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So I grew these Senna bicapsularis/pendula from seed (lots of them) around 7 months ago in our late winter. They germinated quickly in the small pot. As they grew, I transplanted them in a larger container, until I finally planted them in ground 3 months ago. But the thing is, they are so close to each other. Will that affect their growth? Also, they're supposed to flower now because other Sennas are flowering now and these are not (after all, they're called Easter Cassias). So maybe them being cluttered might be keeping them from blooming?
From afar, it looks like a single plant:
Up close, you can see 8 different stems/seedlings poking out (there were 10, but I transplanted them elsewhere):
Senna bicapsularis and senna pendula are two different varieties of senna. What you have there appears to be senna pendula judging by the higher numbers of the pairs of leaves on each young new branchlet. As the saplings mature they will develop more pairs of leaves on each branchlet. Just so you know, senna bicapsularis only has 3 pairs of leaves per branchlet.
Senna pendula is supposed to bloom at end of the winter a year after being planted and since you're in the southern hemisphere and a year hasn't passed yet it might be wise to give them until the end of the up-coming winter this year for them to bloom. So maybe in September 2021 for your location. After that they may bloom year round but always have the most blooms around the end of winter and into early spring.
Yes, they are way too close to each other, they are really terribly cramped together and that cramping won't allow for healthy, natural branching and spread. If left like that for much longer the bigger ones will kill the smallest ones first and then start on each other until only 1 or 2 of them remains alive.
If you want them all to grow separately from each other you should take up that entire clump of them now and gently separate all their roots from each other before they become hopelessly and permanently entangled with each other. Then re-plant them, each one individually away from each other. Ideally in pots that can be gradually placed further and further apart from each other as the plants grow and spread in width and height. Also keeping them in big pots will give you a lot more control over them which is an absolute must, as I have mentioned to you before those plants are extremely invasive and are discouraged to grow in Australia. I believe they are illegal to propagate and grow in some parts of Australia because they're so invasive.
Also don't put any rocks around them and above the roots or near the root crown like you have done with that clump of saplings. Rocks are definitely a no-no, not good things to place over top of roots or anywhere within the circle of any plant's or tree's drip line.
Senna bicapsularis and senna pendula are two different varieties of senna. What you have there appears to be senna pendula judging by the higher numbers of the pairs of leaves on each young new branchlet. As the saplings mature they will develop more pairs of leaves on each branchlet. Just so you know, senna bicapsularis only has 3 pairs of leaves per branchlet.
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Correct. This is pendula for sure. They're all over the place in here. I just cannot differentiate the two, but thanks for the clarification and confirmation.
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Senna pendula is supposed to bloom at end of the winter a year after being planted and since you're in the southern hemisphere and a year hasn't passed yet it might be wise to give them until the end of the up-coming winter this year for them to bloom. So maybe in September 2021 for your location. After that they may bloom year round but always have the most blooms around the end of winter and into early spring.
Pendulas profusely bloom here from March to May, actually (our autumn). They're aptly named Easter cassias. In my area, many pendula specimens are blotted with yellow flowers at this time of the year. They're pretty nice and noteworthy.
Senna odorata (a native) blooms in September, btw.
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Yes, they are way too close to each other, they are really terribly cramped together and that cramping won't allow for healthy, natural branching and spread. If left like that for much longer the bigger ones will kill the smallest ones first and then start on each other until only 1 or 2 of them remains alive.
It's fine by me if one or two survive. I just don't want all of them dying. The thing is, I planted them in seed in a pot. As they grew up, I noticed they were close, but I was really too apprehensive and scared to separate them.
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If you want them all to grow separately from each other you should take up that entire clump of them now and gently separate all their roots from each other before they become hopelessly and permanently entangled with each other. Then re-plant them, each one individually away from each other. Ideally in pots that can be gradually placed further and further apart from each other as the plants grow and spread in width and height.
Thanks for this good suggestion, but I will probably screw it up. I may kill them all. I cannot take the risk. I can just yank the two smaller stems (hoping it won't disturb the larger ones) and pot them up (and that's if they survive). I don't think I am capable of 'dissecting' the stems/roots from each other. That will be a really risky 'surgery'.
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Also don't put any rocks around them and above the roots or near the root crown like you have done with that clump of saplings. Rocks are definitely a no-no, not good things to place over top of roots or anywhere within the circle of any plant's or tree's drip line.
