AusBonsai

Hi all,

I have just joined up on the advice of a local club member (thanks Penny!!!). Have been madly reading thru the posts & got stuck on the collecting of natives. I have always had a love of eucy's and have worked out a few things for collecting. Did an article for the local club newsletter (see january http://www.newcastlebonsai.org.au/newsletter.html)

A few bits not in the article, if growth is left above the lignotuber in the form of a trunk or other such i have found that the whole thing usually dies back atleast beyond the soil surface.
If the now trunk is exposed before growth has recommenced with enough vigour, the same occurs, die back of the trunk. This is all ok if you want a lot of little trees growing around a big old stump not if you want the lignotuber to be the trunk for a tree. Have a number of experiments on the go, including digging round & try to induce some root growth prior to transplanting. Hopefully this will allow more timber /trunk to be taken when the tree is dug. Will let you all know as & when i get some results.

Matt

Really interesting posts Matt, starting to unravel the mysteries of the lignotuber. Do you know whether you can go 'backwards' in your process? If you have grown a euc in pot culture and it has developed a lignotuber above soil level, can you then cut above and below the lignotuber and bury it? This sort of question has come up before, I am pretty sure Flybri has commented on it, but I don't know if it has ever been resolved.

Hi Pasquale
Yes pot grown eucys will develop a lignotuber, however as they also develop a more fibrous root system i cant see why you would want to cut it all off & start again. My first attempts were using large (45 & 75ltr) nursery stock and they can be treated just like any other nursery stock, roots & top cut back & away they go. I have also ground grown a seedling to fatten the trunk, this works great but they develop really thick roots very quickly as well. The roots thicken quicker than the trunk! But it is possible.
Burying it just helps to stop it from drying out until roots have reestablished. Once regrowth is strong enough i uncover the lignotuber as this then becomes the base to work from. Its important to keep the lignotuber moist at all times. Even once regrowth has come in strong its important to keep as many shoots on as possible until the live veins form fully. Even then there can be considerable die back of bark in areas without growth, this dieback seems more prevalent in smooth bark varieties than ironbark.
The biggest thing that is surprising me is how thirsty they really are, taking as much water as you can give them. But like most natives require absolute perfect drainage.

[quote="brogus"] Yes pot grown eucys will develop a lignotuber, however as they also develop a more fibrous root system i cant see why you would want to cut it all off & start again.quote].
I haven't made much of a start to the tree I had in mind. The lignotuber is pretty ugly sitting part of the way up the trunk. By cutting below it I could regrow from the current base and plant the lignotuber to get a second tree. Of course an air layer would be another approach but I might see if the lignotuber transplant works.
Thanks.

pasquale wrote: The lignotuber is pretty ugly sitting part of the way up the trunk. By cutting below it I could regrow from the current base and plant the lignotuber to get a second tree. Of course an air layer would be another approach but I might see if the lignotuber transplant works.
Thanks.

From what i know of how eucalypts grow, the lignotuber is the only area that can develop either branch or root. I would be inclined to layer at the thickest part of the lignotuber and once a new root system is established then cut off the old lower roots. You could then experiment & see if the old roots do shoot. If it works you get 2 trees, if not you still have the upper portion from the layering. One of the issues i have found when transplanting is that any trunks left on just die back and while doing so drain alot of energy from the lignotuber, slowing the whole process down even more.

Now, aren't you glad you plugged your computer back in?
Penny.

mudlarkpottery wrote:Now, aren't you glad you plugged your computer back in?
Penny.

I am still undecided

Its all good, have picked up quite a bit of good info on here & more so, the motivation to keep experimenting in my own ways.

You wont get rid of me from the local club this easy tho Penny, the new world order is coming!

What about ground layer for collecting?

Bretts wrote:What about ground layer for collecting?

This is something i am experimenting with at the moment with a beautiful gnarled & rotted old eucy just over the back fence. With its age has come the dissappearance of a noticable lignotuber, it forming part of the nebari & the lowest parts of the trunk. I have dug out 18" all round, made some cuts at irregular intervals around the area that is made up of the undifferentiated cells (lignotuber) applied rooting hormone & backfilled with better soil. This was done in nov, the tree has shown no change positive or negative. I dont plan on doing anything except keeping the water up to it until sept-oct then see how its done or even if its done anything. Will post the results when i have them, if anyone else wants to experiment as well i would be very interested in the results.

A few have shown that growing eucy's as bonsai is very possible but have used nursery stock or grown out seedlings. There is no information i have been able to find apart from Koreshoff's 'Bonsai with Australian natives' about collecting them from the wild. My own experience clashs with theirs ie not burying them any deeper than the original soil level. So its all an experiment & who knows where it will end, thats part of the fun of bonsai... It never ends!

Looking forward to seeing the results.
Would you be interested in giving a talk about your research at a meeting?
Penny.