Grass Tree

Grass Tree Care

Xanthorrhoea

What is the plant

The grass tree Xanthorrhoea is a uniquely Australian plant, which epitomises the Australian landscape and is as tough as goats' knees. It will withstand drought. Bushfires will burn the foliage and blacken the stump, but then it regrows. In fact often a bushfire will encourage flower development.When it does flower, it produces spikes, which can grow up to two metres and which eventually turn brown. Just tap the seeds onto a seed raising mix, cover lightly, water and before long, you will have a new crop of Xanthorrhoeas . Don't expect miracles, because it can take 20 years for just a trunk to form .... and it will take years for one to reach its full height.

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Humidity

Normal

Lighting

Part Sun

Hardiness zone

9b - 11

Difficulty

Medium

How to Care for the Plant

Water
Watered as the soil dries to a depth of about 5 cm. It is not recommended to place the pot in a pan (with the exception of keeping it in hot weather) to avoid stagnation of moisture. In general, the plant easily tolerates drought.
Pruning
It is required to periodically remove dry and fallen leaves to prevent fungal infection.
Fertilizer
It does not require a lot of fertilizer, as they can be toxic to the plant. You can use fertilizers with slowly released components. As a top dressing is also recommended, for example, potassium sulfate, occasionally cow dung. Extremely undesirable top dressing with high phosphorus content.

Disease diagnosis

Check your plant’s health

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Sunlight
Suitable bright light, but can adapt to penumbra conditions.
Soil
It requires very breathable soil, for example, from equal parts of soddy land, leafy earth, coarse-grained sand or perlite and peat. You can add to the soil pieces of gravel, broken bricks. In nature xanthorrhoea grows very poor stony soils, but can accelerate the growth of more fertile substrate. Very good drainage is required.
Temperature
Optimal temperature, which provides the best growth: + 68 ° F, although the plant easily adapts to a wide range of temperatures, can withstand short freezing and heat. At home, this plant often burns heavily during fires, after this remains a black trunk, but later it is restored.

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Additional
The plant is poisonous, its leaves are dangerous to animals. Australian aborigines collect resin flakes around the base of the stem, heat them and roll into balls. Later they heat the resin and use it to glue together the copies and boomerangs and repair the broken tools. They also apply pieces of dried flowers to obtain fire by rubbing. From the inflorescences they also make a sweet fresh drink, pods with seeds are used for cutting meat. European settlers in Australia used resin for the production of lacquer. For example, during the Second World War, cans of canned food sent to Australian troops in the Pacific were covered with a protective layer of this varnish that prevented the appearance of rust.
Popularity
58 people already have this plant 8 people have added this plant to their wishlists