We placed the rocks there because grass overgrows in that area, and we have accidentally killed plants by cutting or severely scraping the stem/bark of a young plant during mowing or trimming. So the rocks somewhat keep us from getting too close to the stem. What do you recommend here and why are they harmful to a plant? I thought they retain moisture?
Thanks for this in-depth response, Zoisite. Really appreciate it.
We placed the rocks there because grass overgrows in that area, and we have accidentally killed plants by cutting or severely scraping the stem/bark of a young plant during mowing or trimming. So the rocks somewhat keep us from getting too close to the stem. What do you recommend here and why are they harmful to a plant? I thought they retain moisture?
You can place a row of rounded, river tumbled rocks in a circle around the tree that extends just outside the drip line to form a barrier against mechanical equipment and then fill the inside of the circle with mulch. Or, until the plants have become a lot bigger you can put a low temporary fence around the plant and fill in the confines of the fenced area with mulch. Or use your imagination - but trust me on this, get rid of the rocks, and no it doesn't retain moisture the way you're thinking it does. Essentially what you've done there is create a rock ground cover over the roots and it's never good to put rocks of any size on top of plant or tree roots, and to boot that crushed rock is the worst kind of rock to ever have near a garden area. I call that stuff nightmare rock because it can create nightmares in gardens.
In addition to some of the reasons mentioned in the following website, the weight of any kind of rock (even lava rock) compacts the soil and roots and interferes with healthy root growth, plus circulation of water and air in the soil is impacted so the soil can't respire properly (soil needs to breathe too like everything else). It forces roots to try to escape the rocks so they grow more horizontally and then you end up with underground root suckers popping up everywhere else in the yard and garden. It can create a surface tension under the rocks that forms wet bacterial, algal and fungal infections. Tiny creatures that feed on roots turn the undersides of rocks into nurseries for their eggs and offspring with a series of tunnels beneath the rocks that go straight from nest to nest to nest. Visualize swarming ant or centipede or millipede or wood louse nests under the rocks.
Crushed rough rock with sharp points or edges like what you have there severely abrades and cuts through roots as it compacts the soil down and the stones begin to sink and settle deeper down displacing essential soil. Also they can injure or kill beneficial, essential soil dwelling creatures such as soft bodied earth worms by slicing through their skin. The list goes on and on about all the negatives, here is a little bit more: https://renegadegardener.com/dont-do...%20the%20shrub.
With regard to separating and re-planting the individual saplings, it's easier than you think. You dig up the entire clump, shake off excess dirt from the ball of roots, place the whole root ball into a bucket of water and that will loosen and cause all remaining soil to fall off the roots so you end up with a root ball of bare roots. Remove them from bucket, rinse the root ball off in fresh water then gently tug and pull the root ball apart by tugging on the stems away from each other. The wet, clean, bare roots should all slip and slide apart from each other nice and slick without damage. Then you replant each one separately.
You can place a row of rounded, river tumbled rocks in a circle around the tree that extends just outside the drip line to form a barrier against mechanical equipment and then fill the inside of the circle with mulch. Or, until the plants have become a lot bigger you can put a low temporary fence around the plant and fill in the confines of the fenced area with mulch. Or use your imagination - but trust me on this, get rid of the rocks, and no it doesn't retain moisture the way you're thinking it does. Essentially what you've done there is create a rock ground cover over the roots and it's never good to put rocks of any size on top of plant or tree roots, and to boot that crushed rock is the worst kind of rock to ever have near a garden area. I call that stuff nightmare rock because it can create nightmares in gardens.
In addition to some of the reasons mentioned in the following website, the weight of any kind of rock (even lava rock) compacts the soil and roots and interferes with healthy root growth, plus circulation of water and air in the soil is impacted so the soil can't respire properly (soil needs to breathe too like everything else). It forces roots to try to escape the rocks so they grow more horizontally and then you end up with underground root suckers popping up everywhere else in the yard and garden. It can create a surface tension under the rocks that forms wet bacterial, algal and fungal infections. Tiny creatures that feed on roots turn the undersides of rocks into nurseries for their eggs and offspring with a series of tunnels beneath the rocks that go straight from nest to nest to nest. Visualize swarming ant nests under the rocks.
Crushed rough rock with sharp points or edges like what you have there severely abrades and cuts through roots as it compacts the soil down and the stones begin to sink and settle deeper down displacing essential soil. Also they can injure or kill beneficial, essential soil dwelling creatures such as soft bodied earth worms by slicing through their skin. The list goes on and on about all the negatives, here is a little bit more: https://renegadegardener.com/dont-do...%20the%20shrub. .
