Wollemi Pine

[palmmermaid]

At the sale at Tropiflora in Sarasota this weekend, I bought a Wollemi pine. I was so excited to get this living fossil. It is already planted and hopefully it will do well.

Anyone else have experience with this tree?

[OldNed]

Yep...Got my Wollemi Pine from National Geo. in December, 2006. First saw one at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney in 1998.

Shipped from Australia, it cost $100 and was about 11 inches tall. I kept it in a pot for a few years, then into the ground.

The certificate that came with it said I had Wollemi Pine-USA #15-don't know if it was the 15th shipped to the US or not-I've been a subscriber to the Wollemi Newsletter since it began (that's where its sale was advertized). It was back-ordered for over 3 months-kept getting emails telling me shipping/availability was delayed.

The recent freezes here in Central FL didn't seem to hurt it.

[Cycadcenter]

See this thread from a few days ago

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=22825

Bruce

[palmmermaid]

Mine is also registered - don't have the number with me. It is about 2.5 feet tall. I understand they can take from 23-113 degrees F. so it should be happy. I also understand they should not be allowed to dry out. Mine will get adequate moisture but will be well-drained. When I get back home I will take some pictures and post them.

[Eric in Orlando]

Kitty, they seem to be a little tricky here in FL. I've heard others having some difficulties getting them to grow well in SoFL. Some things they seem to like/need;

partial shade/bright shade especially in the afternoon (at least maybe when they are younger)

well drained soil but that is evenly moist, do not let them dry out, they are very sensitive to drying out and will brown up and wilt very quickly

good air circulation

acidic soil

We have a couple in the ground doing fair so far. They haven't been fast growers yet.

[Cycadcenter]

Eric,

I think you have it right, especially the ones that came in through Canada as they were small plants, the ones we bought in and started selling 4 months before National Geographic were two years older and much larger averaging around 20-24" tall

here is a photo comparison from Randy Baldwin of one he received from National Geographic v's one from us.

In regards to the Certificates supplied, they ARE NOT registration certificates as no records were kept as to the numbering of the plants. They were issued as a Cert. of Authenticity but that doesn't mean much as ALL the plants came from the same source at Toolara Nursery. The only plants which were individually identified were direct clones off the original collected material and none of these were released to the general public.

As to the growing of them their temperature range is from 25-110 F without much trouble, but they are very sensitive to overwatering and drying out. We had a batch where one sprinkler did not work for 2 weeks and the plants just wilted and died.

The ones we have in Australia are planted in full sun with a temp range of 40-105 F temperature range. We get 45" of rain/year and the planted out trees 6ft tall get 5 gallons of water twice a week. Our soil is well draining and is never waterlogged.

Hope this helps.

If anyone needs a book on the Wollemi Pine we have them available for $15.00.

Regards

Bruce

[palmmermaid]

Eric,

I planted it on the east side of the house so it will be shaded in the afternoon. We have well-drained soil otherwise known as sand! I mulched it heavily for about 2 feet out and it will be watered twice weekly. I am watering it daily for now. I also will feed it some acid fertilizer in about a month. Since mine is a little bigger, I am hoping for a nice tree in the near future.

Bruce,

Thanks for the information as well. I was so excited to find this tree and am really hoping it does well.

[tropicbreeze]

With the Wollemi Pine you need to look at the environment it comes from. And that's best described as sandstone gorge country. It grows on rocky ledges and in well drained sandy soil. It's a bit like dissected plateau country not at a very high altitude but can get cold. Frost some times but not snow. Rainfall is throughout most of the year, but very little in spring. It's not tropical, I have some friends who tried it in tropics but lost it very quickly. They had it in very sandy soil but it still declined.

[Walter John]

Keep them in a pot for your xmas tree. As you pot them up, you get bigger presents from Santa....apparently.