Author Topic: Rainbow Eucalyptus  (Read 3947 times)

spaugh

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Rainbow Eucalyptus
« on: May 08, 2018, 08:41:14 PM »
Anyone growing it in CA?  I have a lot of extra RO waste water I'm looking to water something with.  Will it grow here?  Maybe the air is too dry?  Other eucalyptus does quite well (invasive). 

Any other suggestions what I can grow with really hard waste water?
Brad Spaugh

Coach62

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2018, 08:51:20 PM »
Anyone growing it in CA?  I have a lot of extra RO waste water I'm looking to water something with.  Will it grow here?  Maybe the air is too dry?  Other eucalyptus does quite well (invasive). 

Any other suggestions what I can grow with really hard waste water?

I have one, it's in SWFL of course.  If it helps, I have found it to be pretty drought tolerant.  My tree has been in the ground for about 2 years and is at least 12 feet tall.  I haven't watered it at all this year and we are in a severe drought.  It is stressed, but not terribly so.  By next year I hope it has enough roots to thrive in a drought, I don't know if it has a deep tap root, but if it does, it will eventually hit the water table here.  It's only about 8' or so deep. 
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shaneatwell

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2018, 09:17:33 PM »
There's reportedly many in San Diego. One near me that looks about 20 years old. Beautiful tree.
Shane

spaugh

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2018, 09:18:42 PM »
Anyone growing it in CA?  I have a lot of extra RO waste water I'm looking to water something with.  Will it grow here?  Maybe the air is too dry?  Other eucalyptus does quite well (invasive). 

Any other suggestions what I can grow with really hard waste water?

I have one, it's in SWFL of course.  If it helps, I have found it to be pretty drought tolerant.  My tree has been in the ground for about 2 years and is at least 12 feet tall.  I haven't watered it at all this year and we are in a severe drought.  It is stressed, but not terribly so.  By next year I hope it has enough roots to thrive in a drought, I don't know if it has a deep tap root, but if it does, it will eventually hit the water table here.  It's only about 8' or so deep.

Nice, it's probably already in the water table if it's 8ft.  Our water table is 600ft deep here!

I have water to pump on it that is already bein wasted.  I just don't know if it can take the Santa Ana winds.  I read they like humidity which we really have none of.
Brad Spaugh

spaugh

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #4 on: May 08, 2018, 09:22:39 PM »
There's reportedly many in San Diego. One near me that looks about 20 years old. Beautiful tree.

Nice Shane,  I will probably order some seeds and see how it goes.  Worth a shot I guess.  Others in town is encouraging.
Brad Spaugh

barath

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2018, 12:06:00 AM »
I wonder if you could grow coconuts with the waste water, maybe with a brackish lagoon to provide some humidity (maybe with some mosquitofish for good measure), lined with black plastic to absorb heat and keep the water temperature up.

ScottR

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2018, 12:24:28 AM »
I've got two grown from seed an there about 15-20' tall they seem to grow fine by the coast, i'am maybe 2-3 miles from the Ocean as the crow fly's. It may be to dry in your area but worth some more research they do grow fast! Mountain coconuts might do well for you although they don't need a bunch of water(parajubaea torallyi,p. torallyi microcarpa, p.sunkha,p. cocoides) all produce edible seeds which taste just like coconut's just bite size.Also butia palms have a few nice edible fruit!  ;)

CGameProgrammer

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #7 on: May 10, 2018, 12:59:54 AM »
Dude I can't believe you haven't seen the ones at the San Diego Zoo. They have a bunch of them in front of the main entrance (just outside the entrance) as well as one or two within the zoo. They are fully mature and are pretty colorful right now. I have read that they get more colorful in tropical climates, here they're a bit more subdued but still interesting if you know to look for them. It's not really eye-catching though.

