Mulga advice? :)

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Hi all,
After discovering this forum around 12 months ago I decided to plant a Mulga seed and try my luck!
Growing experience prior to this was only chillies and tomatoes in my 2x5m "backyard"

So 12 months down the track my hard boiled seed has grown up a bit and was hoping for some comments as to where to go next? I thought it would be a bit bigger after a year but the nature of my courtyard means it only gets partial sun (VERY partial in Melbourne winter lol)

Around 30 cm high currently - do I just let it do its thing and reassess in another 12 months?

Any advice appreciated!

Cheers
Joel

[lackhand]

Looks like a good start. The hardest thing about growing a nice looking bonsai is getting a thick trunk, so I think I would just let it grow for another year or two.

Growing from seed is lots of fun, but it does take lost of patience! Probably the slowest way to get a bonsai. Have you checked out your local club?

[kcpoole]

Let it grow for as long as you can. A few years at least
Next year, Get a low wider pot and repot into it. Spread the roots out flat and then grow fro another 2 years and evaluate.

Growing from seed is slow but rewarding process.

Ken

[GavinG]

Congratulations! You're the third grower of mulga I've found - I think EdwardS might have some as well.

Here is one of mine, two years from tube stock. They'll only grow 20 or 30cms a year, but thicken and bark up quite quickly - you'll need to grow them long, and cut back hard each spring, to the last two leaves, to keep the foliage near the trunk. I've only slip-potted mine, so I don't know about repotting, but general consensus for acacias seems to be to treat them like junipers.

As far as style goes, it should be wild and arid, but I can't help more than that - I'm still learning how to drive them.

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Gavin

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Hey guys, thanks for your comments and advice. What a great forum!

GavinG- looking forward to seeing how yours progresses, just seeing those pics raised my spirits a little

[MattA]

I've only slip-potted mine, so I don't know about repotting, but general consensus for acacias seems to be to treat them like junipers.

Gavin, can you please expand on what you mean by "treat them like junipers"? It has been many years since I grew Acacia for bonsai but would have never dared repot like I do juni's (bareroot butchery), I used to remove the outer edge of the mix and a small pie cut, taking about 5yrs to do the whole...

[Kyushu Danji]

Congratulations! You're the third grower of mulga I've found - I think EdwardS might have some as well.

Here is one of mine, two years from tube stock. They'll only grow 20 or 30cms a year, but thicken and bark up quite quickly - you'll need to grow them long, and cut back hard each spring, to the last two leaves, to keep the foliage near the trunk. I've only slip-potted mine, so I don't know about repotting, but general consensus for acacias seems to be to treat them like junipers.

As far as style goes, it should be wild and arid, but I can't help more than that - I'm still learning how to drive them.

P1090106.jpg

P1090107.jpg

Gavin

I have to say Gavin your mulga looked very impressive in person!

[GavinG]

Matthew, I hate to break the news to you, but it's possible that you just don't do things the way other people do... I mostly do junis the way you described repotting acacias - a bit at a time. (By the way, what season do you bare-root your junis, and what is your aftercare? Shade? Flooding? Incantations? Sacrificial lambs/hamsters?)

James/KD, mulgas certainly have some crunchy bark texture quite early, and some lovely tone and textures in the leaves - they have some great possibilities, but I wish I knew what I was doing with them. I'll probably be going for craggy and smashed, but I'm sure there are more tasteful options.

Gavin

[MattA]

Matthew, I hate to break the news to you, but it's possible that you just don't do things the way other people do... I mostly do junis the way you described repotting acacias - a bit at a time. (By the way, what season do you bare-root your junis, and what is your aftercare? Shade? Flooding? Incantations? Sacrificial lambs/hamsters?)

Gavin your telling me something I have known for a long time, thanks for clarifying how you repot your juni's & thus advise for Acacia.

With regards juni's late winter - early spring, keep as many fine roots as possible but clear out the soil. Don't majorly overpot, full sun straight away & let them dry out between drinks until growing strong.