Acacia for noobs?

[dawn]

Hi,

I'm new here, and completely new to bonsai (that's a bit of a lie, i had some sort of myrtle well over a decade ago and promptly killed it), and i was thinking of getting my toes wet with an acacia.

Is this a reasonable starter plant?
Can i keep it indoors? I currently live in an apartment.
Can i find seeds easily? When's the best time?

Thanks!

[shibui]

Short answers
No
No
Yes

More explanation?:
There are people growing great acacia bonsai now but I have found them quite difficult to maintain. They don't seem to like my repotting methods or timing. A few will sprout easily after pruning but many will not shoot on bare wood so you'll need to have good management skills to keep them looking good long term so I don't think it is really suitable for beginners.
Acacia howittii prostrate form seems to be the most popular acacia for bonsai. Note that it is a special selected form and is grown from cuttings, not seed. Plants readily available at nurseries.

Very few trees do well indoors. Most seem to need good light and plenty of fresh air to do well and slowly weaken when kept inside. One exception is Ficus species which manage very well. If you want an inside bonsai you could not go past Ficus rubiginosa - port Jackson fig. Hardy, responsive quick growing and great for beginners.

If you still want to try acacia:
You can collect acacia seed from the trees if there are any near you. Pods ripen in my area around Christmas. Most trees will have lots of seed.
Acacia seed is also readily available from seed retailers. Look up native seed online and take your pick.

[dawn]

Oh dang.

Would it change anything if i said i could put it out on the patio for some sun/air times?
I dont want to keep anything out there because it gets crazy windy and i also dont trust the possums. And I'd also forget about it (Sorry little fern!).

I'll start with a ficus if that is all that will work, i was just hoping for something that might flower at some point.

Thanks for the quick response!

[rich]

Short answers
but many will not shoot on bare wood so you'll need to have good management skills to keep them looking good long term

New to bonsai myself and have 2 Acacia's styled (colletioides and cognata), appreciate if you could go into any more details by what you mean by that?

[GavinG]

When you prune your Acacias, cut them back to the last couple of leaves, but not back into bare stems - they won't reshoot, and the branch will probably die. If your tree already has long stretches where the leaves/needles have fallen off, it's very difficult to get new branches or foliage to grow there - a bit like junipers.

Acacia howittii has been quite easy for me, flowers like a dream and gets interesting shapes more or less by itself. Let it grow without pruning all year, pour the fertiliser into it, then cut it back to the last couple of years in ?September after it's flowered. Needs A LOT of sun.

Good luck.

Gavin

[shibui]

As Gavin implied you cannot allow them to grow freely for too long because when you cut it back you can only cut back to where there are leaves. If you don't prune often enough (which is most beginners) you'll end up with long bare branches with foliage just at the ends after a few years.

[internode]

Hello dawn, sound advice from others here. One important thing to take into account with Acacia is that they are short lived, they look fresh and attractive when young and increasingly dark and woody as they age, it's a learning experience. Cheers.

[Rory]

Wattle is a lovely tree. Personally I am not much of a fan of Acacia as bonsai.

Don't get me wrong, I love Acacia and I would love to have them as bonsai. But from my own experiences with them, I tend to agree with Neil. Most of the varieties I tried never really survived the root pruning. The only exceptions were howitii and parramattensis.

I tried about 8 or 10 other varieties and they all eventually died soon after repots. I don't know whether it was timing or the root prune or after care, but it didn't impress me enough to pursue them.

EDIT: I should add that when I root prune I could easily take off more than 50% of the roots. So it may have been a case of too much too soon. But I figured I didn't want to pursue them too much if they were not hardy enough to survive a 50% reduction.

[treeman]

I had a western myall going along well for a number of years but then it died. Not easy.
melanoxylon and glaucescens are possibilities but really why would you bother?

Even though they are short lived, I might put in some Silver wattle this year for fun.

[dawn]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, i think i will start with something a bit more beginner friendly

[Rory]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, i think i will start with something a bit more beginner friendly

Hi Dawn,

Obviously you can still give the Acacia a go, it will be a learning experience if anything else.
You can't keep these indoors, but if your balcony gets at least half-day sun then go for it.

For a beginner I'd recommend these really hardy natives:

Casuarina species (any)
Banksia integrifolia
Eucalyptus saligna
Melaleuca squarossa
Leptospermum cardwell

[dawn]

Thank you Rory, I will have a look at those and go from there.
Are any of them able to be grown from collected seed or cuttings?

[Rory]

Thank you Rory, I will have a look at those and go from there.
Are any of them able to be grown from collected seed or cuttings?

If you are on a balcony I wouldn't bother with seeds or cuttings if it was me personally. I'm not really sure about the cuttings because I have never really bothered much with growing cuttings.

If it is natives in particular you are after I would just go to a native nursery and for only $3 or $4 you can get yourself small starters, or for around $12 you can pick up a good 4 inch starter.

A few others to try if they don't stock those above:

Eucalyptus crebra & Eucalyptus nicholii (both have naturally small leaves)
Melaleuca bracteata

[shibui]

Casuarina species (any)
Banksia integrifolia
Eucalyptus saligna
Melaleuca squarossa
Leptospermum cardwell

All these can be grown from seed Dawn. You might be able to get B. integrifolia seed from trees along the coast or in gardens along most of the east coast. B.i. seed ripens mid - late summer I think then the follicles all open and the seed drops so you do need to be ready if you're planning to collect some. Same deal with acacias. I think you'd need to buy seed for the others but you may be able to collect seed from other related species that are in your area.
Leptospermum and Melaleuca are generally pretty easy from cuttings so if you can find a plant somewhere have a go.
Banksias can be grown from cuttings but not always so easy.
Eucs are generally very, very difficult from cuttings.

[rich]

Thanks for the advice. I really like the look of many Acacia's, hard for me to overlook them atm for bonsaiing. I might change my mind if they start dieing, one of them is starting to look a touch off colour, I'm hoping it's just because of the stormy weather of late.