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Seedling root cutting a euc
Posted: March 2nd, 2025, 8:26 am
by Promethius
These were from a batch of seeds planted in December 2023. I'm pretty confident that they're Eucalyptus rubida based on the leaf characteristics (and possibly a helpful council plaque next to the parent tree).
I had quite a few, so experimented with seedling root cutting, as some do with JBPs, at the first repotting. It went well, basically. I ended up keeping the three I root cut, as the nebari was better balanced and there was no clear difference after 6 months otherwise.
Feb 2024:
IMG_7266.jpeg
June 2025:
IMG_9174.jpeg
Lost the comparator pictures, I'm afraid.
I'm sure I'm not the first to do this with a Euc, but why not share.
Re: Seedling root cutting a euc
Posted: March 2nd, 2025, 1:55 pm
by Ryceman3
Promethius wrote: ↑March 2nd, 2025, 8:26 am
These were from a batch of seeds planted in December 2023. I'm pretty confident that they're Eucalyptus rubida based on the leaf characteristics (and possibly a helpful council plaque next to the parent tree).
I had quite a few, so experimented with seedling root cutting, as some do with JBPs, at the first repotting. It went well, basically. I ended up keeping the three I root cut, as the nebari was better balanced and there was no clear difference after 6 months otherwise.
Feb 2024:IMG_7266.jpeg
June 2025: IMG_9174.jpeg
Lost the comparator pictures, I'm afraid.
I'm sure I'm not the first to do this with a Euc, but why not share.
The dates are freaking me out!
Should it be June ‘24, followed by Feb ‘25 and possibly swap the images?
Otherwise you’re in the future… I think!
Whatever the case, great post… nice to see a bit of creativity and I know it’s a bit daunting cutting all the roots off a seedling but the results look very good.
You stem cut in June? Did you use a heat mat?
Impressive root spread, congrats!
Re: Seedling root cutting a euc
Posted: March 2nd, 2025, 1:58 pm
by shibui
It's great to see people trying new things.
I think seedling cuttings, or similar hard root pruning, gives us great scope to develop better nebari, esp with species that have strong roots.
FWIW, I've found that all species I've grown from seed respond to hard root pruning and seedling cutting technique. From what I can work out, seedlings have a very strong ability to grow new roots - which makes a lot of sense from a survival point of view.
Love to see others take up the challenge of trying similar experiments to see what can be done with our natives.
Re: Seedling root cutting a euc
Posted: March 5th, 2025, 8:02 pm
by Promethius
Ryceman3 wrote: ↑March 2nd, 2025, 1:55 pm
The dates are freaking me out!
Argh, internet gremlins.
The second image is the stem cutting, done in late Jan, from seed sown in early December I think. The first image is repotting in June.
And Shibui, I agree completely. I did the same with some A littoralis from seed this summer, with indistinguishable growth to date between root pruned and stem cut batches. Yet to see how the roots look.
