Tasmania

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

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Emerging Eucalyptus gunii seedling
Emerging Eucalyptus gunii seedling











One week old Eucalyptus gunii seedling
One week old Eucalyptus gunii seedling

I decided to try growing Eucalyptus gunii and Eucalyptus globulus. The first is supposed to be hardy enough to survive our winters and will eventually go out. Eucalyptus globulus gets damaged when exposed to even moderate frost which makes it an indoor plant. I’ll try it inside for a couple of years and then if it gets too large, I’ll try it outside, perhaps with some luck and winter protection, it might regrow from the bottom of the trunk and roots each spring.

Eucalyptus globulus grows extremely fast.
Eucalyptus globulus grows extremely fast.

Gunii also starting to grow branches...
Gunii also starting to grow branches…
With enough sun and heat, eucalyptus can grow astoundingly fast. I was especially surprised with E. globulus growth speed. In only a couple of months it became little tree with thick and strong stem. E. gunii grew just as fast, but it behaved more like a wine, main stem remained thin and weak. I used bamboo to make it grow upwards and it worked.

Wet and cool weather made E. gunii suffer and after a while, it got severe mold infection. I removed leaves that were hit the most and placed it inside into dry unheated room to recover. Lack of light didn’t seem to harm them and they remained practically the same for a while. Dry air caused the mould infection to disappear, but soon they got hit by aphids. Especially Eucalyptus globulus started growing actively as soon as it received more light and warmth in an upcoming spring. When there were no more temperatures below freezing, I placed them outside in full sun and they instantly took off.

Eucalyptus globulus in early summer
Eucalyptus globulus in early summer
Even in small container, they both grew vigorously. Eucalyptus globulus looked extremely healthy and managed to dry out the pot two times in the same day in hot sunny weather. Since Eucalyptus is quite resistant to drought, they didn’t mind. Keeping it in a bucket filled with water kept them moist for a while, so they could continue growing throughout the spring and early summer. During the summer, I decided to plant them outside in the garden and try their luck in winter weather. E. gunii should be more than capable to withstand our winters, which is not true for E. globulus.

More to come as this little project evolves..

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