Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

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Jan
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Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Jan »

G'day,

I have a number of young Podrocarpus Lawrencei that I've grown from cuttings (they strike very easily) and am considering moving some on to bonsai training.
Has anyone done any root pruning on this species?
And what is the best time to root prunt them?
I am considering root-over-rock style for some of them (I've grown them in tall pots to get longer roots). Any advice?

Thanks,

Jan
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Elias »

Hi Jan,

I recently purchased one of these (only a little guy) and will look forward to hearing some advice on this species, the only thing with them I've noticed is that they are slow growers and shoot back on old wood very well.... I was thinking of placing mine into a bonsai pot around November, I figure it will a bit more active around that time.
I have heard of people working with these and having success but unfortunately there isn't much info on these species as a bonsai...


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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Kunzea »

hi Jan
Elias' comments on slow growing are very true in my experience. I've had some for 25+ years and the stems are still pretty small. I have one that has a long pedigree of previous owners and had a trunk close to 30-35 mm, and it looks pretty good.

The species produces good strong shoot growth, with many branchlets to work with, and it does shoot back well. If you have both male and female plants (sexes are on separate plants), they will get beautiful small red fruits at almost any time of year (thus the common name mountain plum), but the male flowers are only in the spring.

The most commonly known forms in the wild are at high elevations, often above tree line. They hug granite boulders and have wildly exiciting trunk lines. There is a small tree form in the forests of the Erinundra Plateau in NE Victoria. I've only had a glimpse at these and they weren't much to write home about, but careful searching of the whole population there might produce some gems. As small trees in the understorey of large eucs, they were mostly thin trunked and straight.

I've grown mine as informal uprights and and cascades, with growth in each being OK.

I saw a magnificent specimen at a bonsai exhibition in the mid '80s. The trunk was easily 150 mm in diameter, strongly curving as it rose out of the pot and cascaded downwards. A real eye-opener of a plant. It survived very well for many many years I'm told, but when the owner moved to a more inland situation without access to good water, the tree declined and died. What a pity.

I work on mine in the late winter (Aug) and throughout spring. Pruning can be done at any time, but watch if you are getting those male or female cones. The males are small, but occur in clusters and with their slightly purplish red bracts and pale yellow pollen, they are most attractive (spring time). The young female cones are hard to see as they are very well camoflaged amongst the foliage.

They seem to produce a very strong coarsely fibrous root system. The roots are fascinating as they have a special mycorhyzal form that makes them look like finely beaded strings.

Hope that is of some help.
Cheers
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Jan »

Thanks for the excellent information, Kunzea.

Yes, Ive noticed the "strings of beads" on the roots; I wasn't sure if they were mychorhyza or ...? They are quite obvious on the roots. I wasn't aware that there was a male and female form, I'll have to watch mine and see what I've got. I started with three plants from two different sources (Mt Annan and Dealbata native nursery) so with luck I'll have both. I failed to keep track of which cuttings came from which plant so they will remain a mystery untill big enough to flower/set cones.

I'm considering trying both a cascade and a root over rock/semi cascade with the larger plants (trunks are only about finger thickness so far). I think I'd better make a start with them before they much older.

Thanks again,

Jan
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Grant Bowie »

I haven't grown P lawrencii for a while but I have a male and female P macrophylla "Maki", a chinese Podocarp. The root system is similar and would be difficult to make into a root over rock as there are too many fine roots that would thicken very slowly and may not grasp the rock well.

Interested to hear how you go as I think Podocarps are underused as bonsai, although not surprising as they are so slow. My male Podocarp would be about 30 years old and is starting to thicken and flair at the base. It has been in a bonsai pot or black plastic pot for all of its life.
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Jan »

Well its been a long time coming but I finally got around to doing something with this problem child.

It had been growing on in a large pot for several years with occasional "clip 'n grow" pruning but not much else. I'm in the process of cleaning up anything that has been in post for a while doing nothing special - they will either start down the bonsai training road or be gone, so I've used some in the "Forest" comp and am cleaning the rest up as time permits.

I knew this Podrocarpus Lawrencei would be a big job so, as I had time yesterday, weather was cool and overcast/damp, although not traditionally the correct time of year for a repot, I started on this one.
20201213_102528.jpg
I think this was the started cutting that I purchased on a visit to Mt. Annan (2007-8?); it has survived on occasional trims and neglect. I knew that the roots would be a tangle by now but at least I had spread them out when I moved it to its grow-on pot. It has certainly grown a substantial set of strings of finely beaded roots with a few larger roots (I presume some of the originals).
20201213_102647.jpg
It took a lot of untangling, blasting potting media with the hose and working with chopsticks, to see what needed to be trimmed up to set it on its new course. Even with a cool moist day it needed constant misting and occasional dunking in a container of water to keep the roots from drying out.

