metrosideros umbellata seedlimgs, what next?
On Mon, 10 Jul 2006 20:40:46 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote: I left a pot of fresh seed in the coldframe over winter, and a dozen germinated in May. All of them have very tiny leaves indeed (some of them have 6 leaves now). Is this normal for baby metrosideros? Other than being minute they look healthy, and because they are so tiny they aren't crowded for light and space yet. I'm not sure how tough they are; whether to leave well alone and wait for them to grow, give them a dilute liquid feed, or prick them out into fresh compost. Any tips? Janet. AKA M. lucida. Arnold-Forster's 'Shrubs for the Milder Counties' has a chapter on Metrosideros, including a couple of pages on M. lucida. He commends it for its resistance to salt gales, and says should be frost-hardy in any seaside Cornish garden, so I imagine it will be OK with you. His at Zennor (a hamlet high up on the hills of west Cornwall, overlooking the sea) survived the severe winter of 1947 (but with considerable damage), but that winter was so exceptional that even common gorse was killed and holly was defoliated, he says. However, he also says that it won't flower until it has been established for at least 20 years! I was puzzled by this last statement, as Trevena X nurseries were offering them and implying theirs would flower when quite young. I enquired, and although I can't remember their reply, it was convincing enough for me to buy one. Perhaps A-F is referring to plants grown from seed like yours :-( whereas it may be that modern propagation methods allows them to be raised from cuttings, which then inherit the age of the parent (as I believe is the case for camellias, for example). Mine is still in a pot, as the bed it's intended for won't be ready until the autumn. At present I grow it in a mix similar to the one recommended by DP, 3 parts JI ericaceous : 1 part washed quartz grit, 1-6mm. It seems to be doing well ATM, but as echinosum says of his plant from the same source as mine, no flowers yet. I also have M. Thomasii, rescued from a Wyvale plant centre about four years ago, in a New Year sale. They were semi-correctly described as 'New Zealand Christmas Trees' (AIUI all Metrosideros species seem to have that common name), but must have been recently imported from NZ for the UK Christmas trade as they were in flower (Christmas 'down under' is in their mid-summer, the seasonally correct flowering time). But this was January in the UK and the poor things had been sadly neglected and were as dry as a bone and wilting to the point of collapse (they do know how to care for plants at Wyvale, don't they!). I chose the best and it recovered with a bit of TLC and is now also in a large pot. It isn't as hardy as M. Lucida though, regularly getting its leaves burnt by frosts of only -2 or -3C. The flowers are a rather brickish red; it's budding up ATM. Information about it on the net is sparse. The Metrosideros on Tresco are spectacular in the summer; M. robusta and M. excelsa IIRC. -- Chris E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net |
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