Відео

With mealybugs, I use a product from Bunnings called "Scale Gun", which is a Yates product. I rarely use it however as I don't often get mealies on my plants since I give them systemic fungicide around once a month. However, if you do decide to use the scale gun, it is very strong and it will kill the mealies, but you have to wash the excess spray off the plant so that it doesn't damage the plant once the sun hits it. You shouldn't use this product on any 'blue' cacti as it will wash the blue (which is a layer of farina) off the plant, making them lose their blue colour. Rubbing alcohol should also work, but remember when applying anything onto your cacti, do so in the afternoon or the evening when there is no longer direct sun on the plant as direct sun will cause the plant to burn after you apply any sort of treatment on the epidermis.

What sort of video would you like to see about Metasequoia vs Taxodium? Do you want to see a video on how to distinguish between the two plants?

@TobyJin for example👍👍👍

If your plant only has 2 long branches, you should prune it and it will start to clump and produce more branches, all of which will be a similar length, making the plant look much tidier. If you want the caudex to be larger, keep it under the soil as that encourages it to thicken. Once you raise the caudex up, the part above the soil will thicken extremely slowly.

I'm not sure about the National Park rules in Queensland but I am almost certain that you cannot take plant material out of a National Park in NSW without a permit.

Many winter growing bulb species will germinate when it gets cold so you don't need a heat mat unless you are preventhing them from freezing. If they are kept too warm, they won't germinate.

@@TobyJin Thank you. I've moved them to a colder place now. Hope I haven't ruined them.

The flowers on the Christmas cactus are also zygomorphic, so they do look similar to some extent.

I would give them a go, but I don't have seeds. Araucariaceae are an interesting family of conifers.

That's no good, maybe if you can source them locally from someone you know, you might have a better chance at getting viable seeds.

@@TobyJin I found a new tree on a military base where there are old cones on the ground. I am going to go by there and see if they will let me collect them off the ground. There were three very old trees a block from my house and one had cones in it but some new person moved into the house and had the trees removed. The bunyas don't get too much love around here in Southern California unfortunately. Everyone I have talked to that has one just complains about them. That's the mentality out here. Thanks Toby

Grafting will speed up the process of producing nuts as the scion will be from a mature tree. Getting a grafted tree also means you can choose a variety of Macadamia you want as plants don't always grow true from seed.

@ this is what UA-cam and Google teach. Syntropic farming is finding this is completely false. Also Grafted are far more susceptible to disease . It’s just crap. Actually put 100 of each into the ground like we do and see the results.

I purchased them from a website called rareplant.me but if you can source them locally, that would also work.

If it is floating, that is not good news as the seeds may not be viable. A good check is to give the seed a shake and if you feel something moving inside, it is definitely not viable.

@@TobyJin Hi Toby. The more I look at the photos I took and the trunk of the tree it is an araucaria angustufolia. It is a gigantic one. That is why the seeds and cones aren't quite as big. I have opened the cones and got 5 seeds out so far and they are all floating but nothing shaking around in the seed. I only know of two parana pines here in San Diego.

Sorry to hear that, I do have a small stand for my camera in my newer videos, which should hopefully reduce that issue.

They can grow really quickly when they are happy and actively growing.

It should germinate within a few weeks. The plants I have currently from this video have a bulb with a diameter for around 1-1.5cm, they don't grow too fast and will most likely take several years to get a large bulb.

@@TobyJin It would be wonderful to know that it can grow about 7-10cm within 3-5 years, but from seed if I sow it. What are the best conditions for sowing, can it be done in autumn at home? You can record a new video of what Bowie looks like now.

Many Acacias in Australia grow in environments prone to fires. They are a group of plants that can persist through fire using a geosporous seed bank, that is the seeds will stay dormant in the ground for many years (sometimes decades) without germinating. Dormancy is broken after a fire or disturbance event which 'breaks' the seed coat, allowing water to reach the inside of the seed and stimulating it to germinate. Hence, in this video, I was showing how the seed coat can be broken to induce the seeds to germinate. In terms of trees in the wild, occasional seedlings do pop up even if there is no fire, but after a fire, you can expect a large amount of Acacias and other plants that use this survival strategy to germinate. Hope that information helps you understand why I grow my Acacias like this.

@@TobyJin yes,they go dormant for many years. I just did an experiment! You know Ants never die in water in rainy days because they also have a hard shell in the body but if Ants get washed with soap that hard shell deteriorated and the water goes thru killing them. So i did wash 10 seeds tonight with soap dish for about 5 minutes, I rinse them and leave it water .let's see if my seeds germinate better without boiling water.

They are like fine white roots

Maybe those are not roots and could be some sort of fungal mycelium. When the seed does send the root down, it should be one thick taproot.

That can also work, liquid systemic fungicides are also great for seedlings as they are easy and safe to use.

If you have heat mats and equipment that can provide adequate conditions for the seeds to germinate and for the seedlings to grow, you can sow anytime, but I prefer to sow in spring or early summer so the seedlings can get large enough by winter.

@@TobyJin So you advise me not to start sowing now? I don't have heating mats, in the room where we sit it's so hot in winter, but I don't have heating mats and enough light. Although I have that glass bell in which I could store seeds.

Anhy well draining mix is fine for these plants, they are very easy to grow.

It may be that the tip has gotten damaged by some pest, which has caused it to branch.

Not sure, but I have purchased a smaller one that is grown from seed, once they seem to get to the thickness of your finger, they seem to grow quite quickly.

And do you think growing in cococoir would be okay? As a sterile medium...

I don't use a heat mat. Adding a bit of coco coir should be ok for small plants.

I would keep them in the pot. The beans usually fall off when the plants have used all the nutrients within them. Considering where you live, I would not try and plant it in the ground as it is not that frost tolerant, so your best bet is to keep it as an indoor pot plant. Make sure to give it plenty of light.

Glad you enjoyed the video.

No, I don't think I have seen Bunya cones for sale before.

@@TobyJin If you can sell these i want to buy

The canes can produce lateral shoots, which can produce flowers.

They can usually bloom anytime from spring to summer. By the sounds of it, they seem to be doing well and you probably will get blooms in the coming year or so.

Unfortunately, they don't seem to be.

Glad you enjoyed.