Hey all
While looking around at bunnings i spotted some of these on the tubestock rack for $4 so i tried to find the healthiest one (greenest one )
wondering if i should slip pot to a bigger pot and just let it go mad for a while also any information on how to keep these things alive would be awesome as well
cheers
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19, Apprentice stonemason, Never get tired of bonsai
Steven has some threads on Casuarina/Allocasuarina that may be useful.
It's little and skinny, so the first thing to do is cut back hard (maybe late spring? maybe to the first branch), slip pot and grow it like mad - big long and thick. Then cut back hard next year, and build angles into the trunk every year with the new angle the trunk shoots out at. If you get me. Spend 5-10 years building a trunk with some interesting shape and good thickness. They bud back well when cut hard, so you won't have trouble making branches when the time comes.
Hey Gavin
I'd been reading all the threads on casuarina in the natives section of the forum before I bought this tree. I'll try and keep it alive until spring then probably chop it or wire the trunk to get some movement in there.
When do you think it would be okay to slip pot it ?
19, Apprentice stonemason, Never get tired of bonsai
Firstly you have bought a great species for bonsai, many people use torulosa but my preference is for littoralis, the bark on them is much harder which makes working on them so much easier.
I have grown quite a few of them from tubes its a great way to start. You should wire your tree now and get some 3 dimensional curves into it, they wire very easily when they are young but the wood gets very hard with age. You need to exaggerate the curves because these trees thicken quite quickly and if you make the movement too soft it will disappear as the tree ages.
You should slip pot now into a good coarse diatomite based mix then do a more serious repot late in the year when the weather as warmed up a bit Don't worry about branches too much at this stage just concentrate on getting a good trunk first.
Craigw
Hey craig
they look amazing for bonsai ! like a black pine but backbud better haha
will wire it up after school today and slip pot into something bigger
not going to worry about branches yet cause they backbud (yay!)
wish school would hurry it self up haha
19, Apprentice stonemason, Never get tired of bonsai
Congratulations on your venture into Allo/Casuarina. I'm sure you will enjoy working with them! Littoralis are a lovely species and grow really well in pot culture.
You have received great advice already and I'd only add that you should follow both bits of advice from Craig and Gavin.
If it were mine, I'd be wiring it and exaggerating the bends then slip potting it as Craig has advised. Feed heavily (while it is actively growing), and let it grow untrimmed for a year or 2 to put on some girth. As they tend to lack taper I'd then follow Gavins advice and chop it back to a low branch or even the bare trunk. This should be done while it is very active during Spring or early Summer. It will back shoot like crazy and you can then select a new trunk line, future branches or let some lower shoots grow at the back as sacrifice branches. Continue the process of wire, grow, chop - wire, grow, chop, until you are happy with the trunk. You can then start work on the branches which can be done with a similar process.
Good luck and please keep us updated on your progress.
thats why i love this forum so much, the people here give such great advice
a great big thankyou to you steven and all the moderators of the site for making it the best forum on the web
You have some great casuarinas steven hope i can keep this one alive
Last edited by KyBonzai on April 22nd, 2013, 12:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
19, Apprentice stonemason, Never get tired of bonsai
May have ended the top half of this trees life haha
while wiring bending the trunk it nearly completely split just above the first branch and started to crack a bit further up
i wrapped these areas tightly with florists tape ( i dont think its grafting tape ?) and just left it to recover
the pot is now soaking in seasol ( thankyou to mum for buying me it ) hoping for the best now but i will probably buy some more of these on the weekend anyway
19, Apprentice stonemason, Never get tired of bonsai
) 
and slip pot into something bigger 
