Last edited by shiny on 10 Nov 2026. View history
Wattle
Wattle
How to sow wattle: Transplant sapling, direct seed
Sun requirement for wattle: Plant in Full Sun
Wattle is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the Fabaceae (Bean) family. Wattle is native to Australia and has a variety of uses: the high protein seeds are ground into flour and the timber is used to make weapons, musical instruments, tools, other wood products, and fire. Trees have multiple trunks and an umbrella shape. In very arid conditions, wattles take the shape of small wiry shrubs. In all forms, the plant has thorns. Wattles are fast-growing and can tolerate drought, wet soils, and saline soils. They grow well in disturbed soils, but are not cold-tolerant. They need temperatures between 12-34° C. If starting from seed, treat seeds with concentrated sulphuric acid for 30 minutes. More growing information is available in individual species entries.
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Wattle facts
Lifespan
Height
3000cmCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For wattle, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 10°C and a shortest growing cycle of 180 days at its best temperature, about 3240 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your wattle will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Photos
PhotosWattle plantings
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Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Acacia auriculiformis Cunn. ex Benth.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Fabales Leguminosae |
|---|---|
| Life form | tree |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | heavy, medium, light |
| Optimal soil fertility | low |
| Optimal soil drainage | poorly (saturated >50% of year), well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours) |
Learn more about wattle
Resources outside Growstuff.
