How to grow tubestock?

[Heffa]

Hey all,

Since the of end of winter I have been collecting and buying heaps of acacia seed including acuminata, floribunda, macradenia, cultriformis, longifolia, obtusifolia, victoriae and a few others. Ive also been trying my hand at some other native sp in the Fabaceae family. Anyway, i have managed to get a hold of heaps of tubes and trays for propagation and since starting have managed to sprout around 70% of what ive sown with much more to come. My issue is that many have grown very fast and have quickly shot through the bottom of the tube. Now when i buy tubestock from the nursery they rarely have roots coming through the bottom, I knnow this is a rather 'beginers' question but should i feed the root back inside the the pot to grow upward/around? or should i just leave it, allowing it (the root) to die?

The seedlings are only around 5cm tall so are in no way ready to be safely planted out so any advice by those with experience would be most helpful.

Thanks guys and gals

[Alice]

Just leave them or cut them off if you must do something. Don't feed them back in. If the root tissue reaches light then that part of the root exposed to the light will die. This is not a bad thing - it causes branching of the root within the pot. Once there is a better root strucure established then pot them up.

There's an old bonsai trick to increase root ramification - plant into a sieve or collander type vessel.

And get them in the ground if you can, remember acacias grow SLOW in sterile potting mix unless innoculated. If in the ground that tubestock could be 2m tall this time next year. If in uninnoculated potting mix, maybe only a quarter of that.

[ferret]

i think what a lot of nurseries do is have the tubes raised up a few centimeters above the ground/bench, so air can circulate around the bottom of the tubes and "air-prune" any emerging roots.

[Heffa]

Ahh excellent, Thanks heaps guys

Sometimes the simplest questions are the hardest ones to find yourself when your have the restriction of excessive unpaid slavery 'experience.'

Thanks for confirming this for me

The reason I dont want to put them straight in the ground is because the area where i want to plant them is frequented by Hares, Ducks and Waterfowls, not to mention other native and feral rodents such as Bandicoots and humans. Getting them to a good size will help ensure their survival, and give me the freedom to send them to others or donate them to local gov funded native nurseries.

I will be sure to let you know when they are avaliable in the future

But for now, can anyone give me anymore tips to ensure success?

Thanks heaps everyone

[ENtiTY]

Tube stock is usually grown to order and is not meant to sit indeffinately. Root bound plants produce week adult plants that a high percentage of meet an early demise. Get'em in the ground man!

Yeah ferrets on the money. Those tubes are designed to go in a rack that hold them about 3cm off the deck which allows air and light around the base of the tube to stop root growth out of the tube.