nz tea tree // manuka

order: myrtales
family: myrtaceae
genus: leptospermum
species: scoparium

First Story

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24 may 2012

NZ tea tree is originally from Australia. Since there are already several other tea trees in Australia, like malaleuca for example, calling it a NZ tea tree makes it easy for differentiation. This plant is a member of the myrtle family. It's very easy to confuse it with waxflower (chamelaucium uncinatum), another member of myrtle family, if you are new to these two plants. Their flowers are identical. The difference is: leptospermum has stiff branches and foliage whereas waxflower like malaleuca has soft, tender ones.

It's been said that this plant is an absolutely difficult plant. It will be difficult to keep it alive for a long time. If you for some reason forget it for a single day, it will bid you farewell. This plant wants to have moist soil around its roots constantly. Yet water logged soil will kill it just as easily. I usually water it once or twice a day when it's indoor and as often as three to four times a day when moved outdoor. I find it easier to keep it in partial shade than in full sun, since it dries a lot quicker when fully exposed to the sun. Especially if you're a working person, you definitely want to place it at a shadier place.

Giving it a balanced fertiliser every other week from spring to fall should be fine. It blooms almost constantly during this period.

flowers and flowerbuds in abundance.

top view.

R.I.P

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2 february 2014

After 2 years of growth, the crown of this plant had become a lot more massive. Unfortunately it died from my neglect in the winter storage: I forgot to water it for nearly a week, during which I was almost suffocated with my studies. I worked many days in a row without getting much sleep and on some days I didn't come home at all. The day after I completed my work, I came home to find a very pungent smell in the stairwell where the manuka bush was hidden very nicely in between other plants. By the time I realised the smell came from it, it had already been dead for a couple of days. The soil was completely devoid of any moisture. This was the first time I learned of the true meaning of its name "tea tree". The dried up "tea leaves" were persistent, though you can be sure the foliage has already died, in that it turned into a pale, lifeless khaki colour. I tried to revive it by saturating the entire plant in a bucket of water and using a fine spray of water to keep the foliage moist. For a month, I didn't want to give it up hoping miracle could happen, but it didn't. It's really a pity; after these 2 years of care. Now I'm still in process of deciding if I should get another manuka plant to start with or just forget it forever? The plant had never been finicky. It was really my fault.