BANKSIA INTEGRAFOLIA

[anttal63]

April 2007 this was brought from a garden centre. 4" pot - $8.95. I slipped it up to a 10" pot and tied it down. this is the now front.

[anttal63]

The tree started to put on lots of growth and i was tieing everything down. Febuary 2008 need a chop and re direction.

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[anttal63]

November 2008 and this is what i got. time for a style and a repot.

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[Steven]

Great progression Antonio! What an amasing transformation in just 18 months.

It appears to have some recently new growth at the tips, is this a factor in the timing of the repot? Have you had experience with bare rooting a B. integrafolia before cause your definitely holding back on that one mate!!!

[anttal63]

ah ha ha, its rare for me to hold back on anything. well steven this is my first BI ever. my timing was based upon the new growth b4 it takes of too much. i was once told to repot natives in warmer climate here in melbourne. november and febuary being good months. two days in it hasn't missed a beat, the tips are still pointing up smiling at the sun. callistamon is my next challenge but i like april-may for them.

[anttal63]

this baby after 2 weeks is now showing signs of popping, no die back what so ever. so after steven posted that banksia cascade this morning he inspired me to get some more. i like this varieties behaviour and the way it comply's with my make it or break it philosophy.
i was around the nursery i got this one from and found 3 more. one of which has a basal flare and movement to die for. checkm out guys $10 each cheap as chips. as soon as i can this week i will start work on them and do a step by step in a new thread. oh the 4th one is a callistamon (perth pink) as it sais pink flowers. that one i wont mess with roots other than winter, only slip pot.

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[Steven]

Looking forwards to seeing these little pup's developing into nice bonsai! Don't forget to take pic's before and after any work!!!

Regards,
Steven

[Joey]

That Banksia In your first post has really come along, and like steven said, all that in just 18 months!

Looking forward to that step by step thread you have planned for the others

[anttal63]

yep joey thats what the man said 18mths. these will be better again they are already bigger to start off with than the previous one. i cant wait either.

steven no worries i promise every single move.

[teejay]

Nice progression Ant, geez it grew up fast! I've got some younger ones as well that I'm working on (as with my bigger one) and I can't wait for them to grow up.

When do you hard prune Banksia can I ask?

[anttal63]

hey tee they grow very fast if you givem the right enviroment; fast draining soil and lots of sun,water and fert. if you tie them down they pop everywhere and this increases the speed of growth if you let that growth run. i prune hard mid to late autumn and spring.

[Steven]

When do you hard prune Banksia can I ask?

I did 3 trunk chops in mid Spring and repotted them at the same time. 2 were 25mm thick and one was like a baseball bat. All three have kicked on very nicely with no signs of slowing down at all.
They were kept damp and in 85% shade for 2 weeks and are now sitting in full sun.

Regards,
Steven

[Joel]

hey tee they grow very fast if you givem the right enviroment; fast draining soil and lots of sun,water and fert. if you tie them down they pop everywhere and this increases the speed of growth if you let that growth run. i prune hard mid to late autumn and spring.

May i ask what you fert you are using? I'm trying to avoid stuff with more than "2" in the NPK for phosphorus. Some native ferts have more than that, and i dont want a slow release native either.

Thanks!

JayC

[anttal63]

cool jay. well for starters i've got native osmocote in it. sprinkle the start of spring and add a little more every 2-3 weeks up until mid nov. then i got the brew.
60ml seasol seaweed, 10ml seasol fish fert, 10ml blood and bone, 10ml tomatoe fert and 10ml maxicrop. mix it all up. then 10 ml of the brew to 9 lt of water, weekly!!! i water most days.

[Jon Chown]

Good progression Antonio -= I saw some of these at Bunnings this morning but I thought that they would take for ever to thicken up. I can see I was wrong.

The fert recipe sounds interesting.

Jon