Melaleuca advice please

[Luke]

very young in bonsai years i collected this magnum P.I. of a mel. iv been experimenting on smaller trees since and now am realizing,, im lucky this tree even survived!! but it did and has!, now im a little overwhelmed on what i should do!
iv got plans but reflecting on others would be great!

mel1.jpg

mel2.jpg

mel3.jpg

luke

[craigw60]

Hi Luke, nice material.I would re cut them below the fork the trunks are too close together and the forking too high to make twin trunks. If you cut them lower then you can select a new leader and get some taper going, also with a lower cut you should get some budding back further down the trunks which would be a big help.
Craig

[Luke]

i agree... this is my plan.... ((each step is months after the last...))

mel options.jpg

i like this growth

mel4.jpg

luke

[craigw60]

go for no 3 Luke

[Jamie]

go for no 3 Luke

agreed

[Luke]

hey craig, jamie, i was planning to get to the third cut gradually (in steps)!! but im not so sure now, the back budding at the base is a great indication its going to bud where ever it can! even so i wont be getting the angle grinder out yet, im going to wait till early spring, or should i cut it now?
...say i cut it off now and put a fishtank over it? really it should go great guns!! in theory....
any advice, opinions, ideas? cheers.
luke

[Jamie]

wouldnt worry bout the fish tank mate

natives can have up to 8 growth spurts a year, as long as it is warm you shouldnt have a prob cutting back at the third line, it will back bud then you can cut back to a strong shoot. cutting back in stages isnt really necessary as you will just be taking more time. they back bud well and grow strong.

jamie

[Pup]

Breaking is better than cutting it produces more growth it will shoot from cutting. You will get more shoots from breaking.
If it is to big to break partially cut then break.

As Jamie has picked up on, the growth of natives is up to 8 times per year.
One Question is it your attempt at humor or a new hybrid Melaleuca x magnum PI ?

Cheers Pup

[Luke]

cheers mate ... Any info on cut paste? will it hinder new shoots popping through at all? should i bother using it?...... also...... id feel bad if i didnt plant the off cuts as cuttings.... my idea is to seperate the top 2 trunks into 2 individual trees, treat with hormone gel and pot in a sandy/ perlite mix. This sound ok?, Should i use more or less organic? should i use fish tank?
thanks for advice
luke

[Jamie]

not sure on the cut paste with them mate, i hardly ever use it, when i do it is just a little plastecine mixed with vegetable oil! as for the cuttings i am sure pup has some threads on here about it and how he goes with them, i will see if i can find it for you, it might be possible i found it for you once before?
using honey as an antibacterial and coke bottles to cover them and keep in some moisture.

[Luke]

Breaking is better than cutting it produces more growth it will shoot from cutting. You will get more shoots from breaking.
If it is to big to break partially cut then break.

As Jamie has picked up on, the growth of natives is up to 8 times per year.
One Question is it your attempt at humor or a new hybrid Melaleuca x magnum PI ?

Cheers Pup

thanks pup! great info and i have proof right here infront of me..... if you look close... my tree was broken a fair bit when collected!, the new growth around the breaks and strip is very very strong!!
SOOO angle grinder is out, coping saw and brute force are in! Cheers!
luke

P.S. magnum PI was another lame attempt at humor by me. 'shrugs' ohwell

[Jamie]

here are the posts i was talking about

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=67

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=325

hope they help! same goes with the callistemon as mel

jamie

[Luke]

CHEERS PUP AND JAMIE!
luke

[Jamie]

np mate, let us know how you go