Craigm
Mame
Casuarina group,
best regards Craig..
best regards Craig..
Casuarina
- Thread starter Craigm
- Start date
Jeremy
Shohin
Nice! Any tips on how to manage these things? What species is it? I've been told to prune by twisting the foliage off at a node but I really think it depends on the species as to how they respond. They rival black pines when done correctly but I'm still learning. I have a good size C. Glauca that I'm trying to develop branching but it does not respond as well as Torulosa which I've also played with. I see incredible things from the folks in Taiwan using Equistifolia. Anyway, nice grouping, any info you can share will be invaluable
Craigm
Mame
Hi Jeremy, I beleive it is cunninghamiana but I can't be 100% certain of that as I actually didn't collect itoriginally. This was collected over 25 years ago and over the last 5 years I have began the neverending taskof restyling it properly.
The process for growing Casuarina is daunting to many but not as hard as you think. The first thing you want
to do is grow a decent Trunk to the desired look. Once you are happy with the Trunk, the Branches are trained
as per most other Trees.It took me a few years to figure it out but as someone said to me
"train the branches as you would for a broadleaf Tree". So forgetting about the foliage altogether at the
moment and thinking about training "primary" branches and then "secondary" branches to desired thicknesses
with good movement and Taper. Still through this branch growing process the Foliage is nothing to be trained
but used for what it does-thicken the tree and keep it alive.
Ok so at this stage if you think of your Casuarina as a ""deciduous tree" with no foliage, you'll begin to
have a decent Trunkline and Good primary and secondary branching flowing from that trunkline.
Now when I'm working Casuarina I personally have learnt the Best way is to remove all the Foliage at the time
of major wiring and structure setting. This is why I refer lightly about thinking deciduous trees.
On a strong healthy Casuarina Foliage can be removed so as to eliminate unwanted cladodes(foliage), see the
"structure" and undertake wiring tasks. If you want a branch to keep growing strong don't remove the growing
ends of that branch. I have never suffered dieback as a result of "defoliation" and you get great new Young
healthy Foliage to work with.
Once the Tree is at a stage ready for "refinement" it is up to you which way to go.
The basic way of outine pinching or trimming the foliage to create the desired image or as you mentioned
the other way which was developed by the indonesian bonsai community.
To achieve the later is to delelop "tufts" or pads with the finer branching which you will grow from the
secondaries. Ramification of the tertiaries will lead to denser "pads" whilst keeping the general trunkline
clean from any foliage at all.
At this end stage you certainly should Not cut or break the foliage to create "pads" as that generally
leaves the foliage with deadends and rendering the "end" pretty much dead. Yes that's right the correct way of
shortening Foliage on a presentable Casuarina is to use the "Twist" method of trimming. With new or young
Foliage you can gently Twist the cladode in half where you want on the segmented joins. Holding carefully with
2 fingers and with the other hand twist the cladode apart cleanly. This should result in no deadends and also
an undamaged "leaf end" where it will reshoot. This can be done to all the new foliage to create the desired
pads and remove all old or unwanted cladodes. Once you understand that process you will be able to create
Casuarina with the as you say "look of black pine". To say one Species rivals another I can't agree as each
species is it's own.
hope all this helps you out some, regards Craig.
Jeremy
Shohin
Thanks Craig, I will take it on board. I did have a decent looking torulosa I was developing that just decided to die. So now I'm left with a handful of glauca's, I had developed primary branching and then performed the twist method to begin secondary/tertiary and it hasn't really done anything since. Highly apically dominant. The larger one I have is worth persisting with as the bark is very flaky. Someday....
Craigm
Mame
What do you mean by you performed the twist method to begin secondaries Jeremy. To form secondary branches you should select and trim to them .
Craigm
Mame
Jeremy
Shohin
My bad, that should just read tertiary. Interesting that you remove all foliage, do you pluck them off with fingers or just cut very short?
Craigm
Mame
Sweet as !
yep i trim them off with scissors but if they are fresh you can easily pull off by hand.
especially when I collect them i remove all foliage for absolute best survival rate.
thanks mate,
Jeremy
Shohin
Fantastic, i'll have to try this as well as making sure to remove strong upward growth earlier. Once a sacrifice gets a bit of steam the tree sends all its energy there.
Optimum timing for this procedure? I'm guessing anywhere from mid spring to late summer? Nice movement on that last one
Optimum timing for this procedure? I'm guessing anywhere from mid spring to late summer? Nice movement on that last one
Craigm
Mame
Jeremy I collect Casuarina pretty much year round. That small one above it was collected June last year .If you remove the foliage when collecting and give good aftercare,Fantastic, i'll have to try this as well as making sure to remove strong upward growth earlier. Once a sacrifice gets a bit of steam the tree sends all its energy there.
Optimum timing for this procedure? I'm guessing anywhere from mid spring to late summer? Nice movement on that last one
the season in which it is collected makes little difference.
milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
Love these! I had one a couple of years ago hopefully I can get another one day.
Craigm
Mame
Hi all,
this is a small Casuarina obesa which was collected January this year.
I lightly wired the new growth to point some shoots in the right directions and will allow then time to thicken
into branches before cutting any back to begin next stage.
this is a small Casuarina obesa which was collected January this year.
I lightly wired the new growth to point some shoots in the right directions and will allow then time to thicken
into branches before cutting any back to begin next stage.
Craigm
Mame
some shots from other sides
Thanks for having a gander,
regards Craig
Thanks for having a gander,
regards Craig
YukiShiro
Chumono
These are so nice and grow so fast! love working on them,perhaps I should make a thread of mine then you can help me along Craig, If you don't mind
very nice material!!!
best regards
Herman
very nice material!!!
best regards
Herman
Craigm
Mame
They sure can be Herman,
yes if I can help out with something I know about I'm all for passing on the knowledge to others.
Look forward to seeing your thread in near future,
Thankyou
Craigm
Mame
This Casuarina was moved out of the container used when collected and is beginning to find
it's rhythm.
January "16"
2 years from collection, December "17"
it's rhythm.
January "16"
2 years from collection, December "17"
milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
Craigm
Mame
I have no need to airlayer so I have never done it but I would think yes it can be done.
Most Casuarina like to put out new roots when surroundings are moist and or humid, air layering will give you that.
You can also try planting the Cladodes(needles) as they will have the ability to grow roots also.
milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
Cladodes my new favorite word! LOL That sounds amazing! Here is why I ask one of the three that I had is doing pretty well and I want to take the top and make a shorty out of it. Here's a pic.
Craigm
Mame
Cool, that should take from a cutting pretty easy but why not just let it grow to thicken lower trunk/gain branches and then take multiple cutting to reduce tree. I wouldn't do it until the repot has taken(?soil looks real clean) and tree has vigor
