Eucalyptus Grandis, Rose Gum - 0.5 kg Seeds

Rose Gum (Eucalyptus grandis) is a tall, fast-growing evergreen hardwood from the subtropical east coast of Australia, now one of the most widely planted plantation eucalypts in India. It develops a long, straight, smooth-barked bole that can exceed 40 m, making it a leading source of pulpwood, packing-case timber, poles and fuelwood.

In India it is raised across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the warmer parts of the Western Ghats and north-east, favouring deep, moist, well-drained soils in high-rainfall or irrigated sites. It is grown both in industrial pulp plantations and in farm-forestry woodlots for a quick timber return, and its flowers are a useful bee forage.

• Family: Myrtaceae
• Native region: subtropical eastern Australia
• Mature height: 35–45 m
• Growth rate: very fast

Eucalyptus seed is extremely fine and needs no pre-treatment; mix it with dry sand for even spread and surface-sow onto a sterile, well-drained nursery mix, barely covering it as light aids germination. Keep the medium constantly moist and lightly shaded; seedlings emerge in about 7–14 days at 20–30 °C. Prick out into root-trainers or polybags at the 2–4 leaf stage and harden off before field planting at the onset of the rains.