Acacia Maidenii

[The Deb-One-Amine]

of the 10 maidenii and 10 acuminata ive got at least 4 maidenii that have swelled and been sowed and the acuminata im not even game enough to touch the container they are in because they are of like rockets they swelled in at least 4 hour and have now started sprouting just waiting for them to surface

[gerbil]

great you say that, as i was thinking of trying this but was not 100% sure about it.

sandpaper is a very good tool for scraping the seedcoat.

 

Not that i have a great deal of experience in direct seedling, particularly in small seed batches, but observation of good and bad tube stocks, vs good and bad natural occurrences show huge differences in vigour and overall genetic expression with natural sprouting. The biggest factor imo (besides appropriate soil conditions for specific species) is the ability for the main roots to get to where they need to be without being disturbed, once it's damaged in any way imo it will just never be the same.

[fydesvindico]

i've had a Maidenii come through this morning (left) since the suns come out. skullcap in background :-) seeds were put straight into jiffy - 7 peat pallets after hot water treatment for half an hour, been in the dirt since the 23rd.

*edit, sorry about the huge size of this pic!

Edited August 26, 2010 by fydesvindico

[executi0n]

Well, I might as well give an update, even though it's nothing good.

So far I've seen nothing happen with the first lot of seeds I planted. I'm hoping that when I wake up I'll see something, but I've been thinking that for the past few weeks now hah.

I've got a new lot down and hope that I'll see something else come from those, but I'm not going to get my hopes up yet!

I hope that everyone else is having a bit more success than I am.

@fydesvindico - The peat pellets that you are using, did you just get them from your local nursery or somewhere like that? I might look into getting something like that myself. I saw something like that at k-mart the other week and now that I see those it could be the ones I saw, or at least similar.

[planthelper]

Well, I might as well give an update, even though it's nothing good.

 

and we are all sure, you will one time look back on your humble beginnings, as a acacia probagator, and you will not believe, how you manage to struggle doing so.

for most of us, and definately for me, the first time few times, one often fails, as one has hardly any reference points in what we are doing.

so don't worry about the last attempt and just start again, maybe changing some variables, but basicly, just try to take it more easy.

what sometimes happens, is that, you find out what you did wrong, and by sharing the info about it, the "coin will drop" with many other members aswell, and as such your misfortune can become a good tool of learning.

good luck growing those incredible trees, exe!

[executi0n]

and we are all sure, you will one time look back on your humble beginnings, as a acacia probagator, and you will not believe, how you manage to struggle doing so.

 

Heh yeah, I've been in that kind of situation many times, I'm hoping that one day it'll be the exact same for this hobby. I'm definitely not going to give up now thats for sure!

for most of us, and definately for me, the first time few times, one often fails, as one has hardly any reference points in what we are doing.

so don't worry about the last attempt and just start again, maybe changing some variables, but basicly, just try to take it more easy.

what sometimes happens, is that, you find out what you did wrong, and by sharing the info about it, the "coin will drop" with many other members aswell, and as such your misfortune can become a good tool of learning.

good luck growing those incredible trees, exe!

 

Thanks for that. I think I'm not going to be so 'mothering' to them this time. I might have been a little too caring for their liking. If I relax a bit on that and let them do their own thing, they might show some signs of life. If they're able to do their thing in the wild, then surely they can do it at my place heh.

It's all part of the learning experience after all. Hopefully I can take what I learn from this experiment, and use it with other species as well, and pass it on to other enthusiasts!

Cheers,

executi0n

[fydesvindico]

hey 'executi0n' yeah they're 'jiffy - 7 peat pallets' from Bunnings (pic attached), they've managed to sprout everything i've planted in em so far! also heres an update on the maidenii.

[executi0n]

Ah thanks! They're the ones I saw a k-mart the other week. Might have to invest in them and see how they go.

The maidenii is looking good as well, hopefully one day it'll be a nice size tree and be giving off seeds of its own.

Happy growing everyone,

executi0n

[executi0n]

So, I was walking outside, taking out some rubbish and checking on the rest of the herbs, plants, etc that we have growing and I take a look in the first pot of maidenii that I had, and to my surprise, there it was, a little guy had poked his head up and out of the soil. He was looking kind of lonesome in the big pot by himself, but he was there. I really didn't expect to see anything come from those seeds, but I guess I was wrong. I've never been more happy to be wrong heh.

