M. lanceolata- calling all growers.

[Craig]

Following up a recent discussion, i would like to know if any one is growing , has grown , tried, given up on , has killed , given away , or otherwise MELALEUCA LANCEOLATA.

All or any info on how they grow , how and if they back bud, if they do how much and where/when , Rootpruning and fertilising regimes.

I'd be grateful if people can share their information, pm me if need be plse , thankyou.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melaleuca_lanceolata

[Barry1]

Craig I purchased 5 x4 yr old tubes from a local nursery and planted them in a grow out box (foam ) even though we are in winter they are powering on
I have used a slow release fert for natives and they haven't looked back ,my only concern is lack of lower branches ,when I get the time and the rain stops I will take some photos

Barry

[Craig]

thanks Barry, plse keep me posted,

[Craig]

Well if no-one is growing them except Barry and I then i guess they're no good

[Barry1]

I wouldn't say their no good ,it's just like a lot of native species it's trial and error ...I am waiting for the weather to start to warm up before I start chopping mine and hope they shoot again

Barry

[Craig]

Barry, please do not cut all the foliage off, backbudding is very questionable mate.

[GavinG]

Barry, please consider cutting one back to bare wood when the weather is warm, to see whether it back buds at all. We just don't seem to know.

Craig, it may be a good species to try, please keep us posted. There are so many species about which we have very little information. Of the varieties I'm playing with, some are fully dormant mid-winter, some are sluggish and some are powering on - who knew?

Gavin

[Craig]

Hi Gavin, thanks for replying, In the past i have tried lanceolata with no degree of success. I have a few nice thick trunked lanceolata's here now one of which was chopped hard to a bare trunk. All 3 are being treated differently but only 1 will be cut that hard as my previous experiences tell me it will either die or only reshoot from the base, personal experience. These are a very touchy candidate indeed.

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[GavinG]

From the leaf size and the branch bark they look to be worth trying - what are the bases like? Are they touchy to root-prune?

Gavin

[Craig]

I prefer not to comment on rootpruning at this stage Gavin.

Tree #1 hard pruned , lets see what happens. The trunk is 43mm thick.

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[Pup]

This will be interesting, Craig and I have had a few conversations on these. I have one tree here that was named by the agriculturist as M, lanceolata, it is not, if what this tree that Craig is now working is. Mine is probably a sub species or M.araucariodes

Which was after an exercise we saw together, 4 trees 4 people doing their thing.

Neither had any experience with them, only hearsay and what was written in a screed they had been given.

Which stated that fire will kill them as they did not shoot back.

Coppicing would not work either, so no shooting back on old wood.

So I think we should be watching what Craigs results are, so we can all learn.

Cheers Pup

[soda]

I have a small one in the ground down on the Mornington Peninsula which I planted 8 mths ago so will follow this thread with interest. The indigenous ones on the Peninsula are called Moonahs and are magnificent and centuries+ old. So highly regarded there are two golf courses that take the Moonah name and strict planning measures in order to protect them. The one I planted survived some summer dryspells which did surprise me as a lot of similar plantings can die in the first summer without care (holiday houses). The nursery did have some larger ones in big pots for about 150 which showed much promise that one could indeed be Bonsai'd with clip and grow.