OCchris1

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2018, 01:41:54 AM »
Theres a hillside full of them at Downtown Disney (Anaheim) near the monorail stop. Also mature trees at Huntington garden near Pasadena. Chris
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Tropheus76

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #9 on: May 10, 2018, 02:20:40 PM »
I planted one last year here in Central Florida. It grew to about 7 feet before the cold winter we had killed it back. New growth though starting around 5 foot. Hoping this will thicken the trunk and it will go up to ten over the summer.

spaugh

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #10 on: May 10, 2018, 03:44:25 PM »
Dude I can't believe you haven't seen the ones at the San Diego Zoo. They have a bunch of them in front of the main entrance (just outside the entrance) as well as one or two within the zoo. They are fully mature and are pretty colorful right now. I have read that they get more colorful in tropical climates, here they're a bit more subdued but still interesting if you know to look for them. It's not really eye-catching though.

Dude I must be blind.  I will have have to go again and pay more attention.  They do have some great plants. 

So I found a tree on ebay.  I know I know...  It was 50$ shipped.  We shall see how it goes.  I figure they can't really send me a fake one of these, it should be obvious I hope.  It's coming from FL.  Then I found starfruit seedlings...  I should really stay off the internet...
Brad Spaugh

Doug

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #11 on: May 10, 2018, 04:55:17 PM »
I really love those trees! Gorgeous! When I moved here to Costa Rica 20 years ago they were everywhere. They were planted many years ago when the government electric company encouraged it because their straight trunks were great for telephone poles. Sadly, for me at least, the BC (biologically correct) crowd has declared war on them, and many have been cut down simply because they aren't indigenous. There's a big one left on the farm next to mine and the colors are remarkable. Good luck with your planting project!

Coach62

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #12 on: May 10, 2018, 11:07:07 PM »
Anyone growing it in CA?  I have a lot of extra RO waste water I'm looking to water something with.  Will it grow here?  Maybe the air is too dry?  Other eucalyptus does quite well (invasive). 

Any other suggestions what I can grow with really hard waste water?

I have one, it's in SWFL of course.  If it helps, I have found it to be pretty drought tolerant.  My tree has been in the ground for about 2 years and is at least 12 feet tall.  I haven't watered it at all this year and we are in a severe drought.  It is stressed, but not terribly so.  By next year I hope it has enough roots to thrive in a drought, I don't know if it has a deep tap root, but if it does, it will eventually hit the water table here.  It's only about 8' or so deep.

Nice, it's probably already in the water table if it's 8ft.  Our water table is 600ft deep here!

I have water to pump on it that is already bein wasted.  I just don't know if it can take the Santa Ana winds.  I read they like humidity which we really have none of.

Well it's a pretty fast growing tree for sure, that's why I moved it once I read how big they can get.

As far as winds - mine managed to survive hurricane Irma, and my home had the center of the eye go right over top of it.  So it took 100 mph + winds for some time, but it is shielded to some degree by large mature pines.

I would add (not that this really applies to you) that it was also under water for about 2 weeks in the Irma flood.  So, it is both flood and drought tolerant and grows really fast.  I do like the tree, the bark should start getting more colorful with age, at least that's what I heard.
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Coach62

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #13 on: May 10, 2018, 11:08:18 PM »
One more thing, everyone talks about the colorful bark, but even the leaves are beautiful.  It's really a pretty stunning tree overall.
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spaugh

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #14 on: May 10, 2018, 11:27:44 PM »
Anyone growing it in CA?  I have a lot of extra RO waste water I'm looking to water something with.  Will it grow here?  Maybe the air is too dry?  Other eucalyptus does quite well (invasive). 

Any other suggestions what I can grow with really hard waste water?

I have one, it's in SWFL of course.  If it helps, I have found it to be pretty drought tolerant.  My tree has been in the ground for about 2 years and is at least 12 feet tall.  I haven't watered it at all this year and we are in a severe drought.  It is stressed, but not terribly so.  By next year I hope it has enough roots to thrive in a drought, I don't know if it has a deep tap root, but if it does, it will eventually hit the water table here.  It's only about 8' or so deep.

Nice, it's probably already in the water table if it's 8ft.  Our water table is 600ft deep here!

I have water to pump on it that is already bein wasted.  I just don't know if it can take the Santa Ana winds.  I read they like humidity which we really have none of.

Well it's a pretty fast growing tree for sure, that's why I moved it once I read how big they can get.

As far as winds - mine managed to survive hurricane Irma, and my home had the center of the eye go right over top of it.  So it took 100 mph + winds for some time, but it is shielded to some degree by large mature pines.

