AusBonsai

All, today i took Redmondz and his mate Chris out to a few spots i know and showed them how to look for and dig Mels. we didn't spend alot of time out but i think they enjoyed themselves and learnt some in the process.
The good thing about rhaphs is the ability to reshoot , although that is not to be relied upon, a tree with low shoots to start off is always better.
never mind they can still come good, we'll keep this one and see what comes of it.

Now off to another spot,
A couple of trees to get Red going, we got a few more others aswell

I like the last one Have you had many survive with no root ball like the first one collected?

G'day Brett, the short answer is Yes, the way i now do M. rhaphiophylla is to use a container with no drainage, put some washed bluemetal in it , then the tree and fill with more washed bluematal. My first 3 tests were all successes, the 4th is looking great also.The amount of reshooting and backbudding still astounds me .These 3 trees had no rootball, . If the one's with no rootball are treated like this, then you can't go wrong mate,. I'd prefer not to plant them straight into soil, they seem to not recover aswell.
M. preissiana are a whole different story, not so easy.
here's a couple i prepared earlier,

Nice, how did you come to this conclusion and how long do you leave it with no drainage and or repot into normal bonsai media.
I will have to try this with melaluca. There are some that I have wanted but was not confident I could get to survive. Might try one for the Winter.
Thanks


Oops I mean callistemon hmm or do I. Might go look again tomorrow

Bretts wrote:Nice, how did you come to this conclusion and how long do you leave it with no drainage and or repot into normal bonsai media.
I will have to try this with melaluca. There are some that I have wanted but was not confident I could get to survive. Might try one for the Winter.
Thanks


Oops I mean callistemon hmm or do I. Might go look again tomorrow

i was over Pup's place once and noticed he had a small M. nesophila growing in a small tub of gravel with no drainage. We discussed it a little . One day i decided to try it with a small rhaph i had just collected and it worked like a charm. It is still growing in the gravel now. A while ago i decided it was definately worth a try with larger specimen trees and again ,it worked a treat. I gave a really good one to Pup and as far as i know it's also growing well.

I do not know if it'll work for all Mels as some like a drier soil but should be ok to try on water loving ones

Nice haul mate!
Was it the same place you took me last time? Or around that area.
I like the last pic too.
Cheers
Pandu

Pandu wrote:Nice haul mate!
Was it the same place you took me last time? Or around that area.
I like the last pic too.
Cheers
Pandu

Ofcourse the last tree is the best, it's the one i got for myself .

No mate different spots , always new spots , catch ya soon eh.



After a repot into some fresh soil and a trim back of the foliage, some light branch positioning, this is the result. a new Mel trainer in recovery

thats how I do it in WA ,

very nice craig and interesting tip on the gravel

cheers

Rin

Fr___n' awesome Craig

Thanks Rin, .



LOL, Neal, , it's a nice one mate. Cheers stay well.

Hey Craig have you cleared that area behind the fence yet your gonna need it if you keep getting more, some very nice ones there.

One thing mate the M,nesophila, is actually M, quinquenervia, and it is still in the gravel and water.

Must pot it up next season when ever that is, will look for the right pot in Melbourne.

Keep up the good work.
Cheers Pup

Thanks for posting this Craig, it's such a breeze digging in sand! Didn't even break a sweat, I think I might go back next weekend and spend the day down there, the Bonsai bug has got me hooked!

Cheers Red