, sustainable, tub or indoor growing of DMT plants, i would suggest Phalaris aquatica AQ1, or Phalaris 'Big Medicine'..some strains are around 1% content, can be grown in a few months, easily root divided, and of course regrow easily after being cut..

 

[jamie]

"i would suggest Phalaris aquatica AQ1, or Phalaris 'Big Medicine'..these strains are around 1% content"

I can verify that Big Medicine is nowhere near 1%...I don't even think it is .1%. I did however, get very clean DMT from Big Medicine...just very low yields..

The aquatica strains like AQ1 and cv. australia yield much more in my experience.

Acuminata seems okay outside here in zone 8, and mine is maybe close to 3ish feet and branching a lot. I have about just over 2 grams of dry phyllodes that dropped from lower branches saved to try out at some point. I can imagine within a year or 2 I can be getting some actual phyllode harvests to use as admixture.

 

[changalvia]

similar boat to Jamie's. its taken about almost 2 years to reach about a meter tall, over the past year it's dropped some phyllodes, they go yellow and fall off. also should be noted it lost about 30 cm of its first side branch in an accident when it was still young. so it could be way bigger. but yea these guys just keep splitting and splitting into more limbs, stems getting thicker it's just really awesome to watch. not too phased about anything right now except keeping it happy til it flowers. really a beautiful tree

 

[jamie]

the one I'm talking about reached this tall in like 10 months...I have a couple of them, but this one is the youngest, and the fastest growing..so I want to one day make cuttings when its older.

 

[floribunda]

Thanks for all the replies! Well hopefully my A.Acuminata plants will provide goods for me in the years to come!