I would add (not that this really applies to you) that it was also under water for about 2 weeks in the Irma flood.  So, it is both flood and drought tolerant and grows really fast.  I do like the tree, the bark should start getting more colorful with age, at least that's what I heard.

Sounds excellent.  I also collected some eucalyptus citriodora (lemon scented gum) seeds from last fall and have them chilling in the fridge over winter.  Going to try and germinate some of those now.  Not sure if you guys have those in FL but its a pretty nice looking very tall eucalyptus with nice white smooth trunk and smells really nice like lemons.  I also dug up some baby eucalyptus globulus (blue gum) trees last fall from a canyon near my moms house.  Have those ones in pots and need to plant them.   Those ones are super monster size trees.
Brad Spaugh

Mike T

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #15 on: May 11, 2018, 05:27:38 PM »
These are big trees that can get 250ft tall in the tropics so are one of the taller Eucalypts. They grow really quickly and are extra striking in the wetter tropics. The lemon scented is really sub tropical although in my district they grow mostly at 2000 to 4000ft altitude and where the rainfall is around 40 inches a year. Eucalyptus globulus is even bigger pushing 300 feet and much better suited to California with a winter rain peak but would prefer more rain than I guess California has to offer. There are hundred of species that could go alright in different habitats in California and only a few species are likely to have pest potential there. Melaleucas are also getting out of hand in parts of the US but there are dozens of species with many being small and attractive and they would have much lower pest potential than the poorly considered introductions that have happened in the past.

spaugh

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #16 on: May 13, 2018, 12:33:52 AM »
I got my rainbow eucalyptus tree in the mail today.  Wow, what a sorry looking tree.  Haha, that was 50$ not well spent.  I up potted it from dixie cup size to tall 3gal pot and put it in the hot house.  Hoping it will be happier.
Brad Spaugh

Bush2Beach

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #17 on: May 13, 2018, 11:41:42 AM »
Thanks Ebay!
It's pretty , but it's still a Euc.
Not a species to plant for any reason . Not a fan of the silver dollar Euc's either.

How about Banana's or a special Bamboo like " Buddha Belly" for your RO runoff?
I know poo poo'ing Eucalyptus but recommending Bamboo? What am I thinking. It's SD county but it's still 2018 and the right time of year to put a high ppm loving sour diesel in with your other plants.

spaugh

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #18 on: May 13, 2018, 07:53:07 PM »
I got a refund on the ebay tree and found a nursery with healthy looking trees for cheaper. 

Don't plant eucalyptus?  Why? 

I tried putting the RO on a banana and it rotted and blew over in the wind.  It is possible to over water a banana apparently.  And they don't like salt apparently. 

Sour diesel, yeah maybe something like that.  Surely not too late.   8)  Stays hot for a long time here.  Since we a closer to the equator days are shorter here also.  Makes things happen earlier than up north.
Brad Spaugh

Bush2Beach

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #19 on: May 13, 2018, 11:50:53 PM »
Why to not plant Eucalyptus is they're invasive and out compete most everything else.  Probably doesn't apply to your situation since it look's like you have space and stay on top of things so any baby Rainbow Euc's would just get potted up for the nursery. If your going to grow one, the Rainbow is beautiful.Could go in a spot where you want windbreak. Mostly I'm just biased against the Blue Gums since they were seeded in California ages ago and took over huge swaths of land where they are planted .
Im surprised to hear that about your RO Banana experience.

spaugh

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #20 on: May 14, 2018, 12:22:43 AM »
There's a lot of invasive eucalyptus around here on many of the neighbors properties but not really on the houses up on the hilltop. The houses below us in the canyon have them everywhere.  They can't get in the water table up here so they don't really get out of control.  I realize they are an invasive tree but some of them are quite stately.  I will try and photo a few of the really nice plating in poway.
Brad Spaugh

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Re: Rainbow Eucalyptus
« Reply #21 on: May 14, 2018, 01:05:41 AM »
There may be a couple of hundred species to avoid for California but most would be ok. When you look at species like E. sideroxylon, phoenicea, megacarpa, miniata, regnans, torelliana and swamp bloodwood there is not much danger of them becoming pests and they have lots going for them.