Shohin Callistemon Experiment

[Watto]

Some years ago I was wondering why Australian natives were not cultivated for bonsai in a similar way to exotic species. So with that in mind I decided to experiment with bottlebrush in a similar manner to the way trident maples are grown and developed for bonsai. I wanted to grow a few Australian natives with think trunks but in shohin size.
After minimal investigation I decided on Callistemon viminalis "Macarthur" because:
1 I like bottlebrush
2 they flower
3 this species is a cross between two popular species, Captain Cook and Little John and have the best qualities of both
4 it is Myrtle Rust resistant
5 and most importantly it was available at the local nursery.
So in October 2016 I purchased 8 or 9 and repotted them into colanders and planted the colanders into the old vegie patch. I did keep one "control" plant in the plastic pot it originally came in just to see the differences.
Over the next few years they grew very well and every now and then when I thought of it I cut them down very low. This species buds back very well and that of course is essential if you intend to grow like this. This was not a scientific test because I didn't keep any records of activities, I didn't fertilise the plants, I didn't cut back at any particular time of the year but I did water them if they got a bit dry.
In October 2019 I dug them all out of the garden bed and was very pleasantly surprised by the trunk thickness and quality of the stock. In retrospect I should have trimmed the roots a couple of times while they were in the garden but the good news is that all survived the experiment and this year I plan to put them all in locally made pots - the next step in the process.
So, a few photos so you can see if you think the experiment was a success.

[shibui]

Some really nice trunks to work with there Watto.
I've been doing similar trials with a few species in my grow beds but without the baskets and mine are mostly a little larger than yours. Callistemon is definitely amenable to this sort of fast growing.
Others I've had good results with so far are banksia and melaleuca. Kunzea did not transplant quite as well but my sample is small and they would be worth trying more.

[melbrackstone]

Wow, huge difference between the control and the ground-grown trees!

[juan73870]

Super interesting! Some great growth on this trunks. I especially like the second to last photo in the light blue basket. Fantastic roots on them all though!

[GavinG]

Splendid beginnings. I will enjoy watching them develop. Thanks for posting.

Gavin

[Matt S]

These all look great, good taper and interesting root spread. Well worth the effort, you'll have fun with these!

[Watto]

Thank you for the positive comments. I'm sure I could have made the trunks a bit larger by fertilising, allowing more sun into each lower trunk etc but generally I am pleased with the results.
The success rate (no loses) was the impressive part for me. Many of the stock plants stated with multiple trunks (like the control sample) and all emerged as single trunks so again I wish I had observed more closely and taken at least some notes but all that just reinforces the fact that I am no scientist.
Looking forward to the next phase, probably October this year, when I pot them into a bonsai pot.

[Watto]

I forgot to post a photo with the standard measuring instrument, so here is one now.

[Watto]

Well its that time of the year to start the next part of this experiment, the first potting. First out of the blocks is the sort of twin trunk, the one I like the least and it is the first tree after the control tree in the original photos.
It is potted into a hand made Australian pot as I had planned. Hopefully a few more over the coming weeks. The first one appears to have come through the process without issues so fingers crossed for the others.
It is currently 20 cm from the top of the pot to the top of the tree.

[Watto]

I think now I should get rid of one of those trunks, what do you think?

[SquatJar]

In my novice opinion they need to be different heights, and both should be shorter to match the trunk below

EDIT: Lovely pot too

[Watto]

Yep, good idea, that could be a solution.

[kcpoole]

remove the right hand one

Ken

[Watto]

Yep, I think your right Ken - the right ones goes and SquatJar is also correct to reduce the left one. I will have a go in the next few months and let you know how it goes.

[Watto]

I was hoping that I might be putting these out a bit quicker than I have, but not to worry, here is the second one in the series.
I hope the pot and the bark are in "sync", at least that is what I was trying to do.