AusBonsai

Jake wrote:.........does anyone know if they take well as cuttings?

They sure do. Got a few cuttings from a club meeting and within two weeks there were roots and shoots all over the place! Now is three weeks down the track, and there are full leaves out! Just keep the soil very moist.

Glenda

awsome i got 3 cuttings from what i chopped off my tree hope they take
got to love swampys they're one of the easiest bonsai species iv'e worked on so far.

hi jake,

are you still sitting the tree in water to grow it on? if so other than seasol i have had great success with growing a swampy on via keeping it in a bucket of water, on the bottom of the water i put a 3-4 inch layer of dynamic lifter(also a layer of DL ontop of the trees nursery pot), added a splash of powerfeed (seasol brand but green bottle) and also some complete trace elements, i have gotten a pencil thick starter to a bit over an inch across in around 6-10 months, cant remember when i got it. i just top the water up when necessary around a couple of days and also top the water up with some dl and fert from time to time.

I also used alpines method of thickening which involves slicing vertical slits up the trunk 4 slits at 120mm long, and 4 slits around 50-60mm long inbetween, it adds scar tissue to the lower section which helps thicken it out. it also chose a front for me doing that on one area of the slices which cause a shari to run the length of the trunk so far.


some swampy will stay green, others will go half and half, and others drop everything, it comes down to many factors and most have been stated already.

Jamie

Jamie wrote: i put a 3-4 inch layer of dynamic lifter(also a layer of DL ontop of the trees nursery pot), added a splash of powerfeed (seasol brand but green bottle) and also some complete trace elements, i have gotten a pencil thick starter to a bit over an inch across in around 6-10 months, cant remember when i got it. i just top the water up when necessary around a couple of days and also top the water up with some dl and fert from time to time.
Jamie

Jamie, Jamie, Jamie, that is far to much fertilizer. Far to much indeed. You will only serve to poison your poor Swampy with that much Fert'. I would never apply that much Dynamic Lifter to a single tree, far to much I tell you.
Signed Peter.............................................................................................................

(Yep, thats just me being nasty folks sorry, I read another Aussie Bonsai Forum once , after someone on here posted one of my threads on it.( But all is well, as I am up to it )

hey jamie
cheers for the help mate!!!
i have added a little bit of powerfeed to the bucket. and yeah i keep it in water and a little bit of seasol constantly.
i was thinking of chucking some DL on top but was a bit worried about over feeding it. i put a bit of slow release on it every week or so.
is it common for seasol to kill off moss? or am i mixing it too strong

-Jake

Jake wrote:hey jamie
cheers for the help mate!!!
i have added a little bit of powerfeed to the bucket. and yeah i keep it in water and a little bit of seasol constantly.
i was thinking of chucking some DL on top but was a bit worried about over feeding it. i put a bit of slow release on it every week or so.
is it common for seasol to kill off moss? or am i mixing it too strong

-Jake

My experience with moss is that it like to be kept damp but not wet...it tends to go black if it's too wet...plus all the seasol would be overkill i would imagine
Loretta

Definitely keep some lwoer shoots and let them go wild. don't cut them back at all, even if they get to a metre or longer. Whent he trunk gets to the ideal thickness, cut then off
ALso, as Jamie said, feed, feed, feed. I don't use dynamic lifter, although I'm thinking about it.... I use miracle gro and mix it at 1.5x the "recommended" strength. Feed every wek with this and the seasol in the water isn't a bad idea either. And it will just take off!
The group setting is a good idea though.

oh yeh, and i'll take some pics of mine this weekend

nice pet... I mean Graeme

the amount of fert i use is just that, I am powerfeeding the tree and having great results, some might not get the same success as i have, maybe i am just lucky?? I have found that the DL in the bottom of the bucket is good, I havent lifted the tree out of the bucket for a few months now so it has probably taken into the DL and directly fertilising the new roots, my tree is very happy though and is putting on new growth, which is the plan as the tree is here to be grown on, to get the tree to the size that i want means it needs to grow freely the bucket is always getting topped up with fresh water and i have found the DL doesnt smell any where near as bad with it in the water! the other reason i am growing it like this is that I want to try and develop the knees that are seen in the wild or even at the national collection (i think it is one of the swampies in the ground, tis a big tree

I havent noticed seasol causing problems with moss but thats because i dont use it, moss can harbour nasties that ya dont want on a tree you are trying to grow on, only time i would use moss is if i was showing a tree. A few mates have all told me the same thing about moss, if moss is growing happily on the soil surface then the soil is to wet, obviously this doesnt really apply to swamp type trees, but yea you get the idea


anyways i not sure that made sense

Jake just be careful when you get the size you want, and you put it into a bonsai pot. That`s when I had trouble with one years ago , which I grew this way. I think it didn`t like going from being saturated, to normal watering. Make sure it is watered more than you normally would until it adjusts.
Rod...

if moss is growing happily on the soil surface then the soil is to wet,

Jamie,that makes perfect sense and I'll be removing the moss on a few that I have
loretta

Loretta, I find I can't tell the moisture level of the soil underneath (or diatomite) if there is moss on top so I have thrown all moss away.

Glenda

Glenda wrote:Loretta, I find I can't tell the moisture level of the soil underneath (or diatomite) if there is moss on top so I have thrown all moss away.

Glenda

Good idea Glenda and good advise
Loretta

does any know a good soil mix for swampys? i heard straight CBM is fine as they love being wet along with clogging the drainage holes with newspaper.
maybe 80%cbm and 20%perlite or some thing like that?? it wouldnt dry out to fast

i cant give up the moss im hooked on it haha

Hey dude, withr gards to soil mix.... the two that I have transferred/re potted are both in 100% searles premium potting mix. just becuase it's cheap and I am growing them on. When it comes to potting properly they'll be in my 60/40 diatomite/bonsai soil mix.
I took my pics today, do you want em to pm them to you, or post up here??