Melaleuca quinquenervia

[dansai]

I got these from a nursery for $5 each in 200mm pots. I had to chop the tops off to get them home.

Should I root prune and repot now or wait until I see some new growth pushing through?

Mels.jpg

[MattA]

I would go ahead & repot now, while your at it consider chopping them a bit lower to save having to do it in another year or 2.

[irish]

HI.
Cut them all lower but at different hight's, plant some on a bit of an angle, let some get a bit thicker and some not as thick. I see the start of a gruop planting.

Regards.
Irish.

[Craig]

HI.
Cut them all lower but at different hight's, plant some on a bit of an angle, let some get a bit thicker and some not as thick. I see the start of a gruop planting.

Regards.
Irish.

easy to say but how many Quinquinervia's have you actually worked on Irish ??

[dansai]

I was thinking of cutting some lower and leaving a couple long. The long ones will be allowed to grow virtually untouched to thicken the trunks. I was thinking I'll trim higher branches and let lower ones grow to create taper and some character to the trunk. then cut back hard go again. Is this a good idea?

I assume because they have larger leaves than a lot of mels they are destined to be larger Bonsai.

[Roger]

Don't grow them here in Canberra - they don't like the frost.
I'll be interested dto see what comes of yours and how leaf size changes with bonsai treatment. M. styphelioides leaves come down quite a bit with tip pruning in summer.
Roger

[Hackimoto]

Hi Roger, I'm curious as to why you need to reduce the leaves on Mel. stephelioides they are so tiny to start with?

[irish]

HI.
Cut them all lower but at different hight's, plant some on a bit of an angle, let some get a bit thicker and some not as thick. I see the start of a gruop planting.

Regards.
Irish.

easy to say but how many Quinquinervia's have you actually worked on Irish ??

Hi.

Craig i have 3 in 4 inch pots, had them for only 5 months. So what do i know about them?. Not mutch yet... Well thay dont like the cold to mutch, mine go out side when i go to work at 8am then back inside at 4pm. Thay like a drink, keep them moist, seem to back bud fairly well. Will be planting them in the ground this year and working on them over the next 5 or so years to get the trunk and root system as good as i can. Have a pot already picked out for the 3 of them to go into. Best thing is that i am still learning about them, as i am with my other natives.

Craig, i under stand that you have forgoten more than i will ever know about Bonsai, but i will keep learning, so dont forget to many things mate.I might catch up to you one day, in the knolowage of Bonsai that is, and you can show me where i went wrong.

Regards.
Irish.

[Craig]

Cheers Irish, that's the sort of information I was hoping you would be able to share with us all , It doesn't sound like your going wrong to me mate. Rather right on track.
I don't worry about cold , it has been 1 degree or there abouts in WA fairly consistantly and mine doesn't seem to mind . They definately love water, they are able to be hard pruned and should respond well. Quinquenervia develop shallow root systems , they are considered a weed in Florida where the M. quinquenervia population has massively increased in the last 25yrs. they can take over areas containing Native trees, destroy habitats and alter acosystems drasticly.
Australian Quins do not seem as rampant as those in florida, and produce alot less viable seed.

I was thinking of cutting some lower and leaving a couple long. The long ones will be allowed to grow virtually untouched to thicken the trunks. I was thinking I'll trim higher branches and let lower ones grow to create taper and some character to the trunk. then cut back hard go again. Is this a good idea?

I assume because they have larger leaves than a lot of mels they are destined to be larger Bonsai.

No alot of Melaleuca leaves easily reduce with correct pinching through out the year. If you ask PUP nicely he may post the Quinquenervia he has growing in gravel and water. Oh and the Mini Rhaph with minute needles.
I think Melaquin love these trees also,try searching her posts and see what has been posted .
love the idea mate, run with it.

[Roger]

Hi Hackimoto
I wasn't trying to reduce them, they were just a bi-product of a period of fairily intense tip pulling I did. Less intense tip pruning and the leaves are less small, but they are smaller than those on branches left to their own devices.

If I prune too hard and frequently, the leaves certainly become small, but often too, they become much too small and just don't look right, plus the stems don't necessarily reduce in diameter so one gets growth that is basically quite ugly.

Roger

[Hackimoto]

All is now clear. I couldn't understand why you thought it necessary to reduce them.

[dansai]

Thanks for all the info.

I'm heading outside soon and will lift one out of the pot and check out its roots. I assume they will cope with reasonable hard root prune. I'll post a pic for comment before hitting the others.

I'm hoping to keep this thread going with my progress so others new to Bonsai and M. quinquenervia may learn from my results, good or bad, so please keep up the replies.

Thanks Again

[dansai]

Well, I did the first one……

Here it is in original pot after being cut down for transport home.

Original height 1.5m.
Cost $5

IMG_8513.jpg

I removed the pot and sliced half of the root ball. Mix was still OK. Root density was pretty light.

I sliced radially outwards with a knife around the edge of he root ball to loosen the soil and slice any circling roots but minimise impact on radial roots. I raked and teased out the soil removing the tap root as I went and found good radial roots at the soil level.

IMG_8516.jpg

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I placed media into a small mound in a cut down 250mm pot that fitted the roots neatly and filled the pot spread it radially from the base to keep roots straight and sloping down.

Here it is after a soak in seasol and will be placed in the shadehouse and given aftercare.

IMG_8518.jpg

Have I gone about this the right way?

Have I cut too much root away? There were more roots lower down, but I thought it would be better to develop the roots that I wanted to keep.
Should have I cut more? I left some roots on below the top layer only removing one larger root from this section.

Do I now let it grow like crazy before beginning work on it or should I be selective with what I let grow?
And at what stage should I move it outside?

I'd love to get into the others and i will get photos of the whole process following whatever advice I get on the first one. It will make a good reference for myself and no doubt many others.

Thanks in advance

[dansai]

Ohh...... I've also got a Leptospermum. Can I treat it the same way?

IMG_8519.jpg

IMG_8520.jpg

[Roger]

The lepto depends on which one. Some shoot back on old wood very readily, while others may never do it.

It looks like you've cut the main trunk but left a thinner branch, presumably with green leaves (can't see to well). That smaller branch should certainly survive, but you can only wait and see what you get with the thicker one. Good luck.