AusBonsai

On discovering that many in the genus grow as epiphytes & lithophytes, an idea started to form... I had a small starter that was crying out for some attention, now to get a picture of my 'final tree', how it would be potted, what story it would tell...Eureka!! A pot presented itself & I knew a friend had a store of old tree fern stumps!!! Lets play.... A stump close to the diameter of the pot was chosen and cut to size. The section going into the pot was chamfered to fit and wedged in nice & tight... Quick play with the dogs so they will leave me alone to work, grab a drink & back to it...What the? First thought was one of the dogs knocked it over, but it was still standing!?! The tree fern had been wedged a bit tight & the pressure had taken its toll, the broken section even includes part of the base & foot as well as a good chunk of the side.
OH BUGGER!!!

Or maybe not... I love cracks & flaws in my pots, besides that fern is so well jammed in why try for another pot, only to break it as well. I will need to put a chock under the pot for it to stand level, OR my most likely path will be to bind the pot with some copper wire, with time for a patina to form & the tree to grow out, I think it will be something special to have on my bench.

Stay tuned

Matt

All back together, not much chance of it coming apart again.

Welllll...its different

I can see where this is heading. I tried something similar (and a lot smaller) with a fig on Oasis Floral Foam. Is that tree a tropical Rhododendron? Native?

Joel

Joel wrote:I can see where this is heading. I tried something similar (and a lot smaller) with a fig on Oasis Floral Foam. Is that tree a tropical Rhododendron? Native?

Joel

Jackpot Joel, It is a Vireya, not the native Rhododendron lachiae but a hybrid called 'Pacific Showers'.

The next stage will be to bare root the starter, positioning on the top edge to make the most of the current nebari & arrange the rest of the roots around the stump. Wrap the whole lot up in clingwrap then black plastic over that to keep the light out. I am hoping the roots will not just head ito the stump but weave in & out as they find their way to the bottom. Pics when I get time to plant it up.

Matt

Hi Matt,

Could be an idea to do a pH test first. I know Rhodo's like it acidic but sometimes the "trunks" of tree ferns can be VERY acidic. Orchid growers often soak them in lime water to adjust the pH back to neutral. You would probably want it at about 5.5 to 6 but it could be even more acidic than that.

Joel

Cheers Joel,

I have not done a ph test on anything since I left school Maybe its an idea with this.... how would I do it???

Does the age of the trunks affect the ph? These have been dead for about a decade & were finally removed from the garden 2yrs ago, since then they have been sitting in a stack, first at my place now my mates. He has a couple of the new dwarf vireya planted into the bottom half of one of them with no issue.

Matt

I'm not sure how long it takes for them to return to a neutral pH. I guess they must eventually. I just know what this one guy told me really.

As for pH test kits - they are great! Particularly if you like to grow natives and Rhodos. Pick one up from a local nursery. Generally kept with the special fertilisers (like trace, hydrangea, citrus etc) in the little plastic boxes. All the instructions are in the pack but basically you put a piece of the material you want to test on some plastic, put a few drops of the indicator provided and some white powder that is provided. Look at what colour the power turns and match it to the sheet in the pack.

Joel