AusBonsai

There has been a lot of questions about Callistemons ( bottlebrush ). When to re pot when to prune how much. why does mine not flower.
Well I hope to be able to help. I have been growing them for 20 years. Have never, had no flowers, in a season, have struck cuttings at 4 cms and have inarch grafted. The best thing about them is they flower on new growth. So you can prune them hard after flowering, and they will power away again.
One thing to remember is they are very apical dominant, so now is the time to make sure the apex is still tapering. This is where I have taken my cuttings from.
The important thing for flowering is to remember new wood. If you keep pruning for shape you will lose buds that will flower. So cut back hard now, even if it has not flowered. Let it grow , then in late March early April, cut to shape then do not I repeat do not prune again until after flowering. You can pinch tips for ramification, but that is it.
I use Miracle Gro for Azalea and Camellias once a month and use Phostrogen once a month. Alternating fortnightly. This is my standard fertilising regime. All my plants get this except the miracle Gro is not used on my exotics. I have some pictures of my tree in flower. Then when the blooms were past there peak and then the pruning, or cutting back.

Re potting is carried out now if it is needed. In most cases about every 3 years, some times it will push its self out of the pot. So it needs it so do it now the weather is starting to warm up. I will now go and look for some of the way I take cuttings, and if I have one which I am sure I do of re potting them.
Pup

Here are some of the re potting, and taking of and putting down with Honey. Honey is used to help strike the cuttings it also stops disease it is anti fungal.
I find it very helpful. This is not the largest cutting I have struck. I will take pictures of the two that I have kept. Using this method I get a strike rate of 90% I sort the out and keep the ones I want.
Pass on the rest Asus

Edit pressed the wrong button I will take a picture of the two I have kept. Then I will post them here. Cheers Pup

Great article, chockers with info. Thanks very much. Your knowledge is appreciated.

Is a wonderful tree, do you ever lose branches from die off on the bottlebrush Pup.

Here are the two I kept the one in the green pot was the top of this tree. It was 4cms across the base. The twin trunk was only 3cms across the base. What a bummer.
I kept it any way. This is it unless you have questions I did ask, ah well.
Cheers Pup

ozzy wrote:Is a wonderful tree, do you ever lose branches from die off on the bottlebrush Pup.

Some times due to them being shaede by other branches. It is not a big problem though.
Thank you for your nice comment.Cheers Pup

Thank you Pup! Very informative. With my small Little John i can prune late summer so it flowers in spring. Ive defoliated reciently and seeing as its sprouting buds now, i will repot on the weekend. Do you defoliate?

Tim wrote:Thank you Pup! Very informative. With my small Little John i can prune late summer so it flowers in spring. Ive defoliated recently and seeing as its sprouting buds now, i will repot on the weekend. Do you defoliate?

No I do not defoliate as you can see that by pruning hard there is little need for it.
I have found some reduction in flower size going by the tree's of my neighbour and the street and Park's.
Mine are about half size which surprised me when I first noticed it.
At this point in time no more reduction.
What I have found which I blamed on watering from over head. That the flowers will wilt very quickly if you fertilise while in flower.
I made a point this season two tree's one got fertilizer while in flower the other not. the one with out the flowers are still good.
Should have known better, it happens with just about all flowering tree's. Plus the ones in the park do not get fertilised so .

i noticed you dont use miracle gro on exotics, is this just the miracle gro for azalea and camelia? or do you not use miracle gro (all options of the fert) at all on exotics mate??

am curious because i use the miracle gro for mine and seem to have no probs. it is the standard one for all trees shrubs etc.
i take it the NPK levels are different in the azalea and camelia mix???


jamie

jamie111 wrote:i noticed you dont use miracle gro on exotics, is this just the miracle gro for azalea and camelia? or do you not use miracle gro (all options of the fert) at all on exotics mate??

am curious because i use the miracle gro for mine and seem to have no probs. it is the standard one for all trees shrubs etc.
i take it the NPK levels are different in the azalea and camelia mix???


jamie

The NPK of miracle gro is to much N for me. The Camellia mix has what I want for my natives.
Phostrogen I find is perfect for tree's that are established and do not need the growth that higher N gives.
I am going to have to change if it gets taken off the market though

Pup

That is a gerat post Pup I learnt a lot out of that. It has inspired me to grow one.
Just one question? I have a large bottle brush in my front yard that I would like to take a cutting off. Would it be ok to do now or is it too late. It has just started to flower, well, there is one flower on the tree.
Cheers
Mick

Thanks a lot Pup, this break down helps heaps.

I've been getting a tad confused with natives lately as I keep encountering those who argue that natives shouldn't be touched at all (pruning, potting ANYTHING) unless it's in summer. Yet from reading here, I've learnt that this isn't completely true.

Would you say that for most natives whether it's spring or mid summer is less important than the stage the tree is at?

Teejay with Natives they can have up to 8 growing spurts a year so you can virtually be doing it all year. Just prior to new growth is fine, so watch the buds.
There is a thread of mine from early showing bud burst. I do not know how to post the thread so you will have to hunt for it.

Mick I have done it this time of the year as I have repotted. If it is large and a garden tree, why not try some cuttings and some airlayers. That way you have twice the chance of success. The tree that is in the National collection was dug in full flower.

I hope this helps you both cheers Pup

I have made my cuttings this morning and put them in a pot with the same cover as yours. Should I water regulary and keep in the shade?
Cheers
Mick
I will try and air layer like you suggested as well.

mick wrote:I have made my cuttings this morning and put them in a pot with the same cover as yours. Should I water regulary and keep in the shade?
Cheers
Mick
I will try and air layer like you suggested as well.

Just keep them moist, and in the shade not to heavy though.

Good luck Pup