By Allthumbs
Australia 
Hi Grows on you.
The web site looks a treat and the members seem to really care about their work.
I noticed that there has been no questions asked on Genus Xanthorrnoea.
So I'm going to be the first.
I Bought this plant about 14 years ago. It had a national parks tag on it, so I presume it was legal.
I had heard that this plants can be fickle and don't like to be moved or disturbed.
I cut the bottom of the plastic pot off and placed it in my Blue Mountains garden. It was surrounded by tree ferns and could have used more light. It didn't die or grow much and seemed happy.
8 months ago I moved to the south coast of NSW about 20km north of Ulladulla.
And I took Genus with me. I took notice of how they grow in the wild and prepared a new garden bed for it.
Good drainage and sun exposure. Plenty of sandstone. Next to a Large spotted Gum tree in my back yard.
I removed the plant form the pot. And the roots were extremely compacted and developed. Going round and round the pot. I did not disturb the roots much.
I placed the plant in the garden bed but the hole was about 10mm too shallow. But it didn't seem too bad.
The plant went well for several months. And as summer approached I began to water it less. I do believe that these are a harsh environment plant, so less water is better.
I broke all the dried spicks or leaves off. And I do believe it has grown. It's about 80mm above the ground now. Which is what they do in the wild.
Now for my question about the plants health. These plants generally are very green. Especially within the centre in the new growth area.
My plant seems to be pale going close to white in the centre. The leaves or spindles have brown tip which extent to about half the length.
I think the plant maybe stressing from the new found sun exposure.
Any tips on how to make this plant happy would be much appreciated.
In their natural habitat the plant this plant has a growth spurt after a bush fire. I have noticed that plant stores do burn the stem of the plant. But I'm unsure of doing this. I was thinking of putting some ashes from a fire around the base of the plant to see if this would have any positive result.
All the best from Ric.
8 Jan, 2013
Answers
First welcome to GOY Ric very interesting read your ?.
Sorry I cant reply with an answer .
Been seeing on news the bad bush fires ,hope you are safe enough.
9 Jan, 2013
Welcome to Goy from me too, I,m Glad Tug is about to help you, its way out of my field on our damp little island.......fascinating!
9 Jan, 2013
Welcome from me, as well. :-)
A small word of advice though - please delete your email address from your question - it isn't wise to have it there for all to see.
9 Jan, 2013
Welcome from me too, given this is plant is a native to Australia and I doubt that the majority of GoYers grow I too will be interested to see what other OZ gardeners say.
9 Jan, 2013
Welcome......have you actually seen these growing in the wild? They are quite adept to renewal after bush fires, and simulating this sounds maybe what it needs. What an intriguing question, how about contacting the Australian National Parks, they more than anyone should be able to tell you more about this.
9 Jan, 2013
Janey has a wonderful idea with the Parks, Allthumbs! You might also try any botanical gardens in the area, especially those specializing in native plants.
10 Jan, 2013
At the least, I want to see how our members in Oz answer this. From my own experience with fire-dependent desert plants, I would say to first try making a smokey fire upwind from the plant , say in an hibachi or a barbeque. Often, such plants only need to be exposed to the smoke of a fire to get a kick in the pants.
The new sun exposure may be giving it trouble, too, especially since you are coming into your hottest time of year. You might want to try draping a layer of cheesecloth over the crown, and holding it in place with clothespins. By the time the cheesecloth weathers away, it should be completely adapted to the sun. Being rootbound would only slow it down a little, since, like most monocots, it grows an entirely new root system every few years, while the old ones gradually rot away. One other thing that I would check is if it was planted deeper than it was in its pot. It can eventually overcome that, but until new roots grow from the trunk, it will suffer severely, and may even die.
9 Jan, 2013