Which Acacia to grow?

[Barnard]

Hello,

I live in South Australia and am going to attempt to grow some acacia. Which of the species would be best to grow for its ethnobotanical properties? I have seeds for Obtusifolia, Maidenii, Acuminata and Confusa. Thanks

[Foo]

plant them all.

[Jonstn]

Yep grow em all mate they're all beautiful.

If you get a free day head down to Blair national park nursery, they usually have quite a few different types of acacia

[LokStok]

without kowing where you are in SA, probably A. acuminata.

But Like eatfoo said, if yah got the seeds, why not give em all a go.

[dundee]

Acacia Longifolia grow well in southern areas

[indigo264nm]

^^A. longifolia just grows well everywhere. It seems the most abundant Acacia species that I've seen, in NSW anyway.

I agree with plant em all, but A. acuminata might be for your purposes the one that you should plant a couple extra.

It's extremely hardy and fast growing, whilst being tolerant to most weather conditions and it's a useful one to work with.

[RyanVolle]

i say plant 'em all but just make sure that it doesn't block our doors or disturb the neighbors and maybe turn on of them into a bonsai? that'd be really cute

[2Deep2Handle]

I think hes asking which one A. HaS the most magik, and B. grows best in his area....with consideration given to A first and foremost

[Barnard]

Your spot on 2deep, i will plant them all. But anyway temps are dropping and it will be winter in a couple months so im debating to plant them now or wait? What does everyone think, can they be raised through winter? Maybe keeping inside on a window seal?

[Palma]

I am interested in the choice of an acacia...

Apart from any magic, I might need more than one specy, and I wander which ones are deciduous or evergreen for example.

Are some of them spiny?

I also would like to know which ones stand best a dry climate, as I have 500mm, I guess. Only figs and almonds grow with only rainfall here!

I want acacia or any legume to give nitrogen to the garden, and to slightly shade the veggies.

If the seed is edible, then better!

Thanks in advance for any help to list the species according to those different criterii...

[shortly]

I dont know extreme your climate might get, but the following are all harvested commercially for wattle seed for human consumption

A victoriae – Prickly Acacia; A sophorae – Coastal Wattle; A retinodes – Wirilda; A coriacea – Dogwood; A murrayana – Colony Wattle; and A aneura – Mulga

you might want to be careful introducing wattles into a new area they can & do become weeds given half a chance and they dont mind a good fire.

[occidentalis]

Palma. you might also be interesting in looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vachellia_farnesiana since it is a north American species and does well in a dry climate (even weedy in northern Aus)

[Distracted]

A. acuminata seems quite nice and was a fast grower in my backyard till I stupidly killed it.

[Heretic]

Palma , check you PMs - I have some surplus seeds of desirable species , that I can give you . Send me a PM , if you're still looking or interested .. Tom .

[Palma]

Tom, I will send you my address. I think the acuminata subps acuminata is the best for me... I checked a few, and some wattles just need too much water, others have hairs that can cause allergies for some persons.

Acuminata favors winter rain and acidic soils, which matches my zone.

And yes shortly, I think about the possible invasion, but here, out of the zone we water.... only drago tree and canarian pine!

By the way, I have become interested by the host of acuminata, santalum acuminatum! If anyone has seeds...

[roflmuffin]

This thread seems to have died down a bit, so I think it's safe to ask now.

What would be the best acacia to grow in Victoria? Specifically west of Melbourne (not the high country). As with Barnard, I'd ideally be looking for the one with the best ethnobotanical use - or as 2Deep2Handle put it: 'magic'.

[space cadet swami]

^^^u can start ur own thread roflmuffin...go on u know u wanna...

[poisonshroom]

Santalum acuminatum is actually the parasite and the acacia (along with potentially other species and families) is the host. I got seeds from LokStok, but I havnt had a chance to give them a go. They need to be soaked in giberellic acid and/or cracked open with a vice or something before planting to get them to germinate quicker (and more successfully). Iv recently seen seeds on ebay if your interested - and the seeds apparently become more viable over time (an increase from something like 5% germination to 30% or something after 2 or 3 years), so if they send you old seeds you might even have more success.