Eucalyptus citriodora

[MattA]

During watering today i noticed how much this little lemon scented gum had come on. It is 3yrold tube stock, it had its first 12mths in a large squat pot & really didnt thrive. So into the ground it went for 12mths. Its been back in a pot 4mths. It had a basic trim of the branchs 9wks ago. And tip pruned 4wks ago, now i am going to let it extend as much as it likes for a year. I am aiming for a tree about 30cm tall and at present its about 25cm with a trunk of about 2cm. The nebari also needs work i will see how it responds to ground layering starting next yr.

Does anyone know how long it will keep the juvenile leaf form? I really like the slight red haze over the new growth.

Matt

[MattA]

Got a beautiful pot from Penny @ Mudlark that i think will work really well with this one so i decided to rethink its design. Over she goes & cleaned out all the unneeded mass. The metal rod is acting as anchor point to bring the new crown up into position.

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Am open to all comments regarding where this one is heading. Maybe someone could virt the tree into the pot for me?


Matt

[Edward Scissorhand]

Matt, cant wait to see this one grow into that mudlark pot. I got a 2 or 3 tubestock lemon citridora and about the same age as yours but because theyve just been in small pots, they havent grown as thick. Anyway Im gonna do what you did and plant them in the ground for a year or two this early spring.

[MattA]

Hey Eddie,

As a seedling in a pot it really didnt do anything except show me how small the leaves will reduce to If you are planting in ground i would be putting something underneath to encourage the roots to go out instead of down & put it somewhere you will water. This one went into my front garden & only got watered to settle in & then lived on natures supply. As a result it has poor nebari & will take a fair bit to correct.

Matt

[Glenda]

Hey Eddie,

As a seedling in a pot it really didnt do anything except show me how small the leaves will reduce to If you are planting in ground i would be putting something underneath to encourage the roots to go out instead of down & put it somewhere you will water. This one went into my front garden & only got watered to settle in & then lived on natures supply. As a result it has poor nebari & will take a fair bit to correct.

Matt

A friend of mine plants his in the ground on top of a floor tile, about 30cm square. Makes the roots flare out nicely. Then when he is ready to lift it, he trims the roots back to the size of the floor tile or smaller.

Glenda

[Josh7]

Matt - good luck with this one. I am extremely interested in your tree.
I'm growing a citriodora and maculata, but am aiming for a height of 1m, with a trunk diameter of appx 2 inches. (considering that in nature, mature height is appx 20m).
Like you, i also purchased tube stock for about $2 ea, which was fine with me because they grow very quickly, and i really enjoy knowing (or experimenting) that i am growing and shaping from scratch.
Keep up the good work and keep us posted with pics.

[MattA]

Thought I better update this as it is powering along. I recently removed the string that was pulling the new leader up as it had set. I was surprised to find that at the point the string had made contact a depression in the bark was left. It has since grown out but still interesting that just pressure on a spot was enough to stop it from expanding with the rest of the leader.

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I am planning to layer this at ground level to improve the nebari, could anyone tell me when would be the best time to get this started?

Matt

[MattA]

This baby grew gangbusters till late winter when it started to slow right down & also started to wilt every day. No surprise the pot was so full of root it wasnt able to take in or hold enough water so repot I did. Into a large mica training pot so hopefully I dont have to touch this for a couple of years.

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I decided I would leave all the lower shoots to help thicken the trunk and shortened the rest 2wks ago. It is now pumping out new buds everywhere again. On looking at the last photo's I can really see some development starting to happen. I tipped out the sacrifice growth & the apex as the buds on the sections I want to keep have slowed a bit. Hopefully that should redirect enery to get them going again. I am still learning how to work with eucs and its lots of fun.

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Matt

[FlyBri]

Good one Matt!

You've done really nicely at keeping the internodes short - thus allowing for convincing movement and taper. I like the direction you are taking this little tree! It is not unlike the beginnings of my tubestock River Red, only yours is far better developed for its age.

Keep us posted.

Thanks.

Fly.

PS: Aren't the LSGs delightful to work with? When I've worked with them in the past, I've probably lost 50% of my time through stopping and sniffing the crushed leaves...

[MattA]

Time for an update... I ended up removing the low sacrifice branchs as they were drawing too much energy away from the top half & it had started to suffer. Part of the first branch has also died out, tho it also shot out from between the 2 secondaries & will give a better line to the branch in the long term. Just as well the front branchlet has been slowly loosing strength as the dieback continues from the original chop. Still strong so for the time being I am not too worried about loosing the branch in entirety.She is also going thru her first bark peel & its fascinating to watch as the bark changes colour then cracks round the edges of that piece & slowly peels away. The apex was reduced about 2wks ago & is already thumping new growth.

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I gave it a little tidy up & tied down a couple of branchs... still need to get a back branch happening but for now I am happy to let her have a run again.

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Fly, sorry I missed your post earlier, I love the colour of the new growth & smelling the leaves, you dont even have to crush them just brush past. When it rains the smell is absolutely crazy, such a little tree yet it can be smelt all over the yard & even indoors! As for direction, the tree dictates more than I... cant force nature to do what it doesnt want (tho we keep trying)

Matt

[MattA]

I have been meaning to take some updated pics for a while so here it is as of this morning. I am considering changing the front due to a shift in the weight of branching, final decision will be made in a couple of weeks when I give it a good haircut & maybe even repot into its Mudlark pot.

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Forgot to mention, overall dimension 35cm x 35cm x 25cm, 4cm dia trunk.

Matt

[Craig]

Great job Matt, starting to come along nicely , cheers buddy

[MattA]

After a mid winter discussionviewtopic.php?f=114&t=8712 & session of butchery this tree slowly got back under way... As per usual for these guys it thumped thousands of buds from every point up & down the trunk. I have kept the lowest shoots to hopefully thicken the lower part of the trunk. Buds further up the trunk & extending out the branchlines were removed as soon as noticed as well as selectively removing the upper shoots to ensure only those wanted to extend are allowed a chance to gain strength.

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I will be keeping a close eye on the sacrifice branching to ensure it doesnt draw too much energy from the top & kill it off as can sometimes happen in wild trees. Alot of the shoots will start to die out as natural selection goes to work.

Matt

[corko]

Nice work, go the natives!!!!

[MattA]

This baby has fired up over the last month, the sacrifice branching was tip pruned 2 weeks ago as it was starting to affect the vigour above. This pushed the top to grow flat out and it was in need of a trim...

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These things grow so fast the sacrifice growth was already extending new growth. To try & keep energy balanced, I defoliated the sacrifice branching and gave the top a light haircut.

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Matt