Lemon myrtle demand is growing but propagating trees is difficult

Lemon myrtle demand is growing but propagating trees is difficult

When drought hit Pauline and Chris Voase’s farm on the NSW Mid North Coast in the 1990s, maintaining their market garden became unviable. 

Rather than investing money and water into the crop, they let the land rest while they worked out what was next.

Interest in lemon myrtle was growing and the pair took a gamble on the emerging industry.

Pauline Voase has been growing lemon myrtle commercially for more than 20 years. (ABC Rural: Lauren Bohane)

Today, with 1,700 trees in the ground, Ms Voase says their small operation can’t keep up with demand with buyers snapping up the oil before harvest begins.

“Initially you had to do the marketing, you had to get in contact with people and let them know that you’re growing and producing the oil to sell it,” she says.

“But once those markets were established, we’ve had the same clients now for many years.”

Lemon myrtle is being increasingly used in products, from food and tea to cosmetics and health products.

Ms Voase and her husband designed and built their own harvesting equipment. (ABC Rural: Lauren Bohane)

Far from fearing competition, Ms Voase wants to see more lemon myrtle farms established.

“It’s just a shame that there aren’t more people doing it because it’s a good lifestyle plantation to have,” she says.

“It’s something that people want, it can be used for oil or spice or tea, or whatever you want to use it for, and people just aren’t growing it.”

Tubestock in short supply

Entering the lemon myrtle market might be easier said than done.

Native nursery owner Chris Findlater supplies plant stock to large-scale lemon myrtle producers but has found the plant difficult to propagate.

“I’ve got the tunnels to produce 100,000 at a time, but we’re just not having the success rate,” he says.

“It varies from about 50 to 60 per cent, down as low as about 10 per cent.”

Chris Findlater and Paul Kirkland grow lemon myrtle at their nursery. (Supplied: Chris Findlater)

That low success rate is driven by factors like the time of year and diseases including myrtle rust, which requires extensive fungal treatment before propagation.

Mr Findlater says poor weather conditions in recent years wiped out some larger plantations, leading to a boom in demand.

“We’re constantly getting calls from small and large growers saying, ‘Have you got any myrtle stock?'” he says.

“At the moment I probably only have about 500 in stock, but these guys are looking for up to 40,000, so that’s a whole different ball game.”

Finding solutions

Large commercial growers catering to the international market have been working to overcome propagation challenges.

Myrtle Trading Co chief executive Darren McCoy says most people buy lemon myrtle “because it smells good or it tastes good”, but there is growing interest from the “health and wellness” market.

“They’re exciting developments and an exciting path forward for lemon myrtle,” Mr McCoy says.

“I think it’s a game changer over the next five years.”

Darren McCoy (right) shows an international client around his farm. (Supplied: Darren McCoy)

The company, which operates with more than 100,000 trees, takes several steps to ensure propagation is as successful as possible.

Mr McCoy says keeping their mother stock healthy is critically important, but even then the driving factors behind successful propagation are “still not completely understood”.

“There are a few really good propagators out there and there are plenty that invested a lot of time, effort, and money in it and failed,” he says.

“So having the right propagation talent is important.”

Advice for backyard growers

Those hoping to plant lemon myrtle in their backyard could face similar challenges in sourcing a tree.

Mr Findlater says home gardeners should make sure a vendor actually has the plant before spending any money.

“Get on all the websites and have a look around, but be very careful that someone might be advertising it [when] they haven’t got it,” he says.

“They might be sourcing it from somewhere else or they’re still trying to grow it.”

There are now about 1,700 trees on Pauline Voase’s farm. (ABC Rural: Lauren Bohane)

Ms Voase agrees that sourcing tube stock is a challenge, but she hopes that will not stop people from entering the industry.

“Once you’re able to find a nursery that can propagate in quantities, you shouldn’t have a problem,” she says.

“Especially in an emerging industry, you just need to be able to do your research and find out where you’re able to source your plants.”

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