Cyathea Australis (cooperi) double trunk (and separating)

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Arlon Tishmarsh
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Cyathea Australis (cooperi) double trunk (and separating)

Post by Arlon Tishmarsh »

hi guys
as some of you know i picked this Cyathea up for £20 a few weeks ago. It has a twin trunk. The problem is when the wind blows etc the fronds off each trunk tend to rub against the other, the result being that a lot of the "leaflets" on each frond get broken off / damaged. Has anyone ever seperated a twin trunk tree fern and if so what were the results please. Any advice would be gladly welcome anyway. At the mo i'm edging toward seperating them but don't want to loose the plant
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Cyathea Australis
Cyathea Australis
Cyathea Australis double trunk
Cyathea Australis double trunk
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redsquirrel
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by redsquirrel »

arlon,simple answer,move the plant to somewhere sheltered icon_thumright ,dont split it,a poorly rooted cyathea tends to end up a dead cyathea
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Simba

Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by Simba »

I'd echo what RS says.
You have a real stowstopper of a plant there Arlon, don't try and split it, just try and find the perfect sheltered spot for it instead.

I would even be tempted to buy another plant to put alongside just to offer some additional protection.... icon_thumleft
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by Arlon Tishmarsh »

I'm inclined to agree with you both but still tempted. Sayin that tho, unless we "push the envelope" we'll never know whats possible. Red, i tapped the pot off and its crammed full of root which is why i just might give it a go. Think i'll sleep on it.

Thanks both for the comments icon_thumleft
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by redsquirrel »

Arlon,your mad,ive never seen a twin trunk before,dont mess with it mate,that one is a specimen
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by Adam »

you have somthing beautiful and rarely had offered ( plant with double trunks) dont bring the plant to suffer by riping it apart but rather you should give it the most sheltered place you can :D
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by redsquirrel »

or better still,give it to me :P icon_king :P :lol: :lol:
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Arlon Tishmarsh
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by Arlon Tishmarsh »

Can i think about it for a while Red. icon_scratch
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Arlon Tishmarsh
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by Arlon Tishmarsh »

Well, that didn't take long, NO. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by redsquirrel »

:lol: :lol: :lol: cant say i blame you,i wouldnt have either.cost you too much in petrol :lol: :lol:
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by Dave Brown »

I have the same problem with my Cyathea cooperii double (sold as australis) that I picked up from Akamba in 2008. Each plant keeps it's fronds clear, but they clash in the middle. Worst case is when a new unfurling crozier collides with a hardened frond. It almost destroys the crozier :roll: so I know where you are coming from Mark. I have placed mine in about the most sheltered place I can find, but it still get some damage at times.

Most of the large Cyathea in specialist nurseries have been dup out so have some root disturbance, therfore I think it is possible to recover from some damage. I think that cutting down the middle may be too much, so would not recommend trying it unless they are expendable.

What I was told was that at one point they were cutting them down in the same way as Dicksonia antarctica and selling them as logs, and they did not take.
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20100809 Cyathea cooperii twin trunk.jpg
20100809 Cyathea cooperii twin trunk close up.jpg
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Arlon Tishmarsh
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by Arlon Tishmarsh »

As with yours Dave, i think mine is actually a Cooperi. Apparently they were being sold quite commonly / wrongly as Australis. Some of the guys on another forum have expressed the view that mine (maybe yours as well, looking at it) are not double trunks at all but two seedlings that have grown so tight together they appear that way. I am actually starting to look at mine that way. If that is the case, then the plant itself will, i think, dictate the outcome. If they are seperate ferns, they are going to struggle the bigger they get if left. I'm going to have a much closer look at mine today.
One of the guys there gave his plant an identical description to mine, seperated them and they are absolutely fine.
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by Dave Brown »

Mark, I thought all double, treble etc were just separate plants that fused together through close proximity, so actually 2 or more plants sharing one physical trunk. You can see the manufactured ones as they have just grouped trunks together once larger so you can still identify the individual trunks.

I saw a proper Cyathea australis at my local GC last weekend. It was about 5 eet tall with a full crown. They had it labelled as a Dicksonia antactica and was £360. Unfortunately my camera, which I take everywhere, fell out of my pocket as I got out of the car, and failed to switch on. :roll: or I would have posted about it.
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Arlon Tishmarsh
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by Arlon Tishmarsh »

Still trying to understand it myself Dave. As far as i can make out, they fuse together only by the trunk fibres / roots that entwine with each other and therefore do not share the same lower trunk. They don't share the internal mechanics as say a normal tree which would have a lower trunk and then branch, therefore they are in fact seperate plants giving the appearance of a shared lower trunk.

Does that make sense :lol: now i have a headache.
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Re: Cyathea Australis double trunk

Post by Arlon Tishmarsh »

Well,
decision was made yesterday and so was the surgery :lol: . Decided to seperate the trunks because it was better for the plant and after having a good poke around i came to the conclusion that what i have and suspect Dave, you have is well, is not a double trunk in the true sense, but two seperate cyathea in one pot. It was like having a Katie "Jordan" Price in the garden, a pair of false doubles, :lol:

After seperating it felt like i gained a whole new cyathea and imo they look better. So far there seems to be no ill effect, no drop in the fronds. At the mo i'm a happy chappy and would make the same decision again.

A couple of pics:
Attachments
DSC00733 [800x600].jpg
DSC00735 [800x600].jpg
DSC00736 [800x600].jpg
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