AusBonsai

I am only a newbie at bonsai, but this event has spurred me on to have a go and improve my knowledge with all the hints guidance on this site. I have spent a bit of time travelling the outback, so have decided to have a go at a Mulga. Picked this one up at the SA Native Nursery at Belair. Cost was $5. The labeI was marked Roxby Downs var. I have repotted it from tube stock, and it seems to be going quite well so far.
Dave

Well I am reasonably pleased at the way my Mulga is going. Not having any idea how this will go, I am suffering from the problem of "hurry up and wait" with progress.
I have used powerfeed every few weeks and plenty of water over the hot Adelaide summer. The trunk is getting some nice bark and I have got a few bends in some branches.
I have been wondering about defoliating, but will wait for a while now to see how it grows through the cooler months.
Dave

Yay!!!!! Another Mulga!!! There should be many more of them.

As you are still growing the trunk and thickening it, it might be useful to grow long, for a year (to thicken) then cut back to the last few leaves once a year.
Repeat until the trunk is thick enough. As you've noticed, they bark up well quite early.

I'd be very cautious indeed about defoliating, I'm not sure it would survive. When the trunk is fully formed, and you set about pinching and ramifying, the leaves will come down in size quite nicely.

Best of luck.

Gavin

Well, I am happy with my first attempt at growing a Mulga, at least it is still alive.
I have given it some doses of Seasol and Powerfeed fairly regularly and also wired a few branches for a while to see the results.
I will see how it goes through the summer growth period and maybe prune some of the branches after that.