Botany The Acacia Grow Thread

[Wise_fool]

Any tips on overwintering acacia, zone 8b? SWIM is considering putting some seedlings heat mats set to a thermostat that will kick on around 35-40F. The idea isn't to heat the greenhouse really, just to keep it slightly above freezing. SWIM is also considering placing some milk jugs filled with water and painted black in between the plants, and wrapping their pots with bubble wrap. Could also mount a fan at the top of the greenhouse pointing downward to help circulate the warmer air that collects at the roof.
SWIM is also wondering about watering through the winter?

 

[acacian]

Hey @Wise_fool

Sounds very cold where you are! Which species of acacia are you growing?

My first suggestion would be to grow a known cold hardy species.. an obvious candidate would be Acacia phlebophylla - as it is from alpine environment that experiences long bouts of cold during winter. Other good options include Acacia floribunda, Acacia retinodes, Acacia acuminata, Acacia obtusifolia.. actually a lot of species have surprised me in the cold.

Insulating the pots is a good idea.. I’d maybe try and add another layer to your greenhouse. Keep your plants as high up as possible. The fan thing is a good idea. Alternatively you could keep them inside during winter in a sun room or something.. light won’t be as good but they should survive.

 

[Wise_fool]

Hey @Wise_fool

Sounds very cold where you are! Which species of acacia are you growing?

My first suggestion would be to grow a known cold hardy species.. an obvious candidate would be Acacia phlebophylla - as it is from alpine environment that experiences long bouts of cold during winter. Other good options include Acacia floribunda, Acacia retinodes, Acacia acuminata, Acacia obtusifolia.. actually a lot of species have surprised me in the cold.

Insulating the pots is a good idea.. I’d maybe try and add another layer to your greenhouse. Keep your plants as high up as possible. The fan thing is a good idea. Alternatively you could keep them inside during winter in a sun room or something.. light won’t be as good but they should survive.

Yes rather cold. Can reach -12 degrees Celsius. 10F. That is not very common but does happen.
What species? So far
Acacia acuminata ssp. longifolia
Acacia baileyana
Acacia floribunda
Acacia longifolia
Acacia mucronata ssp. longifolia
Acacia pravissima
Acacia prominens
Acacia oxycedrus
SWIM is interested in obtusifolia and phlebophylla but those have been hard to find. Also interested in other forms of floribunda, the wide phyllode variety with the weeping growth habit.
SWIM tried bringing plants in for the winter once with disastrous results, lost everything and not sure why. Hence the construction of a greenhouse.

 

[CheeseCat]

Curious if anyone has advice on promoting trunk growth more? The white willow floribunda in my garden seems to be producing boat loads of foliage but not gaining much height. So consequently some of the new growth is almost touching the ground. I know that spring is a time for producing foliage so maybe summer will be when it starts to pump out more height. Thoughts? Photo below..

My guy is kinda doing the opposite thing, focused on height more than foliage. I didn't quite get it all in frame, it's really reaching up, which might be because it's in part shade and not full sun, I'm not sure.

 

[acacian]

Wattles are going through a massive growth spurt at the moment. They must be loving the warm and sunny days after all the recent rain.. changed to a fabric material that lets them move more instead of having them tied to a stake with the plastic ties. It was digging into the stem.

 

[CheeseCat]

Gotta say your Obtusifolia has incredible looking phyllodes. Mine don't exhibit that much venation! Courtii is looking great too.