Eucalyptus Camaldulensis, river red gum, seeds planted 2021

[Joshua]

Just a thread for posting notes/updates/questions for some Eucalyptus Camaldulensis grown from seed.
Ten seedlings that I started last year, and after a year they range in size from about 20cm tall to about 150cm.

These initial notes I wrote in february. At this time they were all in just normal potting soil.

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1.
This is in my wicking bed. It was by far the biggest one. It was crowded by chili plants all summer last year but over-took them during autumn. So it grew leggy but with a bushy top.
On a windy day during late-winter it was blowing around and I decided to give it a trunk chop, to just above the two lowest branches.
When the weather's warm enough I'll dig it up and put in a pot for another couple years.

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2.
Probably the most healthy one. It's in a ~25cm pot. I was thinking just to chop above the lowest branch and leaving the roots alone until next year. But my Mrs really likes this one and wants me to leave it alone and just let it grow. So perhaps trunk chop next year.

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3.
I had this long container on hand with a few different plants and cuttings in. Two of the seedlings went in here and this one grew quite big. It was in a windy spot without so many hours of sunlight.
Keen to trunk chop and repot soon to get everything into separate pots and better organise my space.

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4.
The second one that went into the long container mentioned above. It didn't seem to grow much at all. The two thin trunks were growing vertically together against each other, and only recently I tried separating them a bit with a bit of wire (not bonsai wire just something I had on hand).
I almost decided to get rid of it, but I like the look of the surface roots and curious to see how it will grow when potted up and in better conditions.

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5.
The pot for this one's about 30cm wide and 25 deep. Can't remember, but I might have in put an inverted smaller pot underneath.

It grew very bushy but not so tall, but I liked it.
During winter I noticed this white fuzz growing on a lot of leaves and doing some damage so removed all the affected leaves and branches which seemed to stop it propagating further, but only for a little while. It put out lots of shoots not long after but now it's not doing so well again.

The soil on the surface is moist and I haven't watered it in a while and the whole thing feels heavier than it should. I'm guessing it's somehow waterlogged, or it was simply overwatered and so now can't dry out properly. Tempted to do a proper repot soon.

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6.
A result of thinning out some of the many initial seedlings. I had a big grow bag with soil sitting in a corner that previously had some flowers, so I threw it in there. It grew quite vigorously despite being a bit neglected.
Container size ~30cm wide and deep.
A few weeks ago I think I left it a bit underwatered. Perhaps with the fabric bag and the wind it dried out on me quicker than I expected.
Thinking just to trunk chop. Hesitating about when to repot. Perhaps next year.

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7.
Part of a group of remaining seedlings that I just potted up together for convenience rather than separating. Mainly due to lack of space. This was the biggest one of those four but still quite small.
After scratching at the soil surface a little I was able to see a few radial root plus the taproot going down. I managed to get at the taproot without digging the whole thing up, and tore it up from underneath the plant, while leaving the rest relatively undisturbed.
Needed to tie it to a mini-stake because the roots aren't stable enough to hold it up.
Perhaps bad timing for root work, with temps around 5 - 15 C.
I brought it inside and on a heat mat for almost a week and now I'm taking it outside in the morning and bringing it in at night. For the first few days it sulked a bit when in the sun but now seems okay.

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8, 9, 10 :
Remaining three that were previously sharing a pot with number 7 above. I dug them up and repotted into small pots, at the same time as the above, and same after-care treatment.
One of these already didn't make it and another I chopped back because it had the same white fuzz that No. 5 had.

[BonsaiBobbie]

Thanks Joshua.

It is good to see how much growth you can get in a year.

I have a similar number of seedlings that I think are ready for the first repot. About how much growth did you wait for before doing?

[Joshua]

Hi Bobbie,

About how much growth did you wait for before doing?

I didn't take note at the time and the timing varied a bit, so I'm not sure I remember correctly.
But for they main few that are now big, they were still quite small at the first repot. I think just after they had a first few pairs of leaves.

