Collected E. sideroxylon

Post Reply
greg27
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 821
Joined: August 28th, 2019, 7:52 am
Favorite Species: Olive & Eucalypts
Bonsai Age: 2
Bonsai Club: SA Bonsai Society; VNBC
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 608 times
Been thanked: 452 times
Contact:

Collected E. sideroxylon

Post by greg27 »

I wasn't going to post this, since I'm not too confident in the survival of this collection, but I guess even failure could help someone out someday.

I was driving to my local IGA on Sunday for emergency milk (and hot cross buns) supplies when I spotted this eucalypt on an empty block. It's a few metres from a Eucalyptus sideroxylon street tree so I'm assuming it's self-seeded from that. I Googled the address and found the land had been sold in 2014 (with a nice-looking house and front yard), and in 2017 approval was granted for demolition of the house and construction of 2x town houses and consulting rooms. They've done the demo part but no construction yet. Given there was nothing left of the old front garden I'd say this tree started growing after demolition in 2017. It doesn't have any signs of the ironbarky-bark, so I think we can say that four years of ground growing isn't enough time for this to form.

So I did what any sane person would do and went back and dug the tree out. I didn't take any before shots but it was around 1.5m x 1.5m, very bushy and healthy-looking. As expected there was a thick tap root with very few lateral roots.

I exposed the cambium in a few places around the widest part of the lignotuber to hopefully encourage roots to grow there - who knows if that'll work. I've potted it up into a mix of potting mix and pumice, and it's now sitting in a tray of water. Fingers crossed...
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
Rory
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 2807
Joined: January 23rd, 2013, 11:19 pm
Favorite Species: Baeckea Phebalium Casuarina & Banksia
Bonsai Age: 24
Location: Central Coast, NSW
Has thanked: 22 times
Been thanked: 456 times

Re: Collected E. sideroxylon

Post by Rory »

Professor Hubert: Adelaide? Eucalyptus. No fine root. Mid Autumn. hmmmm ....

Bender (futurama): Statiscally speaking.....you're boned.
Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
greg27
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 821
Joined: August 28th, 2019, 7:52 am
Favorite Species: Olive & Eucalypts
Bonsai Age: 2
Bonsai Club: SA Bonsai Society; VNBC
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 608 times
Been thanked: 452 times
Contact:

Re: Collected E. sideroxylon

Post by greg27 »

Rory wrote: April 8th, 2021, 9:44 am Professor Hubert: Adelaide? Eucalyptus. No fine root. Mid Autumn. hmmmm ....

Bender (futurama): Statiscally speaking.....you're boned.
Why must you analyse everything with your relentless logic?!

Keep the faith Rory!
User avatar
TimS
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 1919
Joined: March 17th, 2017, 2:46 pm
Favorite Species: Japanese Maple
Bonsai Age: 9
Bonsai Club: Waverly Bonsai Group
Location: Melbourne
Has thanked: 426 times
Been thanked: 537 times

Re: Collected E. sideroxylon

Post by TimS »

Stranger things have happened.....

Rimmer from Red Dwarf: ‘only two things spring to mind; the spontaneous combustion of the Mayor of Warsaw in 1546, and that time in 12th century Burgundy it rained herring’

Seriously though I’d not get too attached to it
In the blue darkening sky, the moon paints a pine tree.
jofi
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 14
Joined: July 9th, 2015, 7:14 pm
Favorite Species: Ash, Maples, Fig, Aus Natives
Bonsai Age: 15
Location: Sunshine Coast
Has thanked: 43 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Collected E. sideroxylon

Post by jofi »

Do you have an update on this one, Greg?
The lignotuber is usually just a starch reserve full of dormant buds (the old ‘in case of emergency’). If you can strike roots from it, full credit :yes:
Grow hard, cut hard, wire hard
greg27
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 821
Joined: August 28th, 2019, 7:52 am
Favorite Species: Olive & Eucalypts
Bonsai Age: 2
Bonsai Club: SA Bonsai Society; VNBC
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 608 times
Been thanked: 452 times
Contact:

Re: Collected E. sideroxylon

Post by greg27 »

jofi wrote: April 22nd, 2021, 4:58 pm Do you have an update on this one, Greg?
The lignotuber is usually just a starch reserve full of dormant buds (the old ‘in case of emergency’). If you can strike roots from it, full credit :yes:
It's shed about half its leaves with no signs of any new buds. I'm not writing it off just yet but am definitely not holding my breath either.
greg27
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 821
Joined: August 28th, 2019, 7:52 am
Favorite Species: Olive & Eucalypts
Bonsai Age: 2
Bonsai Club: SA Bonsai Society; VNBC
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 608 times
Been thanked: 452 times
Contact:

Re: Collected E. sideroxylon

Post by greg27 »

So as above, about half the leaves on this one dried up and fell off. Those that remain are still green and the tree seems happy to hold on to them.

This morning I spotted a tiny bud towards the top of the tree, so good to see it's putting some effort there rather than just dying back.

:fc:
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
greg27
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 821
Joined: August 28th, 2019, 7:52 am
Favorite Species: Olive & Eucalypts
Bonsai Age: 2
Bonsai Club: SA Bonsai Society; VNBC
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 608 times
Been thanked: 452 times
Contact:

Re: Collected E. sideroxylon

Post by greg27 »

Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, this one didn't make it. There was a bit of initial growth from a few different spots, but the branches all slowly died back over winter. I pulled it out of the pot yesterday and there weren't any new roots, and the ones there had started to rot.

I drove past the block of land that I grabbed this from a few weeks ago and all the weeds had been cleared, so it was still worth a shot.
Post Reply

Return to “Eucalyptus”