Persoonia (Geebung)

[MattA]

Hi all, I am just wondering if anyone has any experience growing Persoonia (geebung). I have 2 that i collected after a scrub fire late last year, there were 3 but the dogs got to one of them. They are slowly starting to put out some new growth. They have beautiful flakey red/black bark and nice short leaves, will make some interesting material in a few years. Just interested to know what others can share on them.

Matt

[Pup]

G,day Matt as no one seems to have one growing. I thought I might put in some info I have. The one I tried was the Persoonia longifolia ( Snottygobble )

They grow in abundance on my sons farm in Denmark in the South West. They have long needle like foliage which makes them undisriable.

I have tried collect three now I have stopped because I really do not need any more tree's .
The biggest problem that I encountered was the very long tap root with sparse fine feeders. So that is the reason I would say I failed. Also I had not realised it was a member of the Proteaceace family .I would have treated it differently if I had known when I was collecting. I treated as I did Melaleucas.

Sorry I cannot be of more help. My Grand children could not stop laughing when I told them the common name for this one

[Ash]

G'Day Matt, have a crack from seed, the first root of wild plants in my experience is very long so I have never lifted one out of the ground. Great bark, lousey leaves.
cheers
Ash

[bonscythe]

Repeated viewings of the bark on Persoonia linearis growing wild in the south west of Sydney prompted me to take several cuttings, all of which are no more
They were soft wood cuttings taken late spring, one or two lasted (with green) for a month or so but died eventually, regardless of my efforts.
I didn't know what species they were at the time, asked everyone around who might know and got nothing. My best guess was some sort of Hakea spp. as I had never seen the Persoonia spp. with needle-like pine foliage. (got the Proteaceae family bit right! )
After reading Pup's post about Persoonia having needle foliage I searched around and found out the ones I have been trying to ID were Persoonia linearis!
Thanks, now if only I could get one to grow from cutting..

[MattA]

I have tried seed on many occasions over the yrs to no avail, I have also never had any luck with cuttings. i always put it down to my inability to raise them I have spoken with a mate who works in the industry & he told me to give up they are not worth the effort. This is one of the 2 i still have. Both came out of the ground with no fine feeder roots & the tap root cut short. They had just been thru a fire so that may be why these have succeeded. I have treated them the same as for all my collected stuff. Keep well watered & wait.

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I am fairly confident they are linearis. Both have trunks of approx 4-5cm & about 30cm tall, the bark is better on the other one, i was a bit rough getting this one out. Bonscythe the one you may be looking at is pinifolia, it is occasionally available from nurseries as its alot easier to get growing. Try the State forestry nursery if you are wanting one.

Pup i wasnt aware they are from the Proteaceace family, how would you have done any diff to what you did do? I treat almost everything the same way when collecting. Water water water & wait wait wait.

Matt

[Pup]

I have tried seed on many occasions over the yrs to no avail, I have also never had any luck with cuttings. i always put it down to my inability to raise them I have spoken with a mate who works in the industry & he told me to give up they are not worth the effort. This is one of the 2 i still have. Both came out of the ground with no fine feeder roots & the tap root cut short. They had just been thru a fire so that may be why these have succeeded. I have treated them the same as for all my collected stuff. Keep well watered & wait.

RIMG0155a.JPG

I am fairly confident they are linearis. Both have trunks of approx 4-5cm & about 30cm tall, the bark is better on the other one, i was a bit rough getting this one out. Bonscythe the one you may be looking at is pinifolia, it is occasionally available from nurseries as its alot easier to get growing. Try the State forestry nursery if you are wanting one.

Pup i wasnt aware they are from the Proteaceae family, how would you have done any diff to what you did do? I treat almost everything the same way when collecting. Water water water & wait wait wait.

Matt

G,day Matt I would have put them through what yours have been though. Fire I was told by an old bushman who collected and propagated, Banksia's that the best time to collect them was after a Bush Fire and all that was left was the proteoid roots. Place it on top of the soil and water them and wait his success rate was 75%.
Cheers Pup

[bonscythe]

Ok thanks for all the info, I really want one but with all these possible problems it is seeming unlikely now..
MattA, I checked out both P. linearis and P. pinifolia and it is definately the P. linearis. The flowering arrangement appeared to be strictly terminal on the pinifolia. I will try and get some seed, apparently heat treatment is the way to go for max. outcomes.

Cheers

[MattA]

I would try a smoke treatment for them. I have done this in various ways in the past, most effective i found was to plant up the seed then put some eucy leaves over the top of the pot & set it alight. when they just about burnt out watering all the embers & ash etc into the soil.

Just my mad method..
Matt

[craigw60]

I have pinifolius in the garden its a beautiful plant. I have tried on a few occasions to get another one but the nurseries alway tell me they don't get them in too often as they are difficult to propagate.
Craig

[MattA]

Pinifolius is the easiest of the family to propagate & the nursery is correct that is not easy. I did hear of someone having partial success using honey, short semi hardwood cuttings in summer. Will see if i can find it again & get more specifics.

Might have to try & convince pup its worth doing some more research on collecting them, seeing as you have ready access to some stock ... Pls pup pls pls pls A little bit of fire & lots of the same loving care you give the rest of your trees. Oh pls pls pls pls pls I am sure mrs pup wont mind just a few more trees

Matt

[MattA]

As mentioned in another post I spent a thoroughly enjoyable hour probing the knowledge of my local native nursery (Newcastle Wildflowers). Part of that conversation revolved around Persoonia, they only had one in stock pinifolia x linearis. According to them it is the main one they get in as its the easiest to propagate and grow in a normal garden environment.

What I found most interesting is that she claims linearis to be quite easy to transplant from the wild when young. Tho then went on to lecture me about the illegality of collecting any native material irrespective of its location, public or private land and even if its in the line of a bulldozer you shouldnt do it! So much for that

I had to repot one of my remaining 2 collected trees as it wasnt draining properly and the tree had started to die back. It has since started to pick up its game again, tho both are still very slow.

Matt

[MattA]

I recently came across 2 Persoonia linearis that had been run over by a dirt bike in one of my regular dog walking spots. Not one to miss an opportunity I grabbed both & shoved them in pots, not expecting much but you dont know if you dont try. Well that was 3 wks ago & both have shown no signs of going backwards & this morning I noticed that one has a couple of new shoots starting. On closer inspection the other also has loads of buds starting to come thru as well, maybe winter is the better time to collect, my other 2 collected late last year havent really done much other than get a little growth on & then stop.

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Matt