Casuarina Cunninghamiana WA

[Patmet]

This is a Casuarina Cunninghamiana I bought as tubestock in 2021 to grow for bonsai. It’s been a very robust species for me with quite aggressive root growth. I find it to rapidly fill pots densely and start pushing itself up out of the nursery pots. I have been feeding and watering heavily though as I’ve been growing the trunk. It’s thickened up a lot in the last year while I’ve had it in a large pot and let it have lots of free growth. I’m now starting to pay a bit more attention to it design wise, and am going to start growing and wiring branches.

Here is the earliest photos I can find after I wired initial movement in the trunk - Nov 2021

20211207_064830.jpeg

20211128_175324.jpeg

This is before working on it from all different sides - May 2024

20240504_155312.jpeg

20240504_155304.jpeg

20240504_155319.jpeg

20240504_155253.jpeg

This is after working from the front I am favouring most right now with the best root spread etc..

20240504_165028.jpeg

20240504_165018.jpeg

[Scott Roxburgh]

Another great progression, thanks.

How do you go with watering? I have struggled to keep water up to cunninghamiana, any tips keeping them going for longer than 3 years?

[Patmet]

Another great progression, thanks.

How do you go with watering? I have struggled to keep water up to cunninghamiana, any tips keeping them going for longer than 3 years?

I suppose I just water heavily. But also I’ve been potting this up into larger pots incrementally while trying to get size so the large pots definitely help, and my growing mix has a lot of organics to hold on to moisture.

I can see it being more of a challenge when getting it back down into a smaller pot. Maybe a water tray underneath might be the go.