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briankubasco

Transplanting Australian Tree Fern

briankubasco
16 years ago

I am Transplanting Australian Tree Fern from someone elses house and wondering on how to go about doing it . The tree is about 6 feet of trunk plus fronds . I am in san diego, Ca . Would it be better to cut the existing fronds off ? etc . etc. thanks for any info .

Comments (6)

  • bearstate
    16 years ago

    I'll be curious to hear sugs on this as I have planted several this past year and know that eventually, they will get big and I'll need to spread them out more. Right now I have them in a compact area to green out that area.

    I don't know why you'd want to cut the fronds as they are the beauty of the plant. But I know they will grow back. I'd worry more about understanding how deep to dig to remove the roots w/o traumatizing the plant or affecting its ability to feed such a large mass of plant tissue.

    Palms for example, can be nasty to move ( or remove for that matter ) due to the depth of the roots.

  • houstonpat
    16 years ago

    Spring is the best time of year to transplant but sometimes we aren't able to pick the time of year. I've moved a few. I cut off most of the fronds leaving maybe one. The root ball will normally be shaped like a ball. The more you can get the better. At least 3ft diameter. Use vitamin B-1 or some other rooting hormone. Remember they can only take full sun right by the beach. Keep it well watered and stabilized with stakes for a year. Water well.

  • paradisi
    16 years ago

    The way they are collected in the wild in Australia is to cut all the fronds off, leaving just the unopened fronds on top and chain saw through the trunk. The trunk is then buried deep enough to stop it falling over.

    If the total height is two metres, the trunk is buried about 75cm deep - - they readily re grow their root system.
    Most of the feeding from these tree ferns is done through the trunk - that's why a lot of Aussies stick tea bag, banana peels etc between a new frond and the trunk.

    We water the trunk of our tree fern rather than water the roots and any splash of fertiliser used is directly on the trunk.

  • edleigh7
    16 years ago

    Yeah...but what species is brian k talking about so we can give accurate advice??

    Ed

  • bahia
    16 years ago

    The only Australian Tree Fern available in California is Cyathea cooperi, also called Alsophila cooperi. It can not be cut and replanted to regrow. Get as much rootball as possible, and give it tons of water and protection from sun and wind while it is reacclimating to its new spot. It probably does make sense to leave just the newest fronds, and remove the rest. I would relocate in late winter/early spring before it gets hot and dry to have the least shock.

    It seems rather more work to plant Australian tree ferns twice. Why not plant them where you want them, rather than keep moving them around?

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