Hi pos02,

Wollemi are best planted in the warmer months, so this is possibly the reason why yours didn't make it. Over-watering may be a factor too, as the correct process to follow for the establishment of any member of the Araucariaceae is relatively specific. Or you also might have poor drainage. You should thoroughly soak the rootball of the plant before planting out - submerging it in a bucket of water for a couple mintues should ensure that there are no air pockets left in the rootball.

Loosening the soil from twice to three times the size of the pot around the planting site is helpful too. After planting, water in well as you would any other tree. Keep the water up to it once a week until new growth looks well established on the tree. Only supplimentary irrigation is required in dry periods as natural rainfall should suffice.

Also, do you grow any other natives in the are where you planted it? How're they doing? If they're not doing too well you could have a high level of phosphorus in the soil. If you're soil is pretty poor, only use a native slow release fertiliser.

Good luck! Once established this plant is though as nails, so once you get over this hurdle there should be plain sailing ahead.

Any other information you could provide about the spot you're planting it in could help in exploring other possibilities for its failure. Let me know if you need some other info. It's not the kind of plant one wants to keep buying as it's not cheap!

Cheers.

Thanks for the advice Jim.

The position is underneath a Turpentine and rubber tree from next door, and is surrounded by other natives such as correa, ozothamnus, ziera, melaleuca hyperericifolia, and even alpinia, davidsonia and a local pittosporum a few meters away. I also have some orchids growing in pots suspended on the back fence about 1.5m away. All these other plants are doing very well. The site is a terrace on a steep slope. The soil is sandy and drains very well. It recieves some sun during the day, but never harsh sunlight. Everything seems to say that Wollemi should do well here, but I'm not sure if the original plant was somehow diseased or got stressed during a dry spell soon after planting (or even the possibility of the dog urinating on it!).

Hmm... By harsh sunlight, do you mean direct sunlight? If it isn't getting direct sunlight for at least a couple of hours a day then it may be the problem. I still think the fact that you planted it during winter may be a significant factor too.

I laughed with the suggestion that the dog may have peed on it! I've lost a few plants this way! If the Wollemi died suddenly, the dog deficated on it and there's your problem. If not, it could be something else. I'm leaning toward the possibilty of a winter planting.

Good luck. Wollemis are brilliant, I hope I have the space to plant one in the near future.

The site does get some sunlight - basically most ferns would burn if they were planted in that position. I think I agree that the winter planting is to blame, but I will erect some sort of barricade just to keep the dog away. The other thing is that even though it was purchased from a reputible nursery, it did have a strange grey area at the main growth tip, instead of the waxy coating they get in winter. In hindsight I should have thought twice, but I have never had a problem from that nursery before. Anyway, I'll try one more time. Hopefully this time it will grow, because they are wonderful plants.

Good plan. If you're worried about buying it from the nursery, I believe Wollemi actually have a website that you can buy them off. I'm sure it'll come up if you enter it into a search engine.

Cheers!