AusBonsai

I have been looking to aquire a callitris for some time now, but they do not seem to be available in our area. Recently I was fortunate enough to harvest a few unopened cones from a couple of callitris trees not far from home. After leaving them in a paper bag for a week they opened to reveal approximately a dozen seeds in each cone. On doing some research courtesy of Mr. Google I identified the parent trees and cones as Callitris intratropica. I've now sown seeds from a couple of the cones in a seed raising tray and reserved some for later in spring when the weather's a bit warmer.
Does anyone have experience growing callitris? Do they back bud readily? How do they stand up to root pruning?
I have also recently found some more c. intratropica growing in nice sandy soil near the coast, with one tree growing a long low branch that has grown naturally into a ground layer. I intend to yamadori (can this word be a verb??) the branch and would like to know how callitris stand up to transplanting.
Cheers, Frank.

Our local callitris do not transplant very well. Growing naturally on very open, well drained sandy soils the roots are quite deep from a very early age so it is difficult to dig them with any feeder roots. Survival rate is very low. I believe a couple of other members have posted about having collected some from NSW.
I have never heard of them budding from older wood so most development attempts have been like pines- keep shoots in reserve if you want to cut back later.

I am intrigued that you have found one that has naturally layered. I don't think that our southern species would do that so you may be able to do things that we have not been able to (transplant, backbudding, etc)
Good luck

Thanks shibui,
After that advice I'll take as much care as possible when gathering the airlayered branch. It is a low branch that's had other branhces etc. fall on it, covering it with mulch & leaf litter, growing in sand. When I investigated it, it seemed quite moist under the mulch, so perhaps the roots are fairly shallow.
Cheers,
Frank.

Hi Frank,

Haven’t dug any but currently have some two year olds (probably Callitris preissii) which I grew from seed. The tap root was removed when I transplanted them from the seed tray but other than that they have been allowed to grow. I intend to give the roots a trim when it warms up

Cheers
Terryb

Thanks for the reply Terry. I'm hoping to do the same as you, so in case it's still too cool and the seeds fail to germinate I've saved some to plant in warmer weather. But it's good to see you've had success with seeds.
Cheers, Frank.

Hi Frank,
As Shibui has stated they are a very ,very, hard species to collect. Recently collected two at the start of August ,more as a experiment to see how they would go .They came from the riverina (freezing ) and taken to the south coast of n.s.w. As usual all the soil fell away to reveal a long skinny tap root with a few fat roots leaving at a 90 degree angle. Cut all back hard and potted into a very coarse mix with a lot of sand thrown in. Both seem pretty good at the moment. Traditionally when done in Summer ,most of the leaf seems to get to much heat and survival rates are much lower. With Spring now here I think they might be in with a chance. Just a few ideas to think about.

They can back bud on very thin branches ,3to4 mm. Have never seen a layer ,so hopefully you will have some luck with your collecting. Cheers John.

Thanks for your reply boom. I've had similar problems with trying to collect coastal tea trees from deep sandy soil. The tap root has to be cut to move the tree as it goes down a long way even with young thin trunked trees. After that the sandy soil tends to fall away from the remaining roots, of which there are very few near the surface. It's certainly a challenge. That's why I was so happy to be able to harvest some callitris seed cones, maybe growing them from seed is the answer.
Cheers, Frank.

Hi Frank

I grabbed some cones from the Bribie Island Pines growing on the beachfront on the island earlier this year, stored them in a paper envelope for around 4 or 5 months, and planted them in June. It's Callitris columellaris, and seems very hardy in the positions it grows on the beach. I'm noticing some green showing, so they might actually be germinating!

Hi Mel,
Good on you! Yes some species are very salt air tolerant. In South Oz we lived very close to the coast and I planted a row of callitris pressii (Rottnest Island Pines) along the front of our property and they handled the strong salt-laden winter winds very well. If my seeds don't germinate this time I'll try again when the weather is a bit warmer with the seeds I kept in reserve.
With a bit of luck I'll see you at the annual show at Mt. Gravatt. I'll be there on the Saturday morning and hopefully pic up a tree as well if something catches my eye.
Cheers, Frank.

melbrackstone wrote:Hi Frank

I grabbed some cones from the Bribie Island Pines growing on the beachfront on the island earlier this year, stored them in a paper envelope for around 4 or 5 months, and planted them in June. It's Callitris columellaris, and seems very hardy in the positions it grows on the beach. I'm noticing some green showing, so they might actually be germinating!

Hey Mel how did the germination go? I've just collected some Callitris C seed from an awesome stand of old trees and am keen to get them up! Did you use soil obtained from the location of seed?

Hi demps, they're germinating fine, but something is eating the first leaves off as soon as they appear. They did take awhile to start, but once they began, they're popping up all over the place! I'm thinking I should grab them and move them somewhere safer.

I didn't use local soil, just bonsai mix with fine zeolite on the top....

Hi Mel,
My seeds haven't germinated yet, but thanks for the heads-up about somthing eating the emerging seedlings. I'll make sure to park my seedling tray somewhere safer than on the ground where it is now.
Cheers,, Frank.