Rainbow Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus Deglupta) help/ questions

[Uruguay Andy]

Hello everyone, I’m new to palmtalk and was looking for any help/tips on planting out some rainbow eucalyptus. I live in the southern hemisphere, Uruguay and right now is the coldest time of the year coming up June and July. 

I recently purchased 50 rainbow trees/ sapplings to plant out. (Bulk lot buy). Trees are anywhere from 6-10 in. tall. I’m looking to make a small forest, but wondering if its better to wait until the middle of August to plant out or plant now. 

I’ve read old posts on this plant saying better to plant out when it is small. But I’m a little worried about if the temperatures drop down to 30 or lower and the winds here in Uruguay. I have 10 other rainbow trees on the property that we planted this summer 2-3 meters tall (most do look like lollipops)but any info on planting out smaller trees now would be very helpful. 

I have found this site very helpful and educating with palms and other plants.

Also Uruguay is in zone 9b 

-Andy

[PalmatierMeg]

Rainbow eucalyptis can be cold sensitive perhaps cool sensitive esp. when that small. If I had seedlings that small I wouldn't plant them until spring after chances of a freeze or frost. You may want to move them to individual deep containers, i.e., plastic cups with drain holes punched. It's true they hate to be potted long term but those little guys should be able to hold on for a few months in pots. When you plant them remember they get very large and tall so watch your spacing. Also, do not plant them near the house or other structure because of their roots. Finally, I know you probably don't experience hurricanes but if you get strong winds know that this tree is prone to keel over from the roots. We lost 2 30-40' rainbows from Hurricane Irma when the rootballs and everything ripped out of the ground and fell. One of them almost took out my garden shed. Motto: don't plant them near buildings, parking lots or driveways. Also know they are very messy trees so 50 of them will drop tons of leaves, twigs and branches year round. If my husband hadn't insisted on replacing one of ours I would not let another near my property. I await the next major hurricane.

Welcome to PalmTalk

[Silas_Sancona]

7 minutes ago, Uruguay Andy said:

Hello everyone, I’m new to palmtalk and was looking for any help/tips on planting out some rainbow eucalyptus. I live in the southern hemisphere, Uruguay and right now is the coldest time of the year coming up June and July. 

I recently purchased 50 rainbow trees/ sapplings to plant out. (Bulk lot buy). Trees are anywhere from 6-10 in. tall. I’m looking to make a small forest, but wondering if its better to wait until the middle of August to plant out or plant now. 

I’ve read old posts on this plant saying better to plant out when it is small. But I’m a little worried about if the temperatures drop down to 30 or lower and the winds here in Uruguay. I have 10 other rainbow trees on the property that we planted this summer 2-3 meters tall (most do look like lollipops)but any info on planting out smaller trees now would be very helpful. 

I have found this site very helpful and educating with palms and other plants.

Also Uruguay is in zone 9b 

-Andy

Andy,

First of all, Welcome to the forum from the other side of the Equator..

As for your question, While many recommend planting many -or most- Eucalyptus young, your seedlings have a little wiggle room.. I myself would step them up into 3 Gallon pots, and give them another year to add on some growth ( These tend to grow pretty rapidly )

While you could plant them at this size of course, you won't loose any time by allowing them to put on some height/ root mass in larger pots before putting them into the ground.. 

Since you're headed into your winter season, might wait until spring to plant/ step into larger pots before planting.. These, like most any other plant, will slow down growth-wise as the weather cools ..Don't want to risk them getting damaged by a freak cold spell ( if one occurs there ) or eaten by something at such a small size, and not be able to recover from damage.. putting them at more risk if you see a frost or freeze.. 

I see roughly the same lows as you up here in Arizona ( Zone 9b/10 border here ) and Rainbow Eucs. do fine ( though they have to be sheltered from our intense summer sun for the first couple years while they get established ) Grow in many 9b places in California as well.

As a general rule, for me at least, i'll usually grow most trees i start from seed up to 5-15gal size ( depending on the species ) before putting in the ground.. Very rare anything i grow is ready to be planted at a 1 gal size.  Aim is to get the plants to an acceptable size.. where they will be big enough to handle the elements/ other challenges they'll face in the ground, but not so big that they end up horribly root bound / producing circling roots in their pots...

Hope this helps, feel free to ask any additional questions you might have..

Nathan


 

 

[Uruguay Andy]

PalmatierMeg and Nathan, Thanks for the quick replies and info. I did not know these trees were so messy, I’m more attracted to the rainbow trunk they might have. Probably why everyone likes these trees. We do experience strong winds here in Uruguay but nothing like Florida during hurricane season but still strong.

Trees are being placed at the end of our property, and had to jump to buy these when I was looking for eucalyptus to buy online $50 for 50 plants, I thought this was a real good deal. 

What would be a good spacing for these trees? 4-5 meters (around 13-17ft).

 

[Silas_Sancona]

8 minutes ago, Uruguay Andy said:

PalmatierMeg and Nathan, Thanks for the quick replies and info. I did not know these trees were so messy, I’m more attracted to the rainbow trunk they might have. Probably why everyone likes these trees. We do experience strong winds here in Uruguay but nothing like Florida during hurricane season but still strong.

Trees are being placed at the end of our property, and had to jump to buy these when I was looking for eucalyptus to buy online $50 for 50 plants, I thought this was a real good deal. 

What would be a good spacing for these trees? 4-5 meters (around 13-17ft).

 

No worries,

We get strong winds here in AZ on occasion also, especially during our summer Monsoon season. Very few issues w/ these here ( that i have heard of ) compared to some other more commonly seen Euc. species..  Regardless,  yea, lol.. might not put them up close to a house though..

Considering eventual height, would probably space them about 20ft apart, especially if you want the trunks to put on good size ( more color also ) if you have the space available..  You can always plant smaller trees/ shrubs, palms, etc between the trees if you choose to fill in any ope spaces. Would imagine you have numerous great options tree-wise down there we might not have access to here in the states.

[Uruguay Andy]

Here’s an update on the rainbow euc. I planted in the fall, all survived the winter except for 4 saplings. I gave a few away and also have 10 in 20 liter vinyl planting bags. These are growing fast!!! Also have 3 planted 50-100 ft away from a pond... wondering if this is a bad idea as these guys love water? Don’t want them drinking my pond dry.