AusBonsai

Hi All,

Just wanted to share a couple of pics of my River Red, it’s about 15 years old and was purchased as nursery stock over 10 years ago now.

Tree has never been wired and has been grown in a box for most of its life. Soil mix has always been 50% sifted native mix and 50% coarse sand. Occasional I add some grit to the mix. Never used liquid fertiliser only slow release fertiliser, which I apply on Mother’s Day and then again on Melbourne Cup day.

One day it’ll be ready for a bonsai pot, but for now I will continue to enjoy it in its grow box.

Thank you, Fluoro.

Absolutely stunning Fluoro, one of the nicest reds I have seen
Cheers
Kirky

Nice tree. How come no liquid feed?

Hi Daluke,

I just haven’t really noticed a need to use liquid fertiliser. The biannual application of slow release seems to suit it just fine. I do also mulch up all the leaves and non-woody stems when carrying out an annual prune and reapply that to the plant as a top dressing - my feeling is that aids with maintaining an acidic soil growing environment .

This approach seems to work for me and may not suit all growing conditions.

Cheers.

Thank you Kirky, appreciated.

wow

Beautiful effort there mate. Thats the same treatment I give to nearly all my natives too. 50% mix and 50% river sand.
I too no longer use liquid fertilizer.... so much effort, for so little return in my opinion. Slow release much safer for certain genus too.

Well done tho mate, that is going to look very natural as it ages and you get more ramification. One thing I love about River red gums is when their lower branches spread out so long and low that they eventually grow right onto the ground.... if this were mine, thats the look I'd go for

That's a healthy beast!
Interested in knowing when / how often you do root trimming whilst you've been growing this on in it's grow box?

Rory wrote: ↑January 17th, 2023, 12:08 pm wow

Beautiful effort there mate. Thats the same treatment I give to nearly all my natives too. 50% mix and 50% river sand.
I too no longer use liquid fertilizer.... so much effort, for so little return in my opinion. Slow release much safer for certain genus too.

Well done tho mate, that is going to look very natural as it ages and you get more ramification. One thing I love about River red gums is when their lower branches spread out so long and low that they eventually grow right onto the ground.... if this were mine, thats the look I'd go for

Thanks Rory, appreciated. They're an impressive site when they get to that stage. This one might have a few more years to go before it's capable of such feats. For now I'll let it take the lead on how and where it wishes to grow.

Cheers, Fluoro.

Keep Calm and Ramify wrote: ↑January 17th, 2023, 1:23 pm That's a healthy beast!
Interested in knowing when / how often you do root trimming whilst you've been growing this on in it's grow box?

Thanks KCR, appreciated. I root trim every two years around Christmas time for a box this size, typically removing about 60%-70% of roots. I could extend this out to 3 years and may do so next time around.

Cheers, Fluoro.

Hi All,

It’s been a couple of years and thought I’d provide an update on this old girl, the tree has had a drastic reduction and is taking a whole new direction. I’d expect the huge scar will take about 5 years or so to completely heal. The game we play.

Take care, Fluoro.

Is the WD-40 good for healing scars?

Hah! I wish! Makes good elbow grease though, especially if you’ve got a bit of carving to do.

Fluorine wrote: ↑January 17th, 2023, 9:55 am Hi All,

Just wanted to share a couple of pics of my River Red, it’s about 15 years old and was purchased as nursery stock over 10 years ago now.

Tree has never been wired and has been grown in a box for most of its life. Soil mix has always been 50% sifted native mix and 50% coarse sand. Occasional I add some grit to the mix. Never used liquid fertiliser only slow release fertiliser, which I apply on Mother’s Day and then again on Melbourne Cup day.

One day it’ll be ready for a bonsai pot, but for now I will continue to enjoy it in its grow box.

Thank you, Fluoro.

How did you manage the height on the red. I have a bunch of seedlings about 25-30cms tall atm and I want to get them to about this size. Any tips for good care

Hi Jacko, none of this is new: I let my eucs run and cut back once a year, usually at the end of December. I always try and leave some greenery on the older plants (>10 years), I’ve found they’re not as resilient and have regrettably killed a few with hard cut backs. Once they’re at about 5-6 years old, I transfer them out of pots and into grow boxes, can be styrofoam or if you’re like me, you can just build one simply out of wood and attach some castors to it, this allows you to easily do a quarter turn every week, so your plant remains healthy. I also mulch and feed some of the leaves back to the plant when I trim my eucs, I think this is a great way to maintain a healthy microbial ecosystem and to keep the environment somewhat acidic, which is what eucs tend to love. In about 3-4 weeks after you’ve cut the plant back it should shoot all over, including from the leaf nodes. I let them grow and harden before I choose which direction I’d like to take. In the meantime make sure your eucs gets plenty of sun, i put them in the sunniest corner of the yard, where they get most of the sunlight up to the middle of the afternoon.

I water when the plant needs, the plant will tell you when it’s running low, use the new leaves as a barometer. Always water well, these are plants that grow on floodplains and line many of our rivers and creeks. I fertilise twice a year with osmocote native, once on Melbourne Cup day and the other on Mother’s Day. Not sure what else I can tell you, I’ve grown a few from seed, they’re definitely my favourite plant.

Best of luck with them and do post some of your progress.

Cheers, Fluoro.

Jackobonsai wrote: ↑January 25th, 2025, 8:42 pm

Fluorine wrote: ↑January 17th, 2023, 9:55 am Hi All,

Just wanted to share a couple of pics of my River Red, it’s about 15 years old and was purchased as nursery stock over 10 years ago now.

Tree has never been wired and has been grown in a box for most of its life. Soil mix has always been 50% sifted native mix and 50% coarse sand. Occasional I add some grit to the mix. Never used liquid fertiliser only slow release fertiliser, which I apply on Mother’s Day and then again on Melbourne Cup day.

One day it’ll be ready for a bonsai pot, but for now I will continue to enjoy it in its grow box.

Thank you, Fluoro.

How did you manage the height on the red. I have a bunch of seedlings about 25-30cms tall atm and I want to get them to about this size. Any tips for good care

Apologies, forgot to quote your question. Please see above.