If I can find the camera I'll take a pic or two, not that there is a heap to show, but hopefully it'll start to grow and mature more and there will be something to show. Who knows, the other seeds might even start to show themselves soon as well. I can only hope!

Hope everyone is doing well with their seeds

-executi0n

[Blood Trance Fusion]

How about an update? I've been growing maidenii for some months and mine seem to be growing steadily; all roughly 7cm high with 3 pairs of mini branches.

[∂an]

here are some pics of an 18 month old maidenii plant. grown in small pot for 12 months, put in the ground for the last 6 months. it has almost tripled in size since being in the ground

at the beginning of its life, the seed was soaked in water for 24hrs and sown 1 inch deep in soil from backyard in a 15cm diameter pot. will try and find some seedling photos.

Edited January 2, 2011 by kalika

[fydesvindico]

Here are some of the seeds I sowed back in September. They were all planted into different soil mixes to determine which grows best.. all seem to be doing pretty well at this stage.

The smaller ones at the front are acuminata. They seem to have a slower growth rate then maidenii.

Edited January 17, 2011 by fydesvindico

[planthelper]

Here are some of the seeds I sowed back in September. They were all planted into different soil mixes to determine which grows best.. all seem to be doing pretty well at this stage.

The smaller ones at the front are acuminata. They seem to have a slower growth rate then maidenii.

 

they look realy good, congratulations!

you seem aswell to have quite a good growth rate there.

acacias can be very tempramental, they grow fast if they are happy, and stopp growing if not.

i did put most of my acacia seedlings safly away from the horrendous rain, and they are fine, but all of those i left in the rain died. and still they love water in some sence, funny hey?

[ferret]

Here are some of the seeds I sowed back in September. They were all planted into different soil mixes to determine which grows best.. all seem to be doing pretty well at this stage.

The smaller ones at the front are acuminata. They seem to have a slower growth rate then maidenii.

 

wow that big in 4 months? takes me about a year to get em that big- whats ya secret?

[fydesvindico]

Thanks planthelper, they are very temperamental! A few others that are still in smaller pots (cups actually), seem to have not grown at all in the past month. I've had to give most of mine away simply because I don't have the space/ time for them at the moment.

I think the true secret really comes down to soil, and in this case with maidenii... The lighter/ aerated type seems to be the best!

These were started in peat pellets before being moved into their current pots. Most of the larger, healthier ones were grown in a very light soil mix (lots of perlite, bits of bark, sand, stones etc). The seeds sown/ moved into heavier, richer soil have all died (also most of the seeds sown straight into larger pots didn't make it, or are still struggling). I think the ones that died, mostly did because they were left out in the rain (along with the ones pictured) and pretty much drowned to death, or were boiled to death when the sun finally hit them, obviously not having enough time to drain efficiently.

So they really like well draining soil!

Also another note to add; The healthier plants were sown indoors (in peat pellets) on a windowsill. When they were potted up they were moved out and under a 30% shade cloth for a month or so. They now live in full sun and shoot up noticeably every week. These all need repotting, so I would assume they will double in size when moved into larger pots/ chucked in the ground.

I also mist my garden every morning and evening, mostly to keep spider-mites at bay (and a few other plants alive) so I don't know if this is something else that helped them grow up to be big and strong too?

I water all my plants with a liquid seaweed fertilizer every couple of weeks. This has a noticeable effect on my other plants in the garden and most likely contributed to these healthy buggers too!

Other then that, I don't think theres much else to tell you! I will keep this topic updated when they get larger etc for those curious.

peace,

fyde.

[quarterflesh]

out off 18 seeds i planted straight into the ground without any treatment 9 popped up after a lengthy delay of about a month and a half, cat sat in the pot and killed 4 of them but they were replaced withing a week by new sprouts. so pretty good result for just chucking them in a pot, they seem to take a lot of torture, the pot has remained water logged for a lot of the wet season and a few could not take it, pretty sure they have all popped now.

