Next steps for Wisteria seedlings

[ConorDash]

Hello,

These are some seeds I’ve grown this season. I actually grew a good few last year and they grew well till about this stage then all died. I did nothing.. then this year started and 4 have grown to this! From.. what I thought was dead. Quite amazed but I’d really love to keep them alive and going..



As you can see 1 or 2 are doing really well, other 2 are surviving..
i need to repost these ASAP to something bigger. Another, a 5th has been planted in the ground basically, few weeks ago and seem to be going ok, although it’s hit by weather much more. These live in a sheltered greenhouse, with cover half off.

So yeh please do let me know what you think I should do next. Currently it’s very hot and humid weather, and will be for a good few weeks. They are planted in standard soil.

 

[River's Edge]

Hello,

These are some seeds I’ve grown this season. I actually grew a good few last year and they grew well till about this stage then all died. I did nothing.. then this year started and 4 have grown to this! From.. what I thought was dead. Quite amazed but I’d really love to keep them alive and going..

View attachment 203773View attachment 203774View attachment 203775View attachment 203776

As you can see 1 or 2 are doing really well, other 2 are surviving..
i need to repost these ASAP to something bigger. Another, a 5th has been planted in the ground basically, few weeks ago and seem to be going ok, although it’s hit by weather much more. These live in a sheltered greenhouse, with cover half off.

So yeh please do let me know what you think I should do next. Currently it’s very hot and humid weather, and will be for a good few weeks. They are planted in standard soil.

Wisteria do well with full sun, free draining soil mix and lots of water. I moved mine into faster draining mix and full sun this year. I am watering them twice as often and they have climbed the fence and are wrapping around the upper gate! half way through the season. Oh and it has been hot and sunny for the last six or seven weeks. 30 degree Celsius plus most days lately.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I have a wisteria cutting, which I am letting grow freely, then in fall trim it back to the trunk. I grow it from a cutting because it can take 12 years or so for them to flower.

Your younger material could be shaped to your own wishes right now. I would do that this or next year if I were you. There are a few examples out there on the big ol google.

I personally would get them into bonsai soil coming spring, but in a large container. It makes working the roots and developing the roots easier in the future. The large size of the container will help it grow.

But for now, keeping it alive and healthy.

 

[ConorDash]

Wisteria do well with full sun, free draining soil mix and lots of water. I moved mine into faster draining mix and full sun this year. I am watering them twice as often and they have climbed the fence and are wrapping around the upper gate! half way through the season. Oh and it has been hot and sunny for the last six or seven weeks. 30 degree Celsius plus most days lately.

I have a wisteria cutting, which I am letting grow freely, then in fall trim it back to the trunk. I grow it from a cutting because it can take 12 years or so for them to flower.

Your younger material could be shaped to your own wishes right now. I would do that this or next year if I were you. There are a few examples out there on the big ol google.

I personally would get them into bonsai soil coming spring, but in a large container. It makes working the roots and developing the roots easier in the future. The large size of the container will help it grow.

But for now, keeping it alive and healthy.

Cheers guys. See this is caring for the tree and species... I was wondering more so about the young age of it.. for example, if I repotted in to a different mix now, wouldn’t it be a stress on the tree? And in its young and delicate state, wouldn’t putting it in full sun now, cause an issue?

 

[River's Edge]

Cheers guys. See this is caring for the tree and species... I was wondering more so about the young age of it.. for example, if I repotted in to a different mix now, wouldn’t it be a stress on the tree? And in its young and delicate state, wouldn’t putting it in full sun now, cause an issue?

Adjust the plant gradually to full sun, repot early next spring before bud break. In the meantime just adjust your watering to suit the combination of soil and sun! Maybe use a chopstick to poke holes in the substrate allowing better drainage in the meantime. More sun will strengthen the plant for winter. It is important to wire early while the trunk is more flexible. Because of the extensive growth, cutback in the late fall is the best way to keep the size manageable while growing the trunk to the desired thickness.
Your pictures appear to show residue on the leaves. Foliar spray, harder water source, chemical residue, or perhaps my aging vision?

 

[AlainK]

Most of the time, Wisteria takes a long time to flower, which is its best feature as a plant or as (a large) bonsai.

I heard of people making it flower 3-4 years after sowing, but I have one in the ground that took at least 4 years. I live in a place where there's between 30-50 cm soil, then it's a calcarous hill. And the water is very hard.

