Hey.... Casuarina!

[TimIAm]

I consider myself lucky, throughout the warmer months I get a variety of random trees pop up in my yard. These are dropped off by special delivery from our good friend Corvus coronoides, the Australian Raven.

This past growing season I welcomed the arrival of a Casuarina (possible Allo, I can't tell). In the past week I just noticed this strange sight and thought I'd share because it looks interesting, but thought someone may be able to suggest what is going on?

In about 50 places the roots appear to be growing straight up

The colour looks really cool. At the same time there are a few areal roots appearing around the trunk of the same colour and also one of the same colour coming out of the bottom of the pot.

I'm using the same mix I use with everything else which retains moisture for the Sydney summers but also has large particle size and drains quite freely. That being said we've just had 3 weeks of non-stop rain.

The tree would be less than 6 months old, so no chance of being root bound. Only other thing I can guess is that this genus / species likes to put out a crazy amount of roots. Otherwise it is very happy and healthy, so no real concern, just thought I'd share.

Would like to here anyone's thoughts.

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Growing straight up

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Some on the trunk

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Growing out of the pot

[shibui]

That tree obviously does not like your pot or the potting mix or whatever conditions you've given it. Maybe it's been talking to your other trees and discovered what's in store. I think it's getting ready to take a walk to find a better home.

I haven't seen roots like this but Casuarinas are prone to suckering from the roots. Maybe it is preparing to send up a forest of new trunks.

Keep updating if/when things happen. I'll keep watching to see what happens.

[Ryceman3]

In about 50 places the roots appear to be growing straight up

The colour looks really cool. At the same time there are a few areal roots appearing around the trunk of the same colour and also one of the same colour coming out of the bottom of the pot.

I'm using the same mix I use with everything else which retains moisture for the Sydney summers but also has large particle size and drains quite freely. That being said we've just had 3 weeks of non-stop rain.

The tree would be less than 6 months old, so no chance of being root bound. Only other thing I can guess is that this genus / species likes to put out a crazy amount of roots. Otherwise it is very happy and healthy, so no real concern, just thought I'd share.

Would like to here anyone's thoughts.

I have noticed similar root weirdness on a Lepto for the last couple of years. The tree is a prolific grower almost all year round, these roots seem to appear pretty consistently... by which I mean it doesn't matter if the tree was just repotted or not, so I also don't think its related to the amount of room in the pot. They are very similar colour to what you posted too. I don't worry too much about them now ... they seem to have no real affect on the tree or how it grows, adverse or otherwise. Just a bit weird!

[Patmet]

I have a Melaleuca Incana that does this. Like R3 said doesn’t seem to have any detrimental effect. I have noticed it does tend to do it more when the roots have filled the pot. This one is in quite a small pot. I think it’s just seeking moisture from the humidity.

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[TimIAm]

I have a Melaleuca Incana that does this. Like R3 said doesn’t seem to have any detrimental effect. I have noticed it does tend to do it more when the roots have filled the pot. This one is in quite a small pot. I think it’s just seeking moisture from the humidity.

20240508_165503.jpeg

Wow

Thanks for sharing that and the pic. The tree is about 40cm tall but pencil thin, I'd be surprised if it had filled the pot but it has been around since the beginning of spring 23 and growing quite happily. I do find with my mix that trees tend to push roots out the bottom very quickly but that's not after filling the pot. Come next spring I might slip it out and have a look.

I still suspect it might be something to do with 3 weeks of constant rain. But it's really cool to see another example of these crazy upright growing roots.