Botany The Acacia Grow Thread

[CheeseCat]

Man, that's some insane hail bro. Sorry to hear about your trees, hopefully lots of new growth ensues. Cheers for the update!

 

[Phyllode_Pickler]

@acacian that is wild having hail this late in summer. I think it was more than 10 years ago that happened to my garden, it's absolutely gutting. Wishing your plants a speedy recovery.

My last plants all died off the start of spring on me then I found I hid my seeds too well. That left me getting an early start on an autumn planting.

This time no problems at all with germination I have a few through already after only planting them a few days ago.

This time I've gone with 50% native soil (sand etc), 30% cactus mix, 15% pumice, 5% seed raising mix with 50/50 vermiculite.

I ve planted totally 72 acuminata I'll wait for spring to plant the floribunda because I don't have many of those seeds left.

My thoughts on care for winter are too have a few trays under the frost cloth with the cactus garden, a few trays in the glass house , and the remainder inside.

 

[CheeseCat]

Couple of update pics. White Willow's main stem has divided into five whilst mucronata keeps getting taller and taller (82cm from the ground). Up-potting to commence in a few weeks!

 

[Phyllode_Pickler]

Those are looking amazing

 

[CheeseCat]

Those are looking amazing

Thanks, I've had two or three seedlings die this season but mostly it's been good progress.

Good work on all your seedlings btw!

 

[acacian]

@Phyllode_Pickler great so see some of your babies coming up! Looking forward to seeing their growth to come!

@CheeseCat, your plants look vibrant and beautiful. Great work.. lovely to see someone growing white willow as well as mucronata. I’m perplexed why more people aren’t cultivating mucronata.. it’s clearly a very special plant. Did any of the tops of your willow get eaten? Insect damage would promote outwards growth like that as it’s a natural prune.. many of mine were similar although in my case was caused by frost.

I’m skiing overseas atm but updated in the next week

 

[CheeseCat]

“Insect damage is a natural prune” I like that! I hadn't considered insect damage. I'm curious to see how it develops, hopefully nice and bushy!

I’m perplexed why more people aren’t cultivating mucronata.. it’s clearly a very special plant.

Totally, it’s fast growing has a beautiful form and pests don’t seem that interested in it! (so far).

Enjoy the skiing, sounds epic!

Forgot to share a pic of oxycedrus

 

[acacian]

Awesome! Lovely species.. will be interested to see how fast yours grow. Mine have been very slow compared to other species.. I suspect they aren’t a fan of the soil up here.

 

[CheeseCat]

It's impressive how big wattles can get in a small tube. Finally started to up-pot my seedlings and was pleasantly surprised to see nodules around the roots. I'll post a few more photos once they're all sorted...

How's everyone else going with their plants?

 

[Phyllode_Pickler]

I was thinking it was about time to post some pics, I even had a couple come up in cactus pots recently. I'll try to get some photos up this weekend.

I'm also running a couple of tests on the dead plants from my first attempt, purely for interest to see if they had started to developed anything.

Your plants are looking very good cheesecat, I'm very surprised to see how big they got in the small pots.

 

[Phyllode_Pickler]

Here is mine, no more popped after I put them outside,I didn't think they were growing very fast but looking back on the last run I think they are moving along nicely.

I did have to laugh when I started seeing seeds pop in the cactus pots from last years recycled soil.

 

[acacian]

It's impressive how big wattles can get in a small tube. Finally started to up-pot my seedlings and was pleasantly surprised to see nodules around the roots. I'll post a few more photos once they're all sorted...

How's everyone else going with their plants?

Indeed! I see plants at work getting well over a meter tall in hiko cells which are about an 1/8th the width of those 140mm ones in your pics. BY that point fairly root bound of cours ebut they'll still be right once they're in the ground..

 

[CheeseCat]

I did have to laugh when I started seeing seeds pop in the cactus pots from last years recycled soil.

I had a seedling come up in my cactus garden too and it's actually growing quite well. No idea what it is though!

Here is mine, no more popped after I put them outside,I didn't think they were growing very fast but looking back on the last run I think they are moving along nicely.

That's good to hear. I always try to give mine as much light as possible to maximise growth.

 

[CheeseCat]

You guys might already know this but I saw on facebook a while ago that you can switch out the Seasol cap with a tomato sauce nozzle and it prevents the Seasol spilling everywhere when pouring. I also use a Floradix Formula measuring cup which is conveniently 30ml.

 

[Bruce_Willis]

You guys might already know this but I saw on facebook a while ago that you can switch out the Seasol cap with a tomato sauce nozzle and it prevents the Seasol spilling everywhere when pouring. I also use a Floradix Formula measuring cup which is conveniently 30ml.

how much seasol do you give your acacias CheeseCat? And do you just foliar feed them or feed the soil?

 

[CheeseCat]

Hey, I use 30ml per 9 litres of water and apply to soil about once every three weeks. I use the same dilution rate for both seedlings and older plants. I don't seasol the foliage, although it's inevitable the foliage will get some on it. I always make sure the foliage gets the rain.

 

[Phyllode_Pickler]

It's time for a progress report.

We have had frost, all the plants outside have survived and still look great. I'm suprised to see new seedlings coming through even with the frost. The plants i moved inside have not done well at all same as last year.

In total i think there is 12 going strong outside. I normally get rid of the weeds but i haven't spent much time in the garden the last month or so.

 

[EmmaMills]

This is a fantastic thread.
I've actually read it from start to finish lol
I understand the tried and tested method of mix of three parts river sand to one part loam, coco coir or peat moss.
Also throwing in a little soil from another acacia can be beneficial.
However, with the river sand; which type?
Coarse river sand?
Just any river sand from a landscape supplies yard?
Thank you.

 

[CheeseCat]

It's a good thread aye! Personally, I wouldn’t worry too much about getting those exact ingredients.
Last season I used a seedling mix from Mitre 10 and then added fine pumice (1:1) and that worked really well. It was probably a little too free draining as I had about two days max before it was dangerously dry.
The main goal of a good mix I think is to have it aerated so its free draining and the roots can move easily. If you’ve got something in this ballpark then they should grow fine.
I also tried growing them in a premium cactus mix with added pumice which also worked well.

 

[Phyllode_Pickler]

They are looking great cheesecat, it's cool seeing the cactus back drop.

Im not a very experenced acacia gardner, the trees that grow wild where i live are in very fine sand, i think it's probably more important that your sand does not have sharp edges like crusher dust.