Eucalyptus from seed

Treeguy Charleston, SC Nov 18, 2005

I have now thrust myself into Eucalyptus scene after mainly growing maples, dogwoods, etc. from seed. I have heard so mush about the rapid growth rate of Eucalytus. Yet when I did some flats of various species there were only a few that grew to any decent height. As of a matter of fact, I had to bring several flats inside under grow lights because they were still so tiny and the cold would have wiped them out. These were species of very cold tolerant plants. Eucalyptus seed are very small so the plant starts out very tiny. Although I started these a little late I still expected growth beyond an inch in several months. Any insight here?

Post #1881470

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growin Beautiful, BC(Zone 8b) Nov 18, 2005

Hi Treeguy,

Hopefully your Eucalyptus seed were stratified before planting. They would actually be better outside with overhead protection and wind protection despite their size. Once in the greenhouse, house, warmplace they tend to blister on the leaves and dry up. They prefer cool bright conditions. I built a coldframe with sorta open sides today and placed the Eucs under it and will cover with poly next week. You might also want to check out this site: http://www.angelfire.com/bc/eucalyptus/seed.html
I think they'd be better in an outdoor protected spot. You might find some of the ungerminated seed will come up.