Welcome to this post about whether it’s hard to grow eucalyptus at home. It can be a challenge in some places we have to admit but most likely you will find success no matter what. This tree is such a fast-growing one that you will be astonished by the speed.
Growing it in the right conditions, healthy soil with plenty of water, and access to the sun will make it an easy choice going back to growing this tree. In this article, we will answer some of the common questions that can occur when growing eucalyptus.
If you want to read our complete and comprehensive guide to go in-depth on a lot of other topics surrounding it then we have the perfect article for you. You can find it right here, How To Grow A Eucalyptus Tree
Is Eucalyptus Hard To Grow
Eucalyptus is probably one of the easiest things you can grow. It really doesn’t take a lot of work and attention if you are looking for just growth. But if you are a more contained and good-looking tree then some work will have to be put in. This mostly influences having to prune and cut it at the end of the season.
But from sowing it from seed it will pretty quickly germinate compared to many other trees. Often they can take several months but with eucalyptus, you will probably see results within the first month without a doubt.
But you need to set up the seedling to succeed. For this, we recommend placing the growing seedling in a window where the sun shines a lot during the day. The benefit of growing it in a pot is that it also lets us move it around very easily. Because we keep the plant indoors we want it to get about 10 hours of sunlight at least every day. Growing it in a pot makes it a lot easier to achieve this number.
You should have to cut it when you still have it indoors. At the 1 or 2-month mark, it might even be ready to start growing outdoors. Even then you don’t need to prune it. Since it will grow into a large tree then we might as well get the most out of its rapid growth for the season. But at the end of the summer or during the autumn it is a good idea to cut down almost 30 % of it. This will give room for all the new sprouts next year.
Wonder when the best time of the year is to grow eucalyptus where you live? Luckily we have put together a guide just about this. Find it here, When To Grow Eucalyptus In?
Is It Hard To Take Care Of A Eucalyptus Plant
Taking care of the eucalyptus is probably the only part where you will be spending any form of time. But even then, it’s basically only limited to the end of the season. This is like we said when we want to start pruning the tree to give room for more growth to come forth.
As the eucalyptus gets older the roots that it develops will dig deeper into the soil and at one point you won’t have to worry about watering the tree anymore. In most cases, this is actually in the second or third year. Because of the speed the tree grows, this is what happens.
So we recommend spending the most amount of time and energy on making the tree look very good after pruning. Here you can make your own touch on the tree and decide how you want it to grow. If you prune it a lot on the top part then it will be having a more bushy look to it. But if you go the other way and cut the bottom part heavily then it will have a taller look to it actually.
Some people really don’t like that eucalyptus is becoming more and more popular. In this article, we dive deeper into why that might be. Find it here, Why You Should Not Plant Eucalyptus.
Where Is The Best Place To Plant A Eucalyptus Tree
The best place to plant a eucalyptus tree will be where the sun can reach it a lot during the day. It likes to get the same amount of sun as most plants outside, between 6 – 8 hours is the sweet spot. Then the growth is kept at a steady pace.
But of course, this can change, we understand that it might get a lot more than this during some very sunny summer days. It’s more the average that it gets during the season. If it gets more than perfect, it won’t have a huge impact on growth. In some ways, it might make the tree very tired and start to lose some leaves. Don’t stress about this though, it is native to Australia so it’s very much hardened with warm climates already.
Growing a eucalyptus tree close to a house might be risky. In this article, we look closer at this topic. Find it here, How Close To A House Can You Plant A Eucalyptus Tree.
