Euc Camaldulensis (River Red Gum) Stump

[FlyBri]

Gday folks!

Here's another in a long line of less advanced Eucs that I have in training. I purchased the parent tree from Ba Loc Bonsai in June of 2007, and the gentleman there assured me that it was a River Red Gum (E. camaldulensis). As you can see in the first pic, the original trunk was far too straight and taperless(?) to be useful as Bonsai material, so in November or December of 2007, I decided to try an air layer. (More detailed info on the layering process here and here.)

River_Red_Layer_Mar_08_01.jpg

River_Red_Layer_Mar_08_02.jpg

Upon removal of the layer in March 2008, it can be seen that the new material poses some interesting styling challenges (read: it's ugly). The two main trunks had been allowed to grow too vigorously, and were now too thick to bend into shape. The long spacing of the internodes on said trunks made it difficult to address the problem with heavy pruning. Finally, to leave two such vigorous trunks growing in such close proximity would risk creating reverse taper and ugly bulging just above the soil line.

So I decided that I had to remove one of them...

River_Red_Layer_Mar_08_03.jpg

River_Red_Layer_Mar_08_04.jpg

...and if removing one is a good idea, then removing them both must be twice as good, right? So, in late December 2008, I got trigger happy and removed both major trunks in favour of a spindly little trunklet which displayed (mostly) better characteristics than the two previous leaders: short internodes (not apparent in the photos) and the flexibility necessary to be wired into shape. In the first pic, I had left one stub much longer than necessary in order to give my wire an anchor point, but since decided that it needed to go so that I could better visualize a direction for the new trunk.

River_Red_Layer_Jan_09_01.jpg

River_Red_Layer_Jan_09_02.jpg

Much of the wiring I have done is likely to be redundant, as the new trunk will probably be chopped in future to achieve better taper. However, more and more often, I find myself treating all sections of a given tree as though they will be part of the 'final' design. By this, I mean that I tend to wire and train not only the main tree but sacrifice branches as well. I think it is good practice for wiring/trimming, as well as the fact that such refined sacrifice branches/trunks may become great candidates for layers in the future. I hope this makes sense.

Now it's time to make the thing grow. Stay tuned for updates.

Thanks.

Fly.

[Jon Chown]

Hi Fly, Another good progression series - thank you. When I looked at the 4th photo, my immediate thought was for a mini bonsai as there appeared to be a small branch on the LH side behind the trunk.

What final height are you envisaging for this one? Or is it a case of suck it and see.

Jon

[FlyBri]

What final height are you envisaging for this one? Or is it a case of suck it and see.

Gday Jon!

As it stands, the very highest leaves are about 350mm from the soil level. The 'final' height of this tree will be largely governed by the foliage: those two large leaves new the top are about 200mm long (and I measured leaves up to 250mm on the parent plant). That said, I have not attempted to reduce the leaf size on this specimen, so I have no idea what can be achieved.

So I guess it's 'suck it and see' - I hope for very vigorous growth over the next couple of years to thicken the new leader, so maybe some ideas will present themselves in the future.

Thanks!

Fly.

[Jon Chown]

I think that the issue to be remembered here is that it is people like yourself who take the time to document the results of the attempts that you make that is going to benefit averyone else who decide to take on an Aussie Native in the future. Thank you for being a pioneer.

Jon

[FlyBri]

Gday folks!

Just finished a spot of wiring on this little project, and I think I'm starting to find a direction for it. In the few months since I originally posted, the new trunk has thickened to about 10-12mm and has stiffened nicely. The big branch on the left is destined to go, but I have wired it in the hopes that it will one day become a pre-styled layer (see 2nd photo). In the meantime, its vigorous growth should help me build taper.

River_Red_Layer_Jul_09.jpg

River_Red_Layer_Jul_09_Virt.jpg

Further updates as they come to hand.

Thanks.

Fly.

[anttal63]

looking good fly! you da red gum man.

[miyagiman]

great work there fly, hope it all goes to plan for you. to what extent is the success on air layering of eucalypts in general. can anyone help out here. might be a great way of obtaining suitable material. cheers, dave.

[Chris]

great work there fly, hope it all goes to plan for you. to what extent is the success on air layering of eucalypts in general. can anyone help out here. might be a great way of obtaining suitable material. cheers, dave.

i aslo would like to know

great looking tree flybri

[FlyBri]

... to what extent is the success on air layering of eucalypts in general. can anyone help out here. might be a great way of obtaining suitable material. cheers, dave.

Gday Dave & Co!

I've had reasonable success with Eucalyptus layering: maybe 80-90%, I guess. Have a look at this thread to see how I go about layering my Eucs. Just yesterday, I began another layer from the same stock tree and I hope to find time to get some photos up this week.

Thanks for the encouraging comments everybody!

Fly.

[NathanM]

Wow, that looks awesome!! It's come along way!! I've been thinking about red gums lately, so I'll be keeping an eye on this thread!^_^

[FlyBri]

River_Red_Layer_Sep_09_01.jpg

[Deemon]

Looking good, Thanks for the info.

Well done.

deemon

[bodhidharma]

Its looking good Fly. Very encouraging stuff. I am doing one myself at the moment this info will help a lot. TA

[FlyBri]

Gday folks!

What to do on a 43° day? Stay inside in the relative cool, or go out and stand in the scorching wind? Well, I chose the latter. While I was out by my Bonsai bench, I noticed that this tree was wilting, despite having had a drenching this morning. I have learned through a bit of experience that this is a good indication that the roots have grown to fill the pot (or that the soil is otherwise clogged with small particles or mud).

River_Red_Layer_Jan_10_01.jpg

River_Red_Layer_Jan_10_02.jpg

Once I got into the soil, my suspicions were (both) confirmed: there were masses of roots, but also the sphagnum that I had used as the layering medium was breaking down and preventing water (and more importantly, air) reaching the roots. In fact there was an area near the trunk about the size of golf ball that was pure sphagnum (from the layering process) and this was completely devoid of roots.

I began by gently combing out the roots and pruning back the large roots underneath the trunk.

River_Red_Layer_Jan_10_03.jpg

River_Red_Layer_Jan_10_04.jpg

Then I trimmed the roots further, and did my best to poke/comb/wash our as much of the sphagnum as I could. I am beginning to think that sphagnum is not an appropriate soil additive given my climate and watering regime.

River_Red_Layer_Jan_10_05.jpg

I thoroughly washed the mix (gravel, coarse sand and sifted potting mix) through a fine sieve (~2mm) to remove the offending small particles of soil and sphagnum, and added a generous portion of Chandler's (attapulgite), a bit of vermiculite and the ubiquitous Dynamic Lifter. Actual proportions are quite arbitrary, but I mixed the ingredients until they looked 'right'. While I made up the new mix, I set the tree aside with a wet towel to keep the roots cool.

River_Red_Layer_Jan_10_06.jpg

As I have removed a great deal of roots (60-70% ), it was necessary to wire the tree into its training pot. I have potted quite low in the pot to try to force root growth further up the trunk.

River_Red_Layer_Jan_10_07.jpg

Now it's time to water like crazy and watch the growth explode.

Thanks.

Fly.

[EdwardH]

Great read Fly. For many years I have consistently heard that you cannot take cuttings or airlayer eucs. Seems like there might be a few red faces out there in horticulture land.