Banksia ericifolia 2 mini

[Rory]

Banksia ericifolia 'little eric' 2 - smaller bonsai attempt

This is an attempt at growing a mini Banksia. I'm still new to smaller bonsai, so will be an interesting learning curve no doubt. I may not succeed in keeping under the shohin height, but don't really care for rules anyway.

I really dislike small bonsai with large leaves or material that needs to be constantly reduced to maintain small leaves, so I try to start with better choices that don't require so much leaf reduction.

This will be fun to trial.

It has been placed into a pot by Esther Griffiths from Walsall pottery in the UK.

This was purchased from the Glendale Native Nursery in Newcastle. $16.95 as a 4inch tub.

With Banksia ericifolia, you can remove a lot of the roots and not worry about die-back. I prefer to leave all foliage on Banksia after a root removal, and this species is the same.

Don't remove a lot of the foliage on Banksias. With the first root prune, you can go hard on the roots of Banksia, but if you really want to cut foliage, then leave at least 60-70% of foliage on the tree to fasten the recovery.
Only cut back roots on a banksia when nights are over about 10 degrees, and don't do it at the end of summer or in autumn.
It needs time to push out a lot of new growth and even more time for the leaves to harden before winter. It needs time to regain health before coming into winter and you want to have the roots constantly pulling water out of the mix, not sitting in a wet mix over winter.
Now having said that, if the roots are staying wet too long and drainage becomes an issue, then repot immediately.
Separate the roots (cut off any that are rotten), bare-root and remove all the old soil and replace it with a fresh mix, adding in washed river sand.
I've lost more Banksia from root rot, than from drying out. With a few exceptions I've trialled, most Banksia can tolerate drought really well.

This variant is 'little eric'. I'm not sure there is much difference between this and the standard Ericifolia, but I have had problems with drought from 'little eric' before. I have also had problems with trunk chops from these, and lost one after a very low trunk chop.

B. ericifolia 2-01 17Nov2023.jpg

17Nov2023