[Acacia]Propagation

[gocny]

Please expand this section by sharing your opinions here.

[lackhand]

I see in the species guide that these grow well from seed, but I'm impatient. Has anybody had any luck taking cuttings from these? Thanks!

[MattA]

I see in the species guide that these grow well from seed, but I'm impatient. Has anybody had any luck taking cuttings from these? Thanks!

No luck with cuttings but if given proper care these grow so fast I can't see any advantage over starting with seed.

[mrhatmostly]

I have a local nursery who asked for some cuttings of a rarer wattle that I have in the backyard. He said that if he can get them just after the flowers have tailed off he has a good chance of growing from cuttings.

[Jan]

Has anyone tried and/or succeeded in propagating acacia by air layers?
I have a large acacia, multi-trunked, howiitti style leaf (but not prostrate), that was here when we bought the place. I presume that it is about 20 years old and has the usual borer issues. We’ve cut out the dead/dying trunks but, as they have a limited life span in the ground, I would like to grow another to replace it.
It is a beautiful tree with a weeping habit to the younger branches and bountiful flowers. It is a great screen so would be worth the effort if air layering is possible. There are a couple of upright branches, about 4-5 cm thick that would be possible candidates. I know that acacia grow well from seed but was hoping to get something larger growing sooner (I have silver hair so time is always an issue!).
A few pieces might even lend themselves to bonsai, perhaps….

Jan.

[shibui]

I grow lots of Acacias from cuttings and find most reasonably easy to strike.
Any special varieties eg prostrate must be cutting grown to maintain the characteristics so that is how the suppliers propagate these ones. A lot of species can also be grown from cuttings and I've done that when I cannot get seed, can't wait for seed to ripen or have missed the seed (acacia seed pods often all open on the same hot, dry day. If you're not there the week before you miss out)

I have not tried layers on acacia Jan but can't see why it would not work. Even some plants that don't grow well from cuttings can grow as layers so Acacias should work ok.

[Jiro]

I collected some Acacia melanoxylon seeds today and was doing a bit of research about the tree and looking to see how they might go as bonsai. I'm inclined to think this species will make a fantastic bonsai once some age comes through on the bark. Formal or semi formal upright would bring out the 'natural' style of the species.

I saw this thread and thought I would share some information I came across regarding propagation:

Acacias may be propagated successfully from cuttings especially from those with smaller phyllodes (leaf like structures). It is usually recommended that cuttings be taken from half hardened wood and be about 5-15 cm long. Material taken from lateral growth and stem material hardening after flowering can be used for cuttings. The cutting should be cut below a node with sharp secateurs and the lower two thirds of the ‘leaves’ removed without tearing the bark. Reduce any large ‘leaves’ to about half their size or less to reduce water loss and stress. Remove any flowers or buds. Dip the base of the cutting in a rooting hormone, either liquid or powder and place cutting in plastic containers filled with cutting mix which has been lightly flattened. Make a hole with stick or pencil to take each cutting. Firm, water the pots before placing them under plastic, in a propagator or glass or ‘poly’ house. To strike cuttings of bipinnate (fern-like) foliaged Acacias is more difficult as the tiny leaflets tend to hold water and fall very quickly, thus spoiling the cutting. More experiments and trials need to be undertaken with this type of cutting to be consistently successful.

Some earlier posts have noted the rapid growth rate makes the need for cuttings redundant which is backed up by the thrust of the fact sheet:

Growing Acacias from seeds is the easiest and quickest method of producing plants. One important factor to consider is the source of seed. Seed collected from a home, botanical or other garden where Acacia species from different climatic zones grow together in an unnatural combination provides the opportunity for the production of hybrid seed resulting in plants that may not be true to type. Seed collected from natural bush areas would avoid this problem. A permit to collect would be required from State National Parks Authority or the land owner.

So unless trying to make a clone to retain characteristic of a specific plant, as Shibui suggested; or you lack access to seeds, the need for propagation via cuttings is fairly limited.

Source: http://worldwidewattle.com/infogallery/cultivation/

[MJL]

Hi Jiro,

I’m glad you think Blackwood may be good Bonsai - I am about to tread that path with a number of seedlings I have acquired. I plan a few single trees - treated differently eg - pot grown, in sieve in ground and a small stand of 3 perhaps.

Potential fodder for the current competition....




Bonsai teaches me patience.

[Matt S]

Hi Jiro/MJL,

Quite a few years ago I grew a forest of Acacia melanoxylon from seed that I collected so I thought I'd share what I found:

- The seedlings grew fast and even though they were in small plastic pots of various sizes I had trees about 500mm tall with trunks 70mm diameter at the base after 3 or 4 years. Thick bark developed quickly too.
- Root pruning was no problem, I usually did it whenever the shoots started to move after a period of no growth. I didn't go too hard on the roots.
- They back budded easily from old wood.
- Sometimes after rootpruning or hard foliage pruning they would revert to juvenile growth, which was annoying but they'd snap out of it after about 6 months if I left them alone.
- Pruning was constant to keep them under control and I was never able to get the leaves consistently small. As a result they always looked pretty rough and after about 15 years of mucking around I gave them to another club member where they promptly died. We suspected they got exposed to roundup; the leaves on all trees suddenly went juvenile, then yellow, then all twisted, then dead.
- I seem to remember they're not a particularly long lived species? I could be wrong.

In short, a suitable but not outstanding candidate for bonsai.

Matt.

[shibui]

I seem to remember they're not a particularly long lived species? I could be wrong.

A. melanoxylon is one of the largest and longest lived acacias.

[Jiro]

MJL,

sweet, I'm going to treat my seeds either tonight or tomorrow and see if they sprout. If not... the best laid plans of mice and men, as they say. I hope you succeed. If nothing else you could end up with some beautiful timber.

Matt,

Wow! Thanks, that is some solid info to carry into this project (if the seeds yield). Looking at the parent tree when I collected the seeds (it was pure happen stance, I'd been thinking about acacia for a week or two, pulled over for a smoko, and ended up admiring a nice black wood. When I looked down there was a carpet of seeds so I took advantage) I noted the length of the leaves as a potential issue but that bark really has me salivating.

Perhaps to counteract leaf size pushing the overall size of the plant pre bonsai will be an option. I once read that anything over 1 metre in height lost bonsai status but I have seen Ryan Neal work with bonsai that had to be over 1m in height. That being said 80cm or less would be my limit.


Many acacia are short lived ie 15 year mark but as Shibui pointed out 'Australian Blackwood' is a long lived and solid tree.

And finally... How, may I ask, did anyone ever allow roundup within cooee of their bonsai collection! The mind boggles!

Shibui,

Have you tried your bonsai hand with an A.melanoxylon?