Leptospermum laevigatum seedlings question

[Matt S]

Hey Everyone,

I have a tray of Leptospermum laevigatum seedlings that have recently sprouted (yay) but I was wondering how big should I let them get before I separate them out into larger pots? Reading some of the recent discussions on this species a few people have stated that they are a bit touchy when the roots are disturbed. Any advice or experience welcome.

lepto seedlings Jan 2019.jpg

And thanks for the seeds terryb!

Cheers,
Matt.

[shibui]

Seedlings don't seem to have issues with roots. That only seems to be an issue with older trees, more with wild grown trees having roots cut for the first time. Container grown plants do not seem to have too much problem with root pruning.

You can transplant your seedlings at any stage. Yours look pretty good to go right now but leaving them until older is also OK. I usually prick out some when they are even smaller than this then another batch a few weeks later (simply constraints of time and space). Often when there are more than I can handle some stay in the seed tray for a year or 2 before being potted up separately. Some growth can be lost with seedlings crowded together in small seed trays but otherwise it does not seem to matter when they are potted up.

[terryb]

Hi Matt,
I potted mine up about 12-14 weeks after germination into tubes but that was only based on when I had some free time and they could have been done earlier as Shibui mentioned. I didn’t have any issues with roots. I can’t recall whether I snipped the tap root but I usually do this to all seedlings that I pot up.
Terry

[shibui]

I also routinely cut the main roots of seedlings that I pot up for bonsai, often quite short, sometimes with no visible laterals. So far no objections from a large range of different species both native and exotic. Cutting the main root of seedlings just makes them grow more lateral roots which is far better for us.

[Matt S]

Thanks Neil and Terry, much appreciated.

I’ll pot some up in the next couple of days.

Matt.