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Red gum

Posted: November 14th, 2017, 11:29 am
by Shoey91
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I grew this red gum from seed last spring. It has been in the ground in a collander for the last 9 months and i just recently dug it up to see how well it would respond. After any help or advice on how to keep this little fella going.

Re: Red gum

Posted: November 14th, 2017, 5:54 pm
by shibui
They grow very quickly as you have already found out.
A bit prone to parts of the trunk dying after pruning but always plenty of new shoots to replace what has died.
I have not worked out how to manage these to get good ramification though.

Re: Red gum

Posted: November 15th, 2017, 5:29 am
by Shoey91
I've noticed some of the leaves lose colour and drop off since, but there is still plenty of flex in the branches so I'm assuming it isn't fried. Is this normal after digging up eucalyptus?

Re: Red gum

Posted: November 15th, 2017, 7:57 am
by dennismc
Hi Shoey91

Nice starter material. Just a tip from about 30 years of growing gum trees. Not unusual for a gum tree to react adversely to root interference.

Strange as it may seem for an Ozzie tree, gum trees roots need to remain wet for about 3 weeks after re potting. Then back to normal watering and your tree will fire away.

Dennis Mc

Re: Red gum

Posted: November 26th, 2017, 5:26 pm
by Shoey91
3 weeks to the day i dug this up and it has put out a cluster of buds. You must be a wizard dennis :worship:. Haha
It seems to be budding up from the junctions in the top and around the base. I was considering cutting the crown back to where it seems to be budding up and training some new branches.

Re: Red gum

Posted: November 26th, 2017, 7:19 pm
by Rory
Shoey91 wrote: It seems to be budding up from the junctions in the top and around the base. I was considering cutting the crown back to where it seems to be budding up and training some new branches.
I wouldn’t. Multiple-pruning any gum within a month or so can potentially = die back.
And occasionally in the worse case scenario, it can die back to the new shoots at the base. Though not common.

Re: Red gum

Posted: November 27th, 2017, 4:29 am
by Shoey91
I was going to give it a chance to grow on a little first before attacking it again. This being my first native bonsai (definately not my last) i have just been treading carefully as i have heard eucalyptus can be sensitive to root pruning and being dug up.

Is wiring necessary with eucys? i seem to have gotten to a shape so far i am happy with by pruning.

Re: Red gum

Posted: December 2nd, 2017, 11:25 am
by Shoey91
A few progession shots from surge of new shoots. Not the greatest photos, had trouble with lighting.

Re: Red gum

Posted: December 2nd, 2017, 12:18 pm
by Max
Hi Shoey I have a river red that i planted on a large tile, just over a year ago, in the ground. It was tube stock. It got to about 2.5m in the year and the trunk is 60mm. I chopped it back to 250mm on an angle at spring and got shoots at the top and bottom of the chop, plus shoots galore, especially at the base, which were removed. I'm going to let the leaders grow this year which will hopefully heal the scar because of the 2 shoots growing at the chop. I'll wire the shoots (branches) on the trunk loosely to get movement, but only to the 2nd set of leaves because this is where i'll cut back to and only let 2 shoots sprout ( either 2 side shoots or a vertical and side shoot) the vertical shoot i'll only let grow to about 300 odd mm before i tip it, let it grow then cut back to the first leaf growing out the direction i want. Watch the vertical shoots, they'll dominate. I'm thinking that within 2/3 years i'll have something resemble a bonsai. I'm not sure when i should spade the roots tho,maybe this time next year or this? what do you reckon? I'll take some pictures if you like, if the sun ever comes back out :fc:

Re: Red gum

Posted: December 3rd, 2017, 8:04 pm
by Shoey91
I am relatively new to bonsai but from what i understand spring is the perfect time to work on native roots. I have a couple banksias and melaleuca seedlings in the ground that are thriving on all the sunshine and rain we are getting at the moment.

I had my red gum growing in a colander in the ground for the first year and even after i dug it up to repot the root ball wasn't overly untidy so i barely touched it anyway.