Wisteria prefer slightly acidic soil, that's probably why some make it flower sooner than I can here...

 

[amatbrewer]

I have been playing with some Wisteria for a few years now (~5?). We have one we call Lazarus because we have ‘killed’ it a few times but it just keeps coming back no matter what we do to it. I have managed to actually kill a few, but those were primarily the fault of irrigation failures. Tip: Don’t mess with your homemade automated watering system prior to leaving on a trip.

I learned the hard way to be careful when wiring the green growth on Wisteria. I have found sometimes it can easily snap away at the branch junction with little to no warning.

Of my two main Wisteria’s right now, one is in a pond basket with about a 80-90% inorganic soil mix and in full sun (Central Washington state…think high desert) and despite attacks from fungus, aphids, and me applying neem oil in full sun (Yeah, stupid), it just keeps growing like a weed (and flowering!). The second in a bonsai pot with a similar soil mix, partial shade, and unaffected by the above threats, has been really, really slow growing with no flowers, but healthy.

My takeaway so far (based on my very limited experience) has been lots of light, lots of water, and really, really well draining soil, and they can easily withstand a LOT of abuse.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[River's Edge]

I have been playing with some Wisteria for a few years now (~5?). We have one we call Lazarus because we have ‘killed’ it a few times but it just keeps coming back no matter what we do to it. I have managed to actually kill a few, but those were primarily the fault of irrigation failures. Tip: Don’t mess with your homemade automated watering system prior to leaving on a trip.

I learned the hard way to be careful when wiring the green growth on Wisteria. I have found sometimes it can easily snap away at the branch junction with little to no warning.

Of my two main Wisteria’s right now, one is in a pond basket with about a 80-90% inorganic soil mix and in full sun (Central Washington state…think high desert) and despite attacks from fungus, aphids, and me applying neem oil in full sun (Yeah, stupid), it just keeps growing like a weed (and flowering!). The second in a bonsai pot with a similar soil mix, partial shade, and unaffected by the above threats, has been really, really slow growing with no flowers, but healthy.

My takeaway so far (based on my very limited experience) has been lots of light, lots of water, and really, really well draining soil, and they can easily withstand a LOT of abuse.

Hope this is helpful.

Here is the result of lots of. Sun, water and organic fertilizer in free draining soil mix. These five seeds were germinated in the spring of 2017, cut back to 12 inches and put back in the grow bed ( with colandars to help contain roots) this spring. It is the group of foliage just left of the gate entrance.

 

[ConorDash]

Adjust the plant gradually to full sun, repot early next spring before bud break. In the meantime just adjust your watering to suit the combination of soil and sun! Maybe use a chopstick to poke holes in the substrate allowing better drainage in the meantime. More sun will strengthen the plant for winter. It is important to wire early while the trunk is more flexible. Because of the extensive growth, cutback in the late fall is the best way to keep the size manageable while growing the trunk to the desired thickness.
Your pictures appear to show residue on the leaves. Foliar spray, harder water source, chemical residue, or perhaps my aging vision?

Ok I think slip pot for now then and just move out and in the greenhouse. It’s in sun during end of day.
Hard water, very hard. Just something I gotta live with unfortunately.. it just looks bad, no problems caused.
I’ve been trying solutions to remove the calcium builds up on bottom of trunks but no luck yet.

Most of the time, Wisteria takes a long time to flower, which is its best feature as a plant or as (a large) bonsai.

I heard of people making it flower 3-4 years after sowing, but I have one in the ground that took at least 4 years. I live in a place where there's between 30-50 cm soil, then it's a calcarous hill. And the water is very hard.

Wisteria prefer slightly acidic soil, that's probably why some make it flower sooner than I can here...

Yep this is a Chinese wisteria, my concern isn’t flowering. It takes 10-15 years to flower. Just growing for fun. We have a huge flowering wisteria (where I got these seeds from) along our gate. It’s crazy wild. Loads more seeds hanging on it now as we speak .

 

[ConorDash]

I have been playing with some Wisteria for a few years now (~5?). We have one we call Lazarus because we have ‘killed’ it a few times but it just keeps coming back no matter what we do to it. I have managed to actually kill a few, but those were primarily the fault of irrigation failures. Tip: Don’t mess with your homemade automated watering system prior to leaving on a trip.

