Some Callistemons (Thanks Shibui!)

[GavinG]

Some Callistemons.

Two C. seiberii originally from Shibui - thanks Neal.

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There's a nice twist on this trunk that doesn't photograph well.
It also has a nasty white-spot thing on its leaves that I have to sort out.

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Callistemon brachyandrus - if anyone had shown it to me in the wild I would never have grown it! It's a nasty thin straight stick-ey thing. Startling small red flowers with very gold stamens. Not yet on mine. Well worth growing, but won't thicken quickly or much. Two long shoots looked possible for flowers, but not so likely now.

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Callistemon linearis. The leaves are theoretically too big for the size of the tree (leaves up to 5cms, tree only 35cms high) but they are so thin and airy that it works for me. They can have nasty lignotubers - pick your seedlings carefully. Or just pack rocks around it... (I will be choosing better rocks.)

All works in progress.

Gavin

[melbrackstone]

Lookin good there Gavin! That nasty white spot, is that under the leaves? I get something like that on my Callistemon, which I mostly just wipe off manually...I guess neem might stop it?

[Sno]

First one took my breath away it needs a different pot . Something narly or ? Not that it matters it’s a great tree .

[GavinG]

Thanks Mel, I'll give it a go.

Sno, these are definitely first pots rather than ultimate best. I'm not happy with symmetrical pots for these trees, I may end up making...

Gavin

[Watto]

Ahh Callistemons, thanks Gavin. Everyone should have at least one Callistemon in their collection as there is such variety there is one to suit all conditions.

[Kunzea]

Thanks for the pics Mr G . You have been hiding your beauties under rocks again!

The whitey things respond 'well' or not well, depending on your position in life, if you just relax and rub your fingernails over them to help them on their eternal way to somewhere else. Very therapeutic, but to check your lenses first.

[GavinG]

Shall do, Kunzea, with bug-curdling screams of doom. In a gentlemanly fashion.

Gavin

[LLK]

Hi Gavin,

I admire your Callistemon shohin! They are not only lovely, but also interesting in structure.
Now I've got a question: how the heck did you manage to reduce the roots that much?? I just repotted a small Callistemon (was told it could be a Little John). It was in a 25 cm diameter nursery pot, about 22 cm high. When I took it out of that pot, the small shrub proved to have a rootball that filled the pot. In order to transfer it into a 30 cm orchid pot, I had to remove a lot of the older roots - probably some 40%. I hope it wasn't too much, but I felt that the size of the rootball in relation to the size of the shrub was plain ridiculous. Was it unusual, or do Callistemons always have so many roots, and how do you het them to shohin size?

Lisa

Callistemon 3.131119aaa.jpg

Callistemon 3.131119aa.jpg

[Boics]

Love the first one Gavin!

LLK I've noticed the same with my Calli's - they tend to invade pot's quite rapidly.
If not repotted they will get hydrophobic and lose vigour until - yep you guessed it.
Pup always said to repot at new bud swell.
One can even prune heavily, wait for new bud swell and repot.
I'd usually avoid overly hot weather though.

[LLK]

Thanks, Boics, that is very helpful. It also makes me wonder how often Gavin has to repot his shohin, and whether some of the Callistemon species have less vigorous roots.

Lisa

[GavinG]

You know me Lisa - Ruthless and Evil! (Don't tell Ruth...)

The first two were in small pots from Shibui, and they never got large root balls. The others were tube stock to begin with, and were never in anything larger than an 8" pot. I repot pretty much everything, every year, and take a lot off the roots each year - I figure if the roots are growing freely, the top will grow well, as well. And gradually reduce to shohin pot size over several years. 6-7 years total for each.

They are also small - the first C. seiberii is 22cms, the second is 28cms, and the C. brachyandrum 26cms. They've been grown long and cut back to the last couple of leaves once a year. (They never had a chance...) I'm pinching more for ramification in the last couple of years. Yours I think is larger.

Gavin

[LLK]

GGGGGRRRRrrrrr....iiiIIIINNNNNN !!
Thanks Gavin.
Six to seven years eh? .... I better gird my loins ( ) because with the Callistemon I have, it will be 10 years, easy. Gee, you do a lot of severe pruning! With mine, just to work out how much I can yearly remove will take 3 years minimum. Still, the plant's health comes first and I'll enjoy watching it grow and flower (just a couple). Whether/when it will ever approximate the stature of a bonsai will have to be secondary for a
l
o
n
g
time.

Lisa