• Members of the previous forum can retrieve their temporary password here, (login and check your PM).

Botany The Acacia Grow Thread

Growing logs with advice and results.
Migrated topic.
Transform said:
Might be a virus, is the feeling those mimosa pics give me. Looks survivable - fingers crossed. Would be great if it miraculously induced tryptamine production in the foliage :LOL:
Click to expand...
DMT is probably the perfect compound to fight off something.. and when we find out what that something is.. what a day that will be. It might become foie gras type sitcho where we pump our plants with viruses to create the crème de la crème of alkaloid profiles. 😅
 
Couldn’t resist a little more night time footage of the acacias after a nice soak. Second video is of narrow phyllode Acacia maidenii .. it is the tallest of the bunch at this point. I’ll probably top each branch tomorrow to encourage it to bush out.

First is of course phleb, floribundas and mucronata subs longifolia .. which has really started to develop that classic mucro at the apex of the phyllodes (hence it’s name) and of course the very long foliage which distinguishes it from the other forms. Probably one of the most (if not the most) interesting alkaloid profiles of an acacia.. can be orally active by itself!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9126.mov
    174.1 MB
  • IMG_9127.mov
    58.6 MB
Last edited:
Thanks for the replies. We get some days over 30 degrees here in the summer @acacian. They do get direct sun near the middle of day but only few a few hours. I think @Transform may be onto something with disease unfortunately since it only affects 2 of the plants atm. I see there is a leaf curl disease from whitefly, and I had a whitefly problem earlier last year. It says to remove and destroy the infected plants, though that is for vegetable plants. Hopefully mimosa is hardier, but maybe I'm better off separating them, than risking the others getting it.
 
Sounds like a strong possibility. I also forgot to mention.. I just lost an Acacia oxycedrus to an underground infestation of tiny white insects that were eating the stem/roots from underground. I don’t think was white fly but yeah definitely sounds like something potentially going on in the soil.. this species has stiff spikes so didn’t get leaf curl, but started going yellow. I dug down a bit and the bark had all been eaten away..
 
I planted my largest brother wattle in the ground yesterday. Excited to see how it grows now it's in the ground. I did have a floribunda planted out close by about 6 or 7 years ago but it ended up needing to come out, luckily that won't be the case this time.
 

Attachments

  • 20250106_145327.jpg
    20250106_145327.jpg
    2.8 MB · Views: 8
Thoughts on what this guy is? I’m guessing a weevil of sorts.. quite different to the diamond weevil. Has a longer body and different colours, but equally pretty and adorable.. those eyes and snout are teddy bear like. I think weevils are the cutest insects I’ve seen.. and I’m not just saying that cos they love wattles. 😎🌿

Will get a better shot with the SLR/zoom lense setup tomorrow hopefully.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9143.jpeg
    IMG_9143.jpeg
    1.2 MB · Views: 6
  • IMG_9142.jpeg
    IMG_9142.jpeg
    1.6 MB · Views: 6
Here are some pictures of my Acacia confusa tree I sprouted from seed last spring around April.

Something special about this plant, is the seeds came from a cold hardy parent tree in my USDA grow zone a state over.

I left it outside in temperatures dropping as low as 34 degrees Fahrenheit (around 1 degree Celsius), without any issues. After that, I brought it in for the winter just in case, and I’ll transplant it to a larger pot back outside in early spring.

IMG_2854.jpegIMG_2855.jpeg
 
That's awesome @lucidund3rworld ! Confusa really is a beautiful species and is nice to see someone bring some images of their plant to the thread. Do you think you will try hardening it outside soon? A lot of species that grow in more tropical climates can be surprisingly frost tolerant once they get established..

I have some subtropical/tropical species going at the moment which survived their first winter. It gets below 0 degrees Celsius here although my garden is quite sheltered. If you have surround it with other plants that should create a microclimate that might give you a bit of a buffer from the cold.

If you don’t mind my asking, where are you based?

@Animistic looking good! Its an exciting feeling picking out your favourite specimen to plant.. Are others here very indecisive when it comes to deciding where to plant them out? I sometimes stand there forever deciding on something and then hesitating and not being able to make a decision..
 
Last edited:
@acacian

Yeah, I can be hesitant. I was a lot less hesitant choosing this spot because the floribunda I had here loved it and I would assume this one will too. I am planning some Guerilla gardening and am very much looking and assessing many different sites for that because they're very much set and forget once they're in that scenario, which I think is best for acacias anyway but I love being around them and interacting.

Still if I had my way it would have been a few meters away from where I planted it..lol
 
@Animistic .. im sure it will take off in no time. Has it been a little milder down your way as well? Great idea on the guerilla gardening.. I’ve also been meaning to do that. Once enough of that species is planted in urban areas there will be a nice replenishing seed bank for everyone to enjoy.

Plants here are booming right now after all the rain and mild temps. Brothers wattle and floribunda in particular are going absolutely mental at the minute. I propped the brothers up a bit as it was leaning over the path a little towards the house. Wow.. I had no idea how tall it really was until I saw it a little straighter. For a plant just over a year of age I must say I’m very impressed with how fast this species grows. On par with floribunda.. possibly even a touch quicker height-wise. Although flori really churns out a lot of foliage.

I’ve also started putting lots of grasses in around garden in hope to create a better drained environment/ overall symbiosis. So far mostly juncus, poa, austrostipa and some paper daisies as well around the base of the wattles. They look lovely together.

I’ve also been planting a bunch of shrubs/bushy plants such as Leptospermum, Cassinia, Indigofera, Hakea, Callitris and Grevillea. Haven’t bothered planting any Callistamon since there were already about 5 in the garden when I arrived. But it’s on its way to being a nice native garden in a few years so I’m very excited right now!