I learned the hard way to be careful when wiring the green growth on Wisteria. I have found sometimes it can easily snap away at the branch junction with little to no warning.

Of my two main Wisteria’s right now, one is in a pond basket with about a 80-90% inorganic soil mix and in full sun (Central Washington state…think high desert) and despite attacks from fungus, aphids, and me applying neem oil in full sun (Yeah, stupid), it just keeps growing like a weed (and flowering!). The second in a bonsai pot with a similar soil mix, partial shade, and unaffected by the above threats, has been really, really slow growing with no flowers, but healthy.

My takeaway so far (based on my very limited experience) has been lots of light, lots of water, and really, really well draining soil, and they can easily withstand a LOT of abuse.

Hope this is helpful.

Yeh thanks. I’ll be going full inorganic. Just wanna let it grow.

My concern is how young these are. Once they live this winter then I’ll feel safer with them.. once established it’ll be nothing to just leave them alone and water daily.

 

[ConorDash]

Repotted them, some pics. Slip potted, didnt mess with their roots or surrounding soil. The extra soil put in is mature manure, John Innes No. 3 (basically, its all I had, usually Id use compost).

DSC_0050 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_0049 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_0051 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr

Also the parent tree, its pods and how wild it is..

DSC_0052 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_0053 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_0054 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_0055 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr

Vines just everywhere!
DSC_0056 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr

Im ground layering a few that reached my planter, see if they take and I can grow them

 

[River's Edge]

Repotted them, some pics. Slip potted, didnt mess with their roots or surrounding soil. The extra soil put in is mature manure, John Innes No. 3 (basically, its all I had, usually Id use compost).

DSC_0050 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_0049 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_0051 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr

Also the parent tree, its pods and how wild it is..

DSC_0052 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_0053 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_0054 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_0055 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr

Vines just everywhere!
DSC_0056 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr

Im ground layering a few that reached my planter, see if they take and I can grow them

Lots of seed in those pods!

 

[ConorDash]

Lots of seed in those pods!

Yeah but it will do it every year, it takes effort to get them growing in my climate so I won’t be doing any this year .
Oh quick question.. if I took the pods and stored them somewhere dry and cool, would they survive indefinitely?

 

[River's Edge]

If the ends are collected when the pods are dry and about to crack open that is the best time from my experience. I have not tried to keep them for longer than one year. Likely you will have good results if they are only stored for one or two years. My understanding is that the germination rate falls off with seeds stored over long periods of time. I imagine there are differences in the various species of plants. When i purchase seeds from a vendor i always specify collected seeds from the current crop year for best results.

 

[ConorDash]

If the ends are collected when the pods are dry and about to crack open that is the best time from my experience. I have not tried to keep them for longer than one year. Likely you will have good results if they are only stored for one or two years. My understanding is that the germination rate falls off with seeds stored over long periods of time. I imagine there are differences in the various species of plants. When i purchase seeds from a vendor i always specify collected seeds from the current crop year for best results.

Fair enough. Thanks.

Any tips on first winter for these young seedlings? Cut off cold temps before putting in unheated shelter?

 

[River's Edge]

Fair enough. Thanks.

Any tips on first winter for these young seedlings? Cut off cold temps before putting in unheated shelter?

I found that nothing special was needed for the wisteria in my location. Left them outside in there usual spot.

 

[ConorDash]

I found that nothing special was needed for the wisteria in my location. Left them outside in there usual spot.

Cool thanks. Will see these guys do! I think I gotta make sure to keeep moving them. If anything is gonna kill them, it’s this heat... but they are in organic stuff so at least they keep hydrated.

 

[ConorDash]

Stuck some wire on them.. unsure how fast they thicker so dunno if I’ll need to be careful and remove wire before autumn. They are shooting up at the moment, but any unlignified growth will die off in winter.

 

[ConorDash]

I find it odd how they grow.. not just straight up from 1 stem but using other shoots..



All looking but more wild. Still feel so uncertain that they’ll live the winter.. I’m very worried they won’t.

 

[amatbrewer]

Stuck some wire on them.. unsure how fast they thicker so dunno if I’ll need to be careful and remove wire before autumn. They are shooting up at the moment, but any unlignified growth will die off in winter.

In my experience they grow in spurts. They will be going along slow for a while then all of a sudden a spurt. So I learned to watch them closely while wired.