Sheoak Tube Stock

[Ryceman3]

I got half a dozen or so Black Sheoaks (Allocasuarina Littoralis) as tube stock in October of 2018. When I picked them up they were about 5mm or so in diameter and dead straight (around 20cm tall) - I remember because I decided to jam a few bends into them before they got thicker. I wish I had some pics of them ... if I took some I can't find them, but in any case here they are pretty much exactly 2 years later ...

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Not really a progression as such, but hopefully a bit of motivation for people to pick up a few twigs from their local nurseries and have a bit of fun. It's cheap and (depending on the species I guess) can give you some decent results in a short space of time.

[juan73870]

For two years of growth, I'm pretty impressed! Nice work!! Love the curves you've made

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[KIRKY]

The bark on them is impressive for just two years
Cheers
Kirky

[jessepap]

wow what is the secret for so much thickening after only 2 years?!?!

[Ryceman3]

wow what is the secret for so much thickening after only 2 years?!?!

Nothing particularly; just sun, water and fertiliser like all other trees. You can see the one I singled out for the "alone" shot is clearly biggest, although there are a couple of others that are close and then some others that are probably only half that thickness. I guess genetics given they were all treated similarly, although it was in a slightly bigger pot??!?

[Rory]

It depends on the type of seedling for littoralis and torulosa.

Some torulosa seedlings naturally bulge like a fig seedling at the base, and others don't have much bulge at all.

If they are given ample room to grow and plenty of sunlight with good drainage, both these species can easily thicken many cm's in a few years, that's pretty normal

I have found in particular with the Allos, you're better off growing the ones without the bulge, otherwise you end up with the same significant bulging problem that Banksia serrata can develop, and it usually isn't a good look, (very unnatural) as they become older material.

But in particular, allo seedlings will thicken incredibly fast if the seedling develops fissured bark early on. If you perform a very low trunk chop, you'll often see from the cross section that only about 1/3 of the diameter is the wood and the rest is just bark.

If you want thick based material, just let them grow long and hard, as they will usually shoot anywhere after a low trunk chop.

[Ryceman3]

Here’s another one of these I am choosing to take in a slightly different direction. I repotted today from plastic into a bonsai pot. I’ve been working on the trunk bends on this fairly regularly over the last 6 months or more. Will be focussing on the foliage development from here.
It’s only little, around 20cms from top of pot up.

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[Watto]

This is a very interesting thread, thanks for the effort.
I look, I learn.

[Brekel]

I like the curves in that last one. Sometimes the more contorted trees don't seem to do it for me, but the shaping of that captures something that's really appealing. Looking forward to seeing where it goes.

[Ryceman3]

Did some work today on the little one I posted about a couple of months ago.
It's coming along.

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[terryb]

Thanks for updating R3. Awesome documentation as usual.

... and an artsy detail shot for laughs...

I like the way you style your trees, so for me, this detail was actually the most useful photo. I can see your shapes, cuts and the tree's response.

[Ryceman3]

An update on some of the bases from the first post in this thread ... I went with a moody black and white theme given the trees themselves aren't much to look at right now, and it helps to accentuate the trunks which are the thing of interest at this point... and I was a bit bored and looking for something different to spice up my life!

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[Keels]

Nice progress. I tried a similar process with Casuarina Cunningham seedlings but it hasn't turn out as nice as those.

[Pearcy001]

Ryceman you are growing some absolute cracker stock at the moment mate. Well done.

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[Pat3222]

Looking really good! I had a couple of these that didn't survive a summer trip away. I haven't tried them again, was concerned by lack of branching choices aside from near the apex. What's your experience so far? Might have inspired me to have another go.. cheers