How to Grow an Illawarra Flame Tree (Brachychiton Acerifolius)

There are two different ways you can grow an Illawarra flame tree:

1. Planting an existing sapling or cutting with root growth, or
2. Germinating a seed from an existing plan.

In this post, I’ll explain both methods of growing this native Australian tree.

To learn more about Illawarra flame trees check out our post called Illawarra Flame Tree (Brachychiton Acerifolius) Complete Guide.

From Sapling/Cutting With Roots

The roots of the Illawarra flame tree are considered to be invasive, so before planting one make sure you place it at least 10 metres away from any structure (especially your home) to avoid any headaches and expenses down the road.

Also, consider the growing conditions of the Illawarra flame tree. How much sun its planned location will get, ideally they will receive full sun (but they can tolerate partial shade throughout the day), and the type of soil present (they can grow in almost any type of good draining soil).

The steps on how to plant the Illawarra flame tree are:

1. Dig a hole that’s twice as wide at the root ball, and a little deeper than the root ball.
2. Remove the plant from its container, and gently tease away any soil to tease out the roots.
3. Position the sapling in the middle of the hole and spread out the roots, carefully fill in the hole and firm up the ground by gently walking on top of the backfilled material.
4. Surround the tree and the root system with organic mulch (keep the organic mulch away from the tree trunk), to help the soil retain moisture and to feed the plant.
5. Water the new tree regularly and deeply (every 3-4 days depending on the temperature and how often it is required).

Once the plant is established and showing signs of new growth you will be able to back off with the watering almost altogether. Established and mature flame trees are drought-resistant trees, and tough growing conditions can also encourage flowering.

If you are going to fertilise the tree, you can do it during Autumn and Spring. Fertilising will encourage strong root growth and promote a good flowering.

From Seed

The Illawarra flame tree can be grown from seed. After flowering, this tree will produce many seed pods. The seed pods are a dark brown colour and have a tough shell. Inside is rows of yellow seeds with little hairs on them which are toxic to people and animals.

To grow an Illawarra flame tree from a germinated seed, follow these steps:

1. Open the seed pod and remove seeds. Make sure you wear safey gloves when doing this otherwise your skin will get irritated from the toxic hairs on the seeds, or worse if you are alergic to it.
2. Soak the seeds in a bowl of hot water for 24 hours. Don’t worry about replacing the water once it cools down.
3. Remove seeds from the bowl.
4. Plant seeds in a seedling tray, pushed about 2-3 centimetres into the potting mix.
5. Place the seedling tray somewhere in your house were it is warn and the seedling tray will receive direct sunlight.
6. Water seeding tray regularly, or use a water tray while the seeds are germinating. The seeds can take only 2 to 3 weeks to show growth.
7. When the seedlings sprout, transfer somewhere they will get at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day.
8. Once they are over 5 centimetres tall you can transplant them to your garden or to a larger pot so they can keep growing larger.

Final Thoughts

If you have the space to grow these trees they will provide you with many great flowering displays and will make a great feature to any garden.