Sheoak Tube Stock

[Ryceman3]

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

Hi Pat, not a lot of issues so far to be honest but it’s early days. As far as I can tell branching options seem to present themselves after cutting back. I know the roots are looking pretty good (last time I saw them) so I’m fairly confident I can make something reasonable from these guys.

[Pat3222]

Consider me inspired to have another crack R3. Was the repot photos the first time you did root work?

[Ryceman3]

Consider me inspired to have another crack R3. Was the repot photos the first time you did root work?

I am sure I did work on the roots before the 2020 repot, but exactly when eludes me. If I'm going to have a stab at timing though, I'd say (given they were tube stock) I would've potted them into larger grow pots (and sorted the roots out) not long after I got them ... say November 2018. It's a guess but that sounds like the kind of approach I usually take. Hope that helps!
Get on board, I find Casuarina/Allocasuarina incredibly resilient and easily adaptable to bonsai life ... at least the species I have had experience with.

[Pat3222]

Thanks for the info mate. Consider me on board. I'll add them to my No more procrastinating thread when I get started.

[Pearcy001]

How have you found these tolerant root reduction? I have a couple that need doing. Presuming they like a bit of sand in the mix?

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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[Ryceman3]

How have you found these tolerant root reduction? I have a couple that need doing. Presuming they like a bit of sand in the mix?

I’ve had no issues. I don’t go as hard on them as elms/maples… but at the same time I have found their root system to be finer than those so no need to really. I have cut back well over 50% on occasions and the trees were all fine.
My usual mix is pine bark, pumice, scoria, zeolite and some coir peat. I also often add pre-packaged “cactus mix” in with the smaller trees in development, particularly natives. This is because they get repotted a lot/frequently while developing, so the benefits of a mix that doesn’t break down so much over time is a bit wasted it seems to me… and cactus mix is cheaper and easier to source. It seems to work pretty well.

[Pearcy001]

I also often add pre-packaged “cactus mix” in with the smaller trees in development, particularly natives. This is because they get repotted a lot/frequently while developing, so the benefits of a mix that doesn’t break down so much over time is a bit wasted it seems to me… and cactus mix is cheaper and easier to source. It seems to work pretty well.

I do the same, thanks mate. Two of mine will be receiving a decent root reduction this spring/summer from deep pots into orchid pots.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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[Pat3222]

G'day again. Was doing some more research on these and happened across Nikki Bonsai youtube channel. If there's a bigger single collection of Casuarina videos I haven't seen it. Cheers

[Ryceman3]

... and here's that little shohin bunjin/literati experiment after a trim back today.

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[boom64]

Cool little tree RC3 ,it is funny how we get a lot of enjoyment in the more simpler trees. Cheers John.

[Ryceman3]

Cool little tree RC3 ,it is funny how we get a lot of enjoyment in the more simpler trees. Cheers John.

100%… This is one of those trees which looks particularly unimpressive in photos when compared to real life. I have a soft spot for it, always a bit of fun when experimenting with natives.
Just have a go I say!

[Ryceman3]

Just an update after a couple of months ... and another trim.
You don't see many of these as shohin, I think it's working out pretty well.

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[MsGreth]

Lovely, my volunteer workplace sells sheoaks, and sometimes we get overgrown ones which would work well like this, thanks for sharing!

[Ryceman3]

Lovely, my volunteer workplace sells sheoaks, and sometimes we get overgrown ones which would work well like this, thanks for sharing!

Plenty of stuff you can do with sheoaks, very versatile and pretty resilient I find. Get creative!

[Ryceman3]

I repotted a few of these Sheoaks in early February (I think) and today I did a bit of work continuing to set the primary structure and starting to position some secondary branching.
Here’s a few images to keep the progression up to date.

EDIT: repot was on Feb 5th … for my own reference. No issues afterwards and recovered well.

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