PHORMIUM TENAX New Zealand Flax – Chocolate 6L

Description

New Zealand Flax – Chocolate
Phormium tenax
Growing Conditions
SUNLIGHT
Full sun to light shade; performs best with at least 6 hours of direct sun daily — foliage colour is most intense in full sun, fading to greenish-brown in deep shade
WATERING
Water deeply once or twice per week during the first growing season to establish roots; once established, reduce to once every 10–14 days in summer and once every 3–4 weeks in winter, allowing the soil to dry out between waterings. Drought-tolerant once mature.
SOIL TYPE
Well-draining loam or sandy loam enriched with compost; tolerates clay soils provided waterlogging does not occur. A slightly acidic to neutral pH of 6.0–7.0 is ideal.
TEMPERATURE
-8°C to 35°C; tolerates brief frost but prolonged freezes below -8°C may damage or kill the crown. Thrives in the warm, humid summers of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal as well as the mild, wet winters of the Western Cape.
HUMIDITY
Adaptable to a wide range of humidity levels; tolerates both the dry highveld air of inland South Africa and the humid coastal conditions of Durban and the Garden Route without special intervention.
FERTILISING
Feed with a balanced slow-release granular fertiliser (e.g. 3:1:5 or similar) in early spring and again in midsummer. Avoid high-nitrogen feeds, which promote leafy green growth at the expense of the distinctive chocolate-brown colouration.
GROWTH RATE
Moderate — expect 20–30 cm of new growth per year under good conditions, reaching a substantial clump within 3–5 years.
MATURE SIZE
1.5–2 m tall x 1–1.5 m wide
Did You Know?
Phormium tenax fibres were so strong and durable that Māori people used them to weave kākahu (cloaks), baskets, and ropes — and during the 19th century, New Zealand exported thousands of tonnes of processed Phormium fibre annually, making it one of the country’s most valuable commercial crops before synthetic fibres made it economically obsolete.