AusBonsai

Hi all,

I was hoping for some advice on pinching out some germinated Casuarinas.

I have got some seed up and they have their 1st true needles just starting to form from the seed leaves. I will uplaod a picture shortly.

My question is, at what point do I pinch out the seedlings and get them into their own pot. Rory might know as he has had some recent experience with these.

Cheers

Squizzy

I assume you mean 'prick out' - ie transplant seedlings into individual pots.
You can move them as soon as they are big enough to get hold of or you can leave them a bit longer. It doesn't really matter but they do seem to grow bigger and better when done early. I've left seedlings, native and exotic, in the seed trays for several years before potting them up. There will be some losses from the competition in the small container but you do seem to get some interesting trunks if you do leave them to grow together.

I use the same basic technique for all seedlings - conifers, natives, deciduous and have posted some pics and description in the recent Pine seedlings thread - viewtopic.php?f=9&t=24852
Note that you can cut roots quite hard on small seedlings without any harm, in fact the resulting new roots that grow produces a better bonsai root system with lots of radiating roots. Casuarinas will respond equally as well as pines.

Thanks shibui

Yes pricking out. My bad

That’s great info. Cheers

Squizzy