Yikes. That sounds horrible. I will remove the rocks for sure. Thanks for the tip.
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With regard to separating and re-planting the individual saplings, it's easier than you think. You dig up the entire clump, shake off excess dirt from the ball of roots, place the whole root ball into a bucket of water and that will loosen and cause all remaining soil to fall off the roots so you end up with a root ball of bare roots. Remove them from bucket, rinse the root ball off in fresh water then gently tug and pull the root ball apart by tugging on the stems away from each other. The wet, clean, bare roots should all slip and slide apart from each other nice and slick without damage. Then you replant each one separately.
I totally understand. I just tend to suck at transplanting and plant 'surgery'. I don't think I have the courage and I can't afford losing it cos I can tell I would screw it up. Can I just keep it as is and "let nature take its course"? After all, birds spit off a bundle of seeds in ground and a number of shrubs/trees still germinate in a very tight place and one or two seedling survives, right?
As said, I wouldn't mind if one or two seedling/stem survives. Not to mention, the plant is growing at a pretty fast rate. So it's doing rather well. All I'm hoping is that if at least one (strong) stem can survive. And I really would be content with one Senna.
Oh yeah, I yanked off two more stems/seedlings and disposed of them (the two 'skinny' ones on the right in photo). So now we're left with 6 Sennas in that cluster. I'll keep an eye on them. But so far, the plant is flourishing and even vigorous. It grows new leaves (or leaflets?) everyday.
I understand. Yes, you can leave them to do their thing. If it looks like the 6 remaining stems are becoming stressed because of their competition with each other you could snip off the next two smaller stems at ground level. Then you have only 4 strong stems in the clump and they have less competition for space, they can spread out away from each other a bit better. Good luck.
I understand. Yes, you can leave them to do their thing. If it looks like the 6 remaining stems are becoming stressed because of their competition with each other you could snip off the next two smaller stems at ground level. Then you have only 4 strong stems in the clump and they have less competition for space, they can spread out away from each other a bit better. Good luck.
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Thanks.
Oh yeah, a neighbour of mine, an amateur gardener, said that them being clumped will not make the bloom or at least it will take a long time for them to flower if they're in this situation, and that it would've flowered by now if it were just one strong stem. Is he right? Just wondering.
They are competing with each other, fighting for space and resources, trying to kill each other because they are so tightly cramped together. When things are trying to kill each other, trying to wear each other out in a war of attrition, they aren't putting their energies into making babies (flowers & seeds).
If you can't bring yourself to try to separate the plants from each other or to thin them out to only one or two plants then leave it to their own aggressive invasive nature to deal with each other. Let them kill each other. When the strongest one has killed all the others and had a chance to recuperate from its stress (if it survives) it will flower when it has regained its strength and is ready.
They are competing with each other, fighting for space and resources, trying to kill each other because they are so tightly cramped together. When things are trying to kill each other, trying to wear each other out in a war of attrition, they aren't putting their energies into making babies (flowers & seeds).
If you can't bring yourself to try to separate the plants from each other or to thin them out to only one or two plants then leave it to their own aggressive invasive nature to deal with each other. Let them kill each other. When the strongest one has killed all the others and had a chance to recuperate from its stress (if it survives) it will flower when it has regained its strength and is ready.
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Good lord.
Oh, what the hell, I'll just kill off the others and let one be. Because I only like this plant for its flowers and I'm really dying to see it bloom as it's the Senna season. Now it will suck seeing a vigorous leaf grower being yanked off, but oh well.
EDIT: And then there were two...
Spoiler
So I did it. From 10 to 2. I was really tempted to yank off the second last one, but it was way too close and attached to the larger stem (the 'stronger' Senna). When I was yanking it, the taller one moved as well (I believe their roots are strongly connected). So I kept it just to not disturb the bigger or 'main' stem - I really couldn't take the risk. Let's hope they do well. Hopefully, I alleviated things, especially when it comes to it flowering soon(er). 2 is still better than a clump of 10, right?
So I cut off the other one for the hell of it and just a week later I saw flowers budding. Now, just a month later, it is finally flowering (woot!):
So indeed, one plant on its own can flower quite fast. I doubt it would've flowered if it was cluttered with the others.
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So the rocks somewhat keep us from getting too close to the stem. What do you recommend here and why are they harmful to a plant? I thought they retain moisture?
