[SYANBS] Podocarpus drouynianus
Posted: May 16th, 2025, 4:06 pm
Another late entry. This is the endemic southwestern australian podocarpus species, with a big woody lignotuber. I think people have the idea that these won't get big. Not so! With sufficient water and sun, they'll get pretty big.
Here's a photo of a p. droynianus that I grabbed from a study:
Apparently this is regrowth 50 years after a fire (although obviously the root mass would've already been quite huge before it got burned). Not sure if 5 years is long enough to make a decent bonsai but I'd like to try. My strategy is to raise the lignotuber once it gets big enough to pass for a trunk.
I peel the drupes until I hit green and then stick them in damp spagnum moss until the radicle pops out. Then I plant them out.
The "fruit":
Early on:
Today:
Third from the right is actually the oldest but I snapped the taproot in half accidentally when I potted it up. It'll be interesting to see if it changes the root structure at all. It's quite blue, maybe from stress. I'll post again next time I get a look at the roots
Here's a photo of a p. droynianus that I grabbed from a study:
Apparently this is regrowth 50 years after a fire (although obviously the root mass would've already been quite huge before it got burned). Not sure if 5 years is long enough to make a decent bonsai but I'd like to try. My strategy is to raise the lignotuber once it gets big enough to pass for a trunk.
I peel the drupes until I hit green and then stick them in damp spagnum moss until the radicle pops out. Then I plant them out.
The "fruit":
Early on:
Today:
Third from the right is actually the oldest but I snapped the taproot in half accidentally when I potted it up. It'll be interesting to see if it changes the root structure at all. It's quite blue, maybe from stress. I'll post again next time I get a look at the roots