I was chatting with an very experienced Yangmei grower today. She has more than ten live trees, some of them has started to bear fruits. She has been growing Yaangmei trees for years, and has spent thousands dollars in experimenting.
Here are some of the pictures of her trees in one of her places. She is one of our group order members, but she has ordered only one Crystal tree for trying out the new variety.
Hare are the experiences she shares with us. But the success is not guaranteed for everyone. It depends lots subtle factors, such as weather temperature, dryness, soil quality, water drainage condition, etc.
Preparation after the bare root is received
* Never let the roots dry out, be especially careful with this before you put the plants in the soil.
* Trim off any dead or damaged roots and branches.
* Place the root portion of the plant in water mixed with Hormex powder and let it soak one night.
Grow the trees in the container first with soil mix:
1/3 Peat moss, 1/3 organic potting soil, (not necessary acid type),1/3 of remaining with perlite and coconut fiber (1/3 perlite, 2/3 coconut fiber)
No sand, no mud paste since at the beginning the roots are very sensitive and delicate. The goal at the beginning is to make the roots get recovered and grow strong.
After care when tree is planted
1. Do not use fertilizer in the first 6 months
2. Keep the trees well drained
3. Do not over water tree， preventing roots getting rotten.
4. No big sun for tree. It does not like over heat and dry weather.
Grafting
The best season is 2/15- early March.
Use one of following two for root stock.
1. Myrica Californica, also called California Wax Myrtle, or.Morelia Californica
2. Myrica Cerifera, also called Wax Myrtle
It seems that the second one grows better than the first one after grafting. But hard to find the second type in California. Myrica Cerifera is native to central, middle, and east states.
