Blueberry Ash Flowers

[PeterH]

Hi,

I have a large Elaeocarpus reticulatus and has only flowered in patches in passed years. My question is has any one had experience in what food would encourage flowers without harming the tree.

Peter

[Grant Bowie]

Not me,Check with Pup; its a native.

Grant

[dennismc]

Peter

I don't think you will be successful increasing flowering with additional food. The types of fertilizer that are used for this purpose are high in phosphates which would not be good for this native.

They seem to take their time in achieving maximal flowering but certainly benefit from being well looked after. Regular re-potting and top up liquid fertilizer help. I would avoid where possible pruning from late Autumn until after the flowering period.

They certainly are worth a lot of effort.

regards
Dennis Mc

[PeterH]

Dennis.

thankyou for the information.

Peter

[Jamie]

lovely flowers peter, it looks like you have a lot of flower buds there that wont be long before they open up anyways

[Pup]

Peter I have always used Phostrogen it is high in potassium which helps to set fruit and flowers. I always get good flowering on most of my natives that do not get pruned too much to keep shape.

If you cannot get Phostrogen you can use Yates for fruit and flowers it has the same NPK and trace elements as Phostrogen, so it should work. I have used this since I started growing Natives, I also alternate with MiraleGro for Azaleas and Camellias. Which is high in Nitrogen very low in Phosphate and medium in Potassium.

Cheers Pup

[PeterH]

Thankyou Derek.

[shibui]

I don't think Elaeocarpus is sensitive to phosphorus. There are relatively few Australian natives that are sensitive to P. banksias and grevilleas (also the South African Proteas) are known to be sensitive so be careful with anything from the proteacea family but most other genera actually love phosphorus nearly as much as exotics - who would worry about fertilising a PJ fig? its a native!
A bonsai Elaeocarpus covered in flower would be spectacular. Last time we were on the coast the trees in the bush were spectacular. Does it need shade as a bonsai? We only saw them in heavy rainforest but I know they are sold as garden trees so maybe they can tolerate some sun.

Fertilise well with a product for fruiting - Pup's suggestion phostrogen, Yates fruit and flowers are good. I also use tomato and also citrus fertiliser on flowering plants - nearly the same formulas.

[Kunzea]

Hi Peter
I've grown a blueberry ash for a number of years, though sold it some time back. What got the flowering going for me was putting into practice what I had known for a long time - fertise regularly (what a surprise ). I use a variety of normal fertilisers and rotate amongst them. I agree with shibui's notes above.

Blue berry ash are associated with rainforest and often grow on their margins. They seem to take to full sun without trouble, but I'd be cautious about letting them get too dry in the soil.

They flower early on new shoots that arise from old wood, like the main trunk or larger side branches. You can see this in the image you posted. This should mean that you can prune tips without too much worry about decreasing next years flowering, but I'm not absolutely sure of this and haven't checked my notebooks recently. but this means that flower buds are not, or not necessarily formed at the end of the previous growing season.
Cheers
K

[PeterH]

Shibui and Kunzea,

Thanks for the info. I fertilize with osmacote native and the occasional seasol.

Peter