I've cut away the bigger/thicker roots (you've got to love the rich red colour of the heavy roots), trimmed the length of the others and repotted into san ivory coloured rectangular pot with blueish tones in the glaze and a dragon motif, and dressed it with local mosses to "mulch" the potting media. I chose this colour as a good one to show off the red/brown trunks and the rich green leaves. Again I have used charcoal from my heater to act as lightweight spreaders for the branches. The top was cut back to balance the amount of root removed and to set the plant up to put out branches this season or next, :fc: .
20201213_171100.jpg
Now I wait to see signs of new growth :fc: . They seem to be very forgiving (it has survived me so far!), and we are having a soft growing season so it should produce some new shoots this season.

Jan.
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Jan »

So time to look at Podrocarpus Lawrencei 2...
20201214_155728.jpg
We can all see the problem, parallel trunk line - after considering alternatives (none of which were going to end up with much of a plant) I decided to layer the trunk, growing a new set of roots using the top as a new tree. The remaining two branches on the base (tree 3) I will look at training to resemble the Mountain Plum Pines hugging the granite boulders in Kosciuszko.
20201214_160204.jpg
Cut made and hormone liquid applied. I hunted around and found a small plastic sauce bottle to be the "pot" for this layer..
20201214_161432.jpg
Fitted it to the tree, joined it up with wire, filled it with wet sphagnum moss, covered with polythene and foil and back to the bench to await developments.
20201214_162833.jpg
I'm comfortable with layering it as I have had success with cuttings in the past.

Jan
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by MJL »

Thanks for the instructive update Jan.


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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Sno »

Looking good Jan .
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Jan »

Well, I haven't killed it so that has to be a good start. :D
20210201 144639 Podrocarpus Lawrencii (2).jpg
I was just going to weed this one after our recent rain/warm weather (don't know which was responsible for the latest weed seed germination) but decided to tidy this one up and take a few update images.
It is sending out quite a few new shoots at leaf junctions and on old wood (you've gotta love that!) so I snipped off some of the dead leaves (taking care to retain a bit to protect the emerging shoots) because I'm a tidy-a-holic and to give the new shoots room to grow.
20210201 141005 Podrocarpus Lawrencii (2).jpg
I noticed an oddity on one shoot on one of the large trunks - the upper portion is purple (rosemary flower colour even though it shows as blue in the image).
20210201 140945 Podrocarpus Lawrencii (2).jpg
20210201 142705 Podrocarpus Lawrencii (2).jpg
I had a look on the internet and, although there is reference to this species having male and female plants, only the male cone and the fruit are shown. I found no female "cone/flower" depicted anywhere so not sure if this is a female cone/flower or a foalige colour oddity. The shape and the texture of the purple portion is different to the leaf and the shoot looks to be strong and healthy not wilting back which may have made the top growth different.
Interesting.

I await developments.
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Redsonic »

I am not sure how reliable the source is, but this guy davesgarden.com has photos of female flowers.
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Jan »

Well done, Redsonic.

That is the colour but not the shape of what I have growing. I'll continye to watch it develope and post images if it does anything interesting.

I checked the layer on the smaller plant and it is callusing up nicely so I await developments (developing roots) there, too.

Jan
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Jan »

Layering update
20210416_143608 Opened layer to inspect.jpg
20210416_143530 New roots forming.jpg
This seems to be a positive result. I've closed the layer back up and will allow the roots to get a bit bigger before I remove it.

The larger plant seems to have taken the cut back and root prune a bit hard. There are still some live leaves on it but it is looking poorly overall. There is some hope as there are some new shoots coming in a range of locations on the branches (just shows how forgiving these plants are).
20210417_112610.jpg
20210417_112635.jpg
I will not remove the old leaves but wait until they fall don't want to damage any new shoots are forming at a leaf junction. . :fc:

Jan
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Jan »

While I'll "wait 'n see" for a while yet :fc: it doesn't look good for the larger plant. It has browned off and is showing no signs of life at the moment. I live in hope, so I'll just hide it at the back just in case it shoots.

The cutting from this one that I layered is looking promising.
20211018_162808 Podrocarpus Lawrenci layer.jpg
20211018_162723 Podrocarpus Lawrenci roots.jpg
It has some little roots and is swelling nicely to give flare to the base of the plant when I do eventually seperate it. For now I've covered it up again to await more root development.
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Re: Podrocarpus Lawrencei advice request

Post by Jan »

:palm: Sad news, the larger Podrocarpus Lawrencei decided to give up after initially sending out some new shoots. Note to self: hasten slower with the next plant.

Podrocarpus Lawrencei 2 is growing and a check of the layer yesterday afternoon is looking very positive.
20211212_173305.jpg

The little roots that were seen in an earlier image are progressing nicely, if a little slow (well, it has been a much colder and prolonged spring). After the lesson with the bigger Podrocarpus Lawrencei, I'll let this one continue to build roots before removing the layer, there is plenty of growing season left and we are, at last, getting some warmer days to encourage growth. Roots have shot evenly around the layer and, with the shortened trunk, it should be a much better tree.

The bonus is that I still have the base, with two branches, to train into a contorted twin trunk against a suitable rock outcrop, as seen in nature in Kosciusko.

Jan
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