Melaleuca advice.

[jgmansell]

I have grown this from seed and the only survivor of my first attempt at a forest. Could someone please advise on best time to prune and repot as I don’t want to lose this one. I am in Brisbane, the plant is about 40mm at the base and 250mm tall.
Thanks


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[Ryceman3]

Now is a pretty good time to repot natives in Melbourne, and I assume that holds for Brisbane too. I like to put my natives in a water tray after repotting for a bit, so if it was mine I’d be applying that technique too, seems to help them bounce back.
In terms of pruning, I would wait for the growth to elongate after the repot. I have repotted and pruned with success, but leaving the foliage seems to result in faster recovery… then follow up with a prune in about a month.

[shibui]

Any time while the tree is actively growing which is probably all year round up there. They do not seem to mind root pruning, even in mid summer, provided you can maintain moisture.

Pruning the top can be done any time it gets untidy. I have not seen any adverse reaction to pruning at any time of year. While they are actively growing new buds and regrowth will be really quick but if pruned while the tree is dormant regrowth may take a bit longer but will still happen at the next growth time.