I attached some footage of Cassinia leptocephala .. I know it’s not a wattle but it is truly awesome. There’s something mesmerizing about it. For whatsver reason I can’t stop going out and looking at it. It’s also a good cooking herb .. especially in a roast. Prob would go nice in a risotto too😍.. not unlike rosemary but a little milder and with a slight burnt butter flavor.

Loving the way the new mucronata foliage is developing. What a graceful Acacia.. I know I only just posted vids of these plants but I can’t get over how quickly they’ve suddenly started growing!

The species that just doesn’t seem to want to take off here is Acacia acuminata.. in pots were fine but have done nothing since growing in the ground. Years ago I had one get a few meters high and then out of nowhere it suddenly died. It isn’t bothered by the cold here.. but I gather that it doesn’t like the soil in my yard.

Acacia oxycedrus has also been very slow. One died and three remain.. there’s new growth but it is going at snail pace. For a quick recap.. in my area floribunda, mucronata, brother wattle, phlebophylla, obtusifolia and maidenii seem like the best candidates (as far as tryptamine species is concerned). And, oddly enough colei seems pretty happy here too. It’s a top end species so this comes as a surprise.

@lucidund3rworld .. by last April do you mean in 2024 or the year before? What is your growing medium? It’s a happy looking plant.
View attachment IMG_9201.mov
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9188.mov
    92.6 MB
  • IMG_9189.mov
    122.7 MB
  • IMG_9212.mov
    46.7 MB
Last edited:
Looks amazing @acacian. Love it when there’s an explosion of new growth happening. That’s a sweet idea planting the shrubs and grasses, I'd like to do the same with some NZ natives.

Mucronata is an awesome looking specimen, I really like it a lot, fascinating that it can be orally active too.

Did you end up giving your maidenii a tip prune?
 
acacian said:
Are others here very indecisive when it comes to deciding where to plant them out? I sometimes stand there forever deciding on something and then hesitating and not being able to make a decision..
Click to expand...
Totally, I frequently walk around studying where my plants will be best suited, trying to visualise them as mature tress. I still haven't completely decided!
 
acacian said:
That's awesome @lucidund3rworld ! Confusa really is a beautiful species and is nice to see someone bring some images of their plant to the thread. Do you think you will try hardening it outside soon? A lot of species that grow in more tropical climates can be surprisingly frost tolerant once they get established..

I have some subtropical/tropical species going at the moment which survived their first winter. It gets below 0 degrees Celsius here although my garden is quite sheltered. If you have surround it with other plants that should create a microclimate that might give you a bit of a buffer from the cold.

If you don’t mind my asking, where are you based?

@Animistic looking good! Its an exciting feeling picking out your favourite specimen to plant.. Are others here very indecisive when it comes to deciding where to plant them out? I sometimes stand there forever deciding on something and then hesitating and not being able to make a decision..
Click to expand...
I have a little bit. I kept it outside through November with temperatures as low as 34 degrees. I’m in Tennessee. We currently have snow on the ground with temperatures 24 F.

I will put it out at the end of March after transplanting to a larger pot. In the winter, growth just comes to a halt, but within a month of bringing it back inside, new growth began once again.

I have a guy that specializes in cold hardy plants, and he was able to provide the seeds I grew this from. I have more seeds, but it’s very tricky to get it started. Once it sprouts, it takes off.

I’d like to take a cutting to attempt to root. I have strong rooting hormone, but I haven’t tried any cloning on anything yet.

@acacian Also, yes, it would have been around April 2024 it sprouted. I purchased the seeds in March 2024, so I estimate it must’ve been April I actually planted them. It took at least a couple weeks to sprout, and this was the only one that did from the first 10 seeds I planted.
 
Last edited:
How big is the plant?

With acacias, one of the first things they do is shoot down the tap root. Even after a couple weeks you might see roots coming out the bottom and be misguided to think it needs to be repotted, only for it to fall apart when you pull it out. Obviously you don't want it root bound, however the roots should ideally hold the soil together when you go to repot it. If if starts falling apart then it's too early to come out and your going to do more harm than good IMO.

The ideal situation would of course be that those bottom roots are in the ground doing something from the get go, but we don't live in that perfect world. Wait till it gets to like a foot to think about potting it on.. or if it has a good solid root ball then by all means go for gold. Is the stem thick and sturdy? One of the best ways to gauge the rootball is the simple 'tug test'.. if you tug the stem gently and it feels like its gonna break from the roots, then the root ball is not established enough to pot on yet. If its thick and robust and feels like the whole root ball will come out with it as one unit then it should be fine to pot on.

My housemate always used to give me a hard time about not potting on plants with protruding roots. So I decided to pot one on in front of him... it immeditately crumbled and all the soil fell off the minimal roots that had developed... he never mentioned it again.

This is my experience anyways.. anyone else have a take on this?
 
Last edited:
Thanks @acacian, good insights! I was surprised to see so many exposed roots but had forgotten that it is common for acacias to establish roots at the base of a pot early in search of depth and nutrients. Whilst repotting last year, I noticed both my older obtusifolia and floribunda had their largest roots congregated at the base of the pot.

I'll wait until it's at least a foot before considering an up-pot as I suspect the rest of the tube won't have anywhere near as many roots and will likely crumbly away if I tried to repot it now. Hopefully the exposed roots are ok (will they die off?). My tubes are suspended which is why the roots are growing out, maybe it would be better to have them sitting on the ground so that the roots remain in the tubes?
 
Back
Top Bottom