AusBonsai

I have had this Banksia since August ,it was saved by a mate ,Plant Operator working on major road works.It was growing up against a rock and had a pretty small root base.
I potted up and have been keeping my fingers crossed I left on all the foliage , as advised by several posts on AUS BONSAI , most have stayed green but no new growth.
Have placed outside in full sun and contemplating my next move.Thinking of taking off below the bulge, and hoping for some new growth.
Looking for some advice ,ideas ,etc.
Thanks John.

I'd be leaving it alone for a bit longer mate, has it grown any roots yet

Hi John , i'm no expert on these Banksia but i have collected a few .The ones collected were trimmed , and over a 6 month period died right back .In my wisdom i left them in their pots hoping for a miracle , well it did appear so i planted them into the garden .Since then then one more has struck from the top of the enlarged base .With the foliage you have i would leave it to the boss "Mother Nature"and let it develop roots and possibly new shoots lower down . Cheers Alpine

Don't know if it's true or not, but I was advised by someone some time ago to not touch collected Banksia until after a good crop of roots had grown out of the bottom of the pot, regardless of what size pot the tree had been planted into.
I still managed to kill that tree, even after taking the offered advice so what do I know.

hi john.
it may be a bit late now, when ever collecting banksia, straight into a bucket of water.
i lost a lot of trees over the years. i rarely lose any now. i leave them over night sometimes days.
pot up, placed in shady well protected area until they start to pop. out into full sun, then i will not
touch them unless there are roots noticeable at the bottom.
i actually do this to all my natives, collected and when i root prune.
try it next time.
platinum.

Hi John,
I think it is very important to let a collected plant grow for a long time before you start to restyle or prune it. This allows the plant to grow new roots and plenty of them, to build new xylem (water transporting tissue) and new phloem (photosynthate transporting tissue). I have frequently observed people trying to rapidly to reduce the height or growth rate or leaf size of their plant and in the process they do not allow it to replace its old tissues. Eventually the main stem begins to die. This is even common in vigorous plants like figs and in anything that has had a big chop. I would leave it as it is and keep up good horticultural practices until it is ready to produce leaves. At this stage it probably has just enough roots to support the leaves it has but not enough to grow more. The leaves it has are what gives it energy to produce new roots so it needs those for now until it has built enough roots. Corroborating the responses here wait until the plant has so many roots that they are coming out the bottom.
regards
Ash

Hi platinum interested in learning more of your technique. When you collect Banksia do you pot them straight away or after they have had a good soak in the water? Plain water, or do you give them a bit of whoremoan ( )? What about foliage? Do you defoliate the plant? Burn the foliage off?

I have an area near me that is 100 of acres of predominately Banksia Serata, which must be nearly due a burn off soon. I collected one years ago which I got to shoot somehow. Lost it 12 months later when I did something stupid Tried again, collected a number of trees, but did not get one to take, so guessing I did something wrong.

I have only ever had limited success collecting Banksia.. At the Newcastle club show Ray Nesci used some Banksia during a demo, after I had a chance to talk to him about collecting them. His advice was to cut everything off (roots leaves most branchs etc) pot up & leave them alone until roots had shown thru the bottom of the pot. They are particularly prone to regrowing purely on the stored energy in the lignotuber and can fool for over a year or more before finally dying as it never made root.

When collecting Banksia the best time is just after a fire has been thru, I like to wait until the base is starting to show signs of movement then away she goes. Alternatively summer is recommended by many.

Its holding its own for now so all you can do is as you have been. Keep up the good care & hopefully it will make some roots & you can move forward in a year or 2.

Matt

Thanks to all for the feedback.
I will leave alone till,1 I see roots coming from the bottom
2 I get some new growth
Platinum ,Interesting what you say about dunking in water.I have kept a smaller Banksia [100mm width,150mm high, funny shape ] in a tray of water. It has no foliage and recently popped in three places. It was an experement ,maybe its like MattA said growing on stored energy .Hopefully it will klck on .
Once again thanks to all.
John.