[NATURAL] Leptospermum wooroonooran - Redsonic

[Redsonic]

L woorooroonoran is a large rainforest tree of the Atherton tablelands, and I have seen a few of these in Brisbane nurseries. The only other one I owned previously died when I repotted it with an over zealous root prune (I didn't know about the leptospermum sensitivity to root work). This tree is very pot bound, so I am quite nervous I will lose it along the way.
I paid $12.99 for it from Nielsen's Native Nursery before they closed down. It has sat in the same pot since. It is one of the few plants I own that would qualify for this comp, as usually I am quick to chop and wire anything new.

Anyway, here it is:

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[DangerousDave]

Looks like good material mate. I’ll be watching this one closely. Nice one

[Redsonic]

Thanks Dave, I'll let you know when I kill it

[BB Brian]

wow, nice bark for its age!
will also watch this one

[Redsonic]

This tree rapidly died following repotting. It received quite an aggressive root prune as it had large, twisted roots growing straight down. Despite this, I thought I had left it plenty of fine feeders, but alas it has departed this mortal vale
Do I get the wooden spoon for shortest lived entry?

[GavinG]

i know it's useless now, but it seems to be useful to put Leptos in a water bath after repotting if you are at all unsure- I've got away with bare-rooting one into pure pumice by bathing it. It can also help if you are digging a Lepto from a garden/grow bed. Better luck next time - they are certainly worth growing!

Gavin

[Rory]

Just remember to scratch the base and make sure it isn't still green.
Sometimes leptos can take quite a while to reshoot after a heavy repot.

[melbrackstone]

Sorry to read that you've lost your lepto Sonya. It's all part of the learning experience, isn't it?

May have been too hot for it since it's a highland tree? Or it's one of those natives that prefer a Spring root-prune?

[Redsonic]

I did both the water bath and the scratch test and it is definitely dead. A second one I repotted at the same time is alive, if a little sad. Memo, don't allow these to get pot bound and yes, Mel, it may have been too hot for it.

[melbrackstone]

It was too hot for me!!!

Good to know you still have one going.

[MJL]

Wow - it seems that wooroonooran is one species where nature has ensured an in-built in "fail fast" mechanism.

"Fail fast is often associated with the lean startup methodology. An important goal of the fail fast philosophy is to avoid the sunk cost effect, which is the tendency for humans to continue investing in something that clearly isn't working because it's human nature for people to want to avoid failure.

So... Redsonic - bummer!! ...but at least no more of your time will be invested in that little tree!! Further, until reading this thread I was not aware that Lepto's were sensitive to root pruning. If this competition is about learning, you've just helped me and perhaps others learn an important lesson. So cheers for being so open with this tree's demise.