Clero's from Jamie

[MattA]

About 12mths ago Jamie & i did a swap of various stock plants neither was able to get locally. With the work he was doing I was really keen to try Clerodendrum inerme in my climate so asked for a couple of struck cuttings & also if he could hold them till it warmed up a bit down here. In due time a parcel arrived with one large & 3 small struck cuttings. I lost 2 of the small ones but the big one and the remaining small one did well, filling there pots with lots of nice healthy roots in no time.

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Around March I got another raised bed built that would be ideal for these 2 to spend a bit of time. In they went & the big one immediately started flowering & still has a few on it. At the same time I trimmed the long shoots on the small cutting & planted them straight in the ground, most of them seem to have taken & are starting to put out growth. The raised bed is of concrete & the sandstone around both will all help insulate in case of a cold snap but so far they seem to be handling things down here really well. No real direction for either yet, just let them grow & see what happens

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A HUGE thankyou to you Jamie, the big piece in particular has a real future as long as I dont stuff it up and now I know how easy they are to strike I plan on lots more...

Matt

[Jamie]

gday matty


I was wondering just last night how these were going, they look really healthy, the good thing is they strike really, really easy so anything that you do cut off stick it in the ground as they will 99% strike. what I have been doing with the little ones I am striking as they get really good little roots on them really early is once they got a good amount on them I am finding some interesting rocks and wrapping them to them, one is really taking off now and this time next year will be a good little starter.

that bigger one you have has got a lot of potential, when I originally took it I was looking at a more classic informal upright tree, which wont take long to build that trunk the taper will smooth in there dont worry about that, then when you cut back hard you will have heaps and heaps of shoot choice for branching!

the roots on the bigger one would be starting to develop into nebari now wouldnt they?

jamie

[MattA]

The big one is awesome, way more than I could have expected. The nebari is really good already but does need a bit of sorting out, I was going to do it when I planted out but decided with the cooler weather coming I would wait, first winter here I wanted to see how they coped. The smaller one donated some cuttings so i can atleast start some experimenting & it has already thrown twice as much growth as was cut off. Your not wrong about them striking easy, stuck those cuttings in the ground in March, no rooting hormone or anything & most look to have struck...

Will keep you posted as they progress, I dont think the big one will take too many years to make a nice shohin.

Matt

[Jamie]

glad your happy with the bigger one man If I had any more I would of sent ya some more but unfortunately thats all I have for now, I know where there is a few down the beach so when I get some energy to do it I will go get some more larger cuttings and get them going! I have had success in striking 2 inch thick hard wood cuttings, I know Rod has had success with them up to 4 inches or more! i have never used rooting hormone on them and they are pretty good at any time of year, the biggest thing to watch for is having them too wet as you know!

mate you should be able to develop the branching and I mean mature branching on them in a growing season, maybe two in a colder climate but I dont think it affects them to much! one of my smaller cuttings that I struck that I have going on a rock I did when it was really cold here, bare root, attached t the rock then planted out again, being in the cooler weather at the time it dropped its leaves, I beleive that was due to temps and not stress though as others I did at the same time were ok and they went into a warmer spot.

my triple trunk now has mature branching and it has only been in training for around 18 months and the branches are all corked up now the nebari will develop well quickly too so wouldnt stress to much bout getting into it, i havent actually tried root cuttings with them as the root systems on them are the stringy water loving roots and nothing has been substantial enough to use, cant see why they wouldnt work though so if you get some thicker roots give em a crack!

good luck mate and keep us posted

[MattA]

I got tempted so had a little dig & prune of the large chunk. For now it is planted in a shallow tray to re-establish its roots before being planted back in the ground again. This tree has a few years of clip & grow ahead of it before its ready for a pot but I can see lots of potential already.

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The offcuts have all been planted out, so heres hoping for more stock to play with into the future...

Matt

[Jamie]

gday Matty

mate, this one is starting to move along well in trunk development it has thickened well and the bark is getting really nice, growing the main trunk is a good way to start, I reckon if you wire instead of clip and grow you might be better off as clero are similar to tridents in that they grow vertical very hard and fast. clip and grow works well too just need to be ontop of it, I found if the wire bite in it isnt to much of a prob as they bark up well and it can give some good interest in the bark.

the nebari is coming along very good too! I can see a corking little tree. if I can get the time and pull my finger out I will virt up what I see, the dead wood will work in well too!

Jamie