Acacia phlebophylla death

[Plantsoma]

Id like to report that my Acacia phlebophylla died a few weeks ago.

The shrub lived to 4 years, after which its health deteriorated rapidly.

I can't help but think that if i repotted it into larger pots sooner, i might have got a few more years out of it.

Has anyone had any luck growing this plant to over 4 years of age? I would also like to hear from those who have planted phlebo in the ground.

I will post pictures when i find them.

Many thanks to Julian for the seed.

Dazd.

[alkatrope]

Bummer man, good effort though!

[sascacheuan]

Has anyone tried grafting??.

[apothecary]

Bad luck Dazd. I hear the trick to beating "the 4 year timebomb" is to grow in relatively tall pots. After observing the plant in natural habitat, it makes perfect sense, they literally grow out of nothing cracks and plug right into the side of the mountain. Not a lot of room to expand anywhere but down.

Maybe this is a genetic feature that can be selected out through vigorous seed grown propagation, as some varieties of obtus collected in mountain regions which are probably naturally selected for this same deep growth trait (mountainey rocky styles, thats the technical term) exhibit the same time of death (ish, 3-4 years) when grown in pots.

EDIT: Dodonaea viscosa subsp. cuneata in the bottom left, correct me if I'm wrong.

Edited May 4, 2008 by Sina

[Plantsoma]

Acacia phlebophylla 2005

Acacia phlebophylla 2006

Sorry, i can't find any more recent photos.

[tassiejd]

i hear that pot width is not all that important but depth is, i have even heard that pvc pipe can be used as a pot, get 1 - 1.5 meters worth and try in that.

[baphomet]

"Many thanks to Julian for the seed."

Julian is awesome!

[folias]

Julian is awesome! worship.gif

gosh, thanks!

Pity about the phleb dying.... you are in Newcastle yeah?

I think someone else has some still growing I got some seed too... but can't think of who that might be right now.

Julian.

[transDiMenTional]

EDIT: Dodonaea viscosa subsp. cuneata in the bottom left, correct me if I'm wrong.

Did u try chewing them Sina? I was tempted but not game! they have a v strong smell.

RE deep pots. I saw something somewhere recently of somenody growing something in long pieces of bamboo to maximise the root length. Perhaps this could be an option?

[apothecary]

Nope dude, subspecies angustifolia is supposed to be the useful one, and it just so happened that a few of our travelling companions had some of that with them, so we weren't tempted to chew on the local flora!

[transDiMenTional]

personally i think there are more useful sub sp then angustifolia, just a hunch ;)

[Garbage]

Maybe they need a symbiote to function,maybe the roots need not grow long but simply a stable cooler temperature.

Welwitchia is another that suits drainpipe cultivation,i read any damage to the tap root is usually fatal.

In the past all my Maidenii went yellow and died,too much gritsand in the compost i suspect.

Also the single specimen i grew from seed in the spring had about 5 phylodes with extra leaflets at the end and the rest a simple phylodes without leaflets,is that normal?

It grows in a NEE windowsill so it gets morning sun only.

[Torsten]

the phleb plants we have in really deep pots are doing splendidly. of these the plant that gets a little less direct sun is doing MUCH better than the one in full sun. but to completely discredit any theory I've come up with in regards to deep pots, we have one plant that is about 1m high, 3 years old, and it is still in it's seedling pot of just 120mm or so. Not even a deep pot at that. The thing about this plant is that we kept it in our seedling house, where it is constantly under 80% shade and gets water every day [several times a day in summer].

So yeah, I think in the open a large, deep pot is needed, but under certain conditions not much root space is required at all.

[Garbage]

Which aspect do they enjoy in there native habitat?

[planthelper]

Which aspect do they enjoy in there native habitat?

i have never been to mt. buffalo, and thats the only place wher they are found, but like obtusifolia they like to grow on top of solid, and sloping rock, which has some organic material (soil) overlying it.

this "soil" has very good drainage!!

now if we put, torsten story about the plant left in the small pot for years and the "soil" overlying rock together we can see that it's the same thing with many aspects of it.

those conditions mean that one can water often, but there will never be a danger of roots rotting because of soggy conditions. there is no doubt in my mind, that bacteria which is very beneficial to this plant, relays on the same sort of conditions.

aswell this plant puts its roots deep into every crack it can find in the rock, again this scenario mimicks the situation of a potbound plant sitting on some pavers, and putting it's escaped roots between the latter....

the root ball of an obtusifolia in the wild can often look exactly, like a root ball, of any plant which was kept for too long in the same pot. try to imitate those pot bound conditions and you will be on a winner with phleb.

using big pots for phleb is a good idea, but only if you fill the big pot with a few big rocks or smaller plastic pots inverted, as like this you will achive the conditions as described above.

[Mr Stay Puft]

i know of a few recently planted in an outdoor exposed setting in what can only be described as very 'european' soil

will let you know pf progress but im sure them people looking after them will do a great job

its a pity in todays day and age i cant give a location because too many 'dopes' would destroy or steal them