AusBonsai

Hi guys

I know there are probs native fert threads out there but i was lazy.
What do yous guys us on ya native bonsai?

Cheers Pat

Sorry too lazy to reply

fair call

LOL

I do nothing different than any other tree of mine.
Charlie carp, miracle grow and neutrog on the surface every month or so

Ken

Depends which 'native'. There's such a wide range of genera that 1 answer will not fit all plants however I use 2 categories - 'phosphate sensitive species' and 'the rest'.

Phosphate sensitive species are generally the ones from Proteacea family. Includes Banksia, Adenanthos, Grevillea, Hakea and a few less common ones. Proteas are also phosphorus sensitive but, of course, are not Aussie natives! and probably not used as bonsai much.
Proteacea come from nutrient poor areas and have developed the ability to extract maximum phosphate from the soil whenever it is available using 'proteoid roots'. If you supply 'normal' levels of phosphate in most general fertilisers the tree takes it all and overdoses and often dies.
Use low P. fertiliser, sometimes referred to as 'native fert' on these trees. I use osmocote low P slow release in the potting mix and give osmocote soluble every couple of weeks through the growing season.
It is possible to reduce the trees sensitivity by starting with very low doses of a general fert and slowly building up to full strength.

All other natives get whatever the exotics are getting.

Hope that helps a little.

that is excellent mate.
Thanks for your help.
I love natives haha.

Cheers Pat

Hi All,

shibui wrote:Depends which 'native'. There's such a wide range of genera that 1 answer will not fit all plants however I use 2 categories - 'phosphate sensitive species' and 'the rest'.
All other natives get whatever the exotics are getting.
Hope that helps a little.

shibui, I take it then that Casaurinas fit into "The Rest" category?
I was just wondering how you fert Casaurinas as I have heard that they have a nitrogen fixing capacity/ability? So do you just feed them a fert with normal levels of nitrogen compared to P and K levels, and let them sort it out?...or do you feed them a fert with low nitrogen?
You have most probably said how you fert casaurinas somewhere on Ausbonsai, but I would really appreciate if you could answer this question again.
Thanks, Dario.

Dario, I only have a few smaller casuarinas as bonsai so do not consider myself as expert yet.
Though Casuarinas can convert nitrogen they seem to do well on normal nitrogen fertiliser. They are not legumes - I think its a fungal association like pines rather than bacteria in the roots that does the work. Legumes are nitrogen fixers and don't mind extra nitrogen, pines have fungal association and don't mind extra nitrogen so why would casuarinas? The issue of proteoid roots and phosphate is completely different.

Someone once explained that nitrogen molecules in the air are extremely difficult to separate to convert to an organic, plant usable form so nitrogen fixing plants only do it if its really necessary. If there's already nitrogen available in the soil they take that rather than putting in the effort to convert N molecules. They seem to have the ability to take in just enough rather than overdosing like the proteacea family.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks very much shibui!! That made perfect sense and was very detailed too, so thanks for taking the time to answer
Cheers, Dario.

I prefer Yates " native" slow release than Osmocote as the protective layer is made biodegradable so you do not end up with empty yellow balls over your soil and is not meant to " dump" in temperatures over 30. I also use fish emulsion or similar. I guess you are not talking about native" ficus" that love dynamic lifter and anything else you give them.