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mysubtleascention

Desmanthus Leptolobus on the balcony

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:innocent_n::innocent_n:

I've been growing Desmanthus Leptolobus in a 20 litre bucket setting on the balcony fifth year now..

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Started with 15 plants per bucket ,which did fit alright without much rivalry reaching 100 cm or more in a sunny corner/ temperate European climate /. In hot weather they took water daily.. Occasionally mites devoured them completely..

I pruned the stems to 5 cm/ after collecting the seeds/ every year.. and every Spring they started new growth..

The seeds germinate almost 100% if nipped 2-3 mm at the pointy side and then soaked in water for 12-24 h ..

The young plants are not hard to please.. / transplanting them from the disposable coffee cups into the buckets wasn't a problem either :) /

During winter months the setting went indoors /cold room/ and not much water or light was needed..

:blink:

Their numbers started to diminish in time and this September I dug them ot to check the roots ..

Bucket#1

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Bucket#2

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Since 2013 began experimenting outdoors .. no problems with the local climate as well /winters down to -20C/.. Easy legume to grow ..

Soaked seeds were planted one by one using tweezers :lol: :lol: , for my first attempt with seeds only nipped and not soaked went mostly unsuccessful, without much rain to do the job..

Watering the younglings outdoors for the first month or two - that was all the caretaking..

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:wub:

Edited by mysubtleascention
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one can boil water, pour into a cup, toss the lepto seeds right in & have excellent sprouting results.

I've had 90% sprout success rate.

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i enjoyed this thread so much i went and bout bought 100 from e bay on the day it was created

and i cant wait because I'm so excited!!! been hunting this one for years!

-edit- thats sooo crazy , the postman literally delivered them just now!!!

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what a beautiful pic-set and write up mate !

and soo looking forward to getting a garden soon and releasing the Leptoes amongst the local Steptoes

may i post pics of any progress here?

or I can "bundle" :D it in with my Acacial thread if you prefer

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Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ
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:P .. anyone feel free to share your desmanthus leptolobus cultivation experience in this thread

Edited by mysubtleascention
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First a question:  Is there a way to keep Desmanthus in a vegetative growth state longer?

 

IME, from seed, they grow a couple months, flower & seed profusely, then quickly defoliate for the season. But it's only mid-summer at that point!

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Usually /in my observatons/ some new leaves and offshoots appear, on the lower part of the stems in Autumn, following the Summer defoliation ,and the plants are prepared for the winter and next spring :):)

The stems get bigger every year naturally..

 

Edited by mysubtleascention
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managed to germinate them well but couldnt keep them alive indoor perhaps too much heat?

anyhow one remaining survivor was planted out in the garden in summer and stayed 2 inches tall and then died a couple of weeks ago .. will defo be retrying this , hopefully in good seasonal timing (maybe sow indoor winter or maybe even sooner to plant out in spring).

 

sorry not much experience to share yet but hopefully soon. - and for forgetting what I'd said and bundling it with the acacia thread but hopefully something more worthy and to post here will come about soon.

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ
grammar and spring plantout

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:rolleyes:

Here are some guidelines for beginners:

 

- Start in early spring,when the frost is gone.

- Pick an outdoor space /garden or guerrilla style/ ,small rectangular 1m wide and 3m long.

- Make 2-4 rows in the moist, prepared soil and sow treated seeds 10 cm apart..

- Each seed should be nipped and soaked 12 h in cold water.

- Use tweezers to place each seed under 1 cm soil .

- Keep the soil moisture high for good germination.

- Use watering can with a fine shower for the first weeks till the plants are well established /10cm/

- After that they should be able to take care for themselves, on their own.

- No fertilizers needed.

- Plants tolerate sun and shade

- Surrounding weeds might be cleared to help young plants for better development and once or twice a year for the grown-ups as well ,if you feel like it..

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by mysubtleascention
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Every seed or mature transplant that I've placed into the ground has done very poorly. Minimal growth, no flowering/seeds, eventually just dies.  I've tried several different soil types too.  Honestly don't know why, since it is a weed. 

 

On the other hand, grown in containers, in potting mix with the addition of fertilizer, this is where I get vigorous growth.  

 

I'm still kinda hung up on the shortness of the growth portion each season. I've read that culinary herbs, like basil, should have the flowers pinched off in order to keep the plant in the vegetative growth state.  With D. leptolobus though, there can be so many tiny flowers, and hidden too. Maybe just clipping or mowing regularly would achieve a similar effect. Might try that next summer. 

 

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I also tried starting the leptolobus in the winter indoors. In the beginning I had like 10 small plants doing very well. Some on the window sill and some under led grow lights. 

After a few weeks the growth stagnated and the plants started to die back. In the end all died. The soil I used was a typical acacia mix I do mix myself with sand and normal potting soil. No fertilizing. I will give it another try in spring outside with only potting soil and a bit more fertilizing. Also bigger pots. I had a chance to look inside trouts book about the Desmanthus, but it did not help very much because there were not so many infos regarding conditions inside there...

Edited by infi
words missing

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In my experience acacia started in wither on the window sill, suffers the lack of fresh air exchange and natural light and very often is developing fungal diseases / moldy soil and mildew onto the stem and leaves , leading to very low survival rate /.

I'm guessing desmanthus requirements are probably similar:rolleyes:

 

 

 

Edited by mysubtleascention

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It really depends on the type of Acacia. With all acacias I had a much bigger success rate. But you are right. I would say best time to start both might be spring so they can grow over the summer and enjoy the warmth...

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This is going to be my second season trying to keep d. leptolobus & d. illinoensis alive. From my experience, they germinate readily and grow to a lush 3-inch seedling but then start to die off. I only have 6 seeds left of d. leptolobus so really want to get this right this time!

 

Will follow the advice provided above this time round, but does anyone have additional "tricks & secrets" to keeping them alive?

 

For instance:

 

1. Acacias get stronger when exposed to extremely bright sunlight and I'm wondering whether the desmanthus family is like this also? I.e. during their first growing season they must be exposed to intense light to "carry them through" the winter?

2. Is native (Australian) potting mix suitable for this species (with low phosphorus)? Or do they grow best in regular potting mix?

3. Have heard rhizobium inoculant CB 3126 can be used specifically for desmanthus and wondering whether I need to use this too.

 

Is anyone else attempting to grow desmanthus this Australian spring/summer?

 

 

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I only succeeded with acacia (acuminata) when I repoted the very young seedlings to big pots, full sun and then left them for the duration of winter there .. sometime in the summer they exploded with growth..  maybe desmanthus also need lots of root space when young...  

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I reckon you're right @sagiXsagi, I took them out of their tubes and found that, even tho they only grew one centimetre above ground, the tap root had already reached the bottom of the tube. Have re-potted, gonna see how they fare this spring & summer...

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