I think I had started a few in these little coco coir discs things that expand with water, and a bunch more together in one pot.
The last few were the remaining that were all planted togther and they were only just recently separated (one of them died since).

Just to note, for every repot from the very young seedling I took some scissors and snipped most of the tap root, trying to leave at least one or two smaller side-roots nearer the surface.

[BonsaiBobbie]

Hi Bobbie,

About how much growth did you wait for before doing?

Just to note, for every repot from the very young seedling I took some scissors and snipped most of the tap root, trying to leave at least one or two smaller side-roots nearer the surface.

Thanks Joshua.

That is interesting re the tap root. Trying to understand both the horticultural and bonsai side, I'm wondering why snipping the tap root from so young?

To encourage more side roots for later nebari?

Is this just a euc thing? ie I imagine a eucalyptus has quite a strong tap root, but I'm wondering in terms of growing the tree (success rate of seedling / growth rates) how important is the tap root? I understand it's function in terms of stability, not much else!

[Joshua]

To encourage more side roots for later nebari?

Yes that's basically it.

Not so sure of myself but I think it's a pretty general thing. It's definitely not just eucs anyway.

I've seen posts about doing it with pines but even more extreme where they cut off basically all the roots. Called Seedling Cuttings.
Here not so extreme but same idea on pines: viewtopic.php?f=131&t=25843&start=45
Same thing with Mels : viewtopic.php?f=87&t=27824&hilit=mel+project&start=30

I read somewhere that seedlings can quite easily handle a more "drastic" root prune early on, more so than an established plant.
Even if that's not the case, seedlings are generally more numerous, cheaper, and have had less invested in them than older plants

I wouldn't be able to comment on the difference in success rate or growth rate.

[Joshua]

I'm left with four of those from the first post. A couple didn't make it and I gave a few of them away.
Here's an update on the first two.

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1. I think this was in May this year. Dug this one up out of the wicking bed to make space for a chili plant there, removed a lot of the root mass and potted into some bonsai mix in a big pot.

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1. The same one this weekend. It grew nicely over summer. I think I gave it a trunk chop not long after the repot shown above.

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2. I planted this one into a bucket with a wicking system and it was definitely the fastest/strongest grower. It already had a bit of size and it was almost at the balcony ceiling by the end of spring. I chopped it back a couple of times, mainly because it was consuming so much water. Now it has a fairly uninteresting straight trunk and the first branch is fairly high up. But it has thickened up a lot, and looks like there is a little bit of taper right at the bottom thanks to the roots?
It's about 4 or 5 cm diameter right at the soil, depending on which side you take the measurement.
I wonder if it's too thick for a proper trunk chop next spring?

[Joshua]

Update for number 3 - repot in April, and current state, after summer. There was a trunk chop somewhere in between, can't remember when exactly.
I think I left it too late to trim off one of the two remaining branches. I feel like it's already causing some reverse taper and at this point it will leave a massive scar right next to the original trunk chop. Probably should have just kept one of the two from the start.

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3. April - Dug up

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3. April - Roots trimmed

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3. A couple weeks later in the new pot

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3. October. Today

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[terryb]

There was a trunk chop somewhere in between, can't remember when exactly. I think I left it too late to trim off one of the two remaining branches. I feel like it's already causing some reverse taper and at this point it will leave a massive scar right next to the original trunk chop. Probably should have just kept one of the two from the start.

Too late for this year perhaps depending on your growing conditions but not too late in terms of this tree's progression. You can reduce that top cut so that the new leader will heal it in a nicer looking transition when the tree begins to grow vigorously next spring. Also letting that bottom trunk thicken, means a bigger scar to heal later on. Get rid of it when the tree is actively growing and it should heal well.

Euc.jpg

[Simmo]

I bought a couple of these as tube stock and the roots were coming out of the pot before I was ready to root prune and put into a growing pot. First impression was a very vigorous grower given the right conditions. Just a comment on your straight trunks. I usually wire anything small that I purchase. Give as many interesting changes of angle as you can without snapping the trunk. The bigger you allow the tree to grow the visually smaller those changes of angle will become, so it's best to give it a good bend while small.