[fydesvindico]

So it's been about a year since I sowed these seeds now, hows everyone else's progress coming along?

of the all the maidenii's I had, I've 5 left in pots (3 pictured) and only 1 acuminata (left of pic) as it got a bit damp and cold where I am this winter me thinks.

from what I've learnt; soil doesn't really seem to have much of an impact on the speed of growth with the maidenii's. I tried a few different soil combinations to see what would come of them, and well... the one pictured far right is just growing in typical garden soil (nothing added) which is of a rich volcanic type, the 2nd from the right is a mixture of that same soil and purchased native mix from bunnings, 3rd from the right is just the native mix with added perlite and peat, as is the acuminata on the left. The acuminata's that were planted in garden soil didn't work out so well, but thats a different story.

I've had similar results with others that've now been returned to their natural habitat, growing in other mixes consisting of bark, course sand and cheap purchased soil among other mixtures. so It doesn't really matter what these things grow in, they're pretty amazing in that aspect.

I have noticed however that they do require adequate root space, as others that've had repotting delayed have extremely stunted growth of that compared to others that were repotted when necessary (and those planted in the ground).

anyways, excuse the quality of this photo as some wanker recently stole my D90 out of my car (which wasn't covered by insurance either!) so the camera phone will have to suffice for now.

I would like to see how everyone else's seedlings are doing!

Peace!

[mutant]

fydesvindico great input !

here's my maidenii, it was given to me by a friend that did not have the best weather for her. She might be 4 years old, she's been through lots of stress, but she is fine now

and these are some months 6-8 [?] old acuminatas

[fydesvindico]

she looks good mutant! has a bit of size to her... and still popping out a few bipinnate leaves, beautiful.

have those acuminatas been grown from cuttings? or just had a bit of a trim up?

[fydesvindico]

Bump!

Wondering if anyone is still growing any acaicas from this seed batch? Thought I'd chuck up a pic of the one I've still got.. Guess its been almost 4 years.. gives ya a good idea of the growth rate for these guys.

Edited May 17, 2014 by fydesvindico

[Tøn]

<-- I hereby declare my gardening n00b status-- it's been a couple of years since I've attempted growing anything, but the urge is getting stronger.

 

I've found a nursery stocking A. maidenii locally, and am considering procuring a few for a long-term native garden project...

 

It seems that growing them in pots is possible, but not conducive to optimal growth/plant happiness beyond a certain point... How d'ya think they'd fare in a pot for 9 months or so whilst I figure out if I'm going to stay put in my current abode or not-- will planting them out thereafter stunt their growth?

Anybody had any luck growing them in the Eastern suburbs/Ranges area? I'm in the foothills but temperatures will probably be 1-2 degrees less than average over the winter months.

 

Thanks!

[freakazoid]

They grow fine in pots as long as you pot them up into a bigger pot each time their roots fill up the pot they are in. Goes for any plant really with a few exceptions that actually enjoy a little potboundness. Of course, the difference between a few litres of decent potting mix and mother earth is staggering. particularly for wattles. But the good ( or bad ) thing is plants in pots can be moved! If the weatherman says FKN Look out!; torrential rain or belting frosts or cyclones or whatever, you can do something about it, ya know. Once they're in, they're in and it's a little bit more up to the plant gods but when they are "in" they absolutely boom, for the most part, but if you're living arrangements dictate mobility then pots are fine BUT if any plant is in one pot too long it's roots start to tangle themselves up round and round and this can become a permanent disability. A plant that has become root bound basically has it's roots knotted instead of just fanning out naturally and even after it's planted out into the ground to live it's merry life, the knotting doesn't correct itself, in fact, as the roots that are close to the trunk slowly get thicker and larger this knotting strangles and stunts the plant for the rest of it's handicapped life like accidental Bonsai. You can occasionally pull them out of their pots and inspect the roots and then simply put them back in again with just a little bit of plant shock, no worries, or at an absolute minimum, if you see roots have made it to the drainage holes then.....NOW IS THE TIME! oh, and maiden are pretty cold hardy...i think.

[Tøn]

Awesome, thanks for that- that gives me a bit of confidence to proceed particularly the knowledge of being able to pull a plant out to inspect the roots, I've always been overly cautious in that regard.

I had some T. peruvianus and T. pachanoi that grew about 3 inches in 3 years, and always attributed that to moving them around too much when I first got them.

I guess that, even for seasoned horticulturalists, it's always just a process of experimentation eh? I must admit, I always feel terrible when I kill/retard plants inadvertantly so I'm a bit shy in that regard