AusBonsai

Hey all, I have recently been looking at some Bottle brushes in 200mm pots at my local nursery, there are some good trees for bonsai starters but all are a bit root bound with dense fine roots. How well do they respond to root disturbance & how should I get around this without stressing the tree out. Should I just try & loosen the roots up a bit the the re-pot it in a large training pot & slowly reduce them over time? I think they are captain Cooks, but not definite. I have tried one a while ago but i think I was a bit aggressive on the root pruning & lost it, I don't want to do that again.

Cheers all

Ryan

Gday Ryan!

How healthy are the plants in question?

I have found Callistemons to be most forgiving when it comes to rootwork - with nursery stock that sounds like the ones you are describing, I have had success by hacking the bottom ⅓ -½ of the rootball with a sharp hatchet or machete, then teasing out the remainder of the twisted roots and trimming accordingly. I find that being quite aggressive with the roots of nursery stock is the way to go, as it is important to try to get a good basal flare going on early in the piece.

With my couple of Callistemons, when performing the type of rootwork mentioned above, I have usually removed foliage proportionate to the amount of roots removed, whether in the form of tip pruning or the removal of whole branches. Make sure to repot into a well-drained mix and water often while the plants recuperate.

I wonder where Mr Pup is...

Good luck!

Fly.

Thanks pup, yeh they are nursery stock which look to be in pretty good health, I will probably do a fairly hard prune & take it bake to a few low branches which will assist in the root pruning. Is it worth keeping a shallow water tray under the pot after the root pruning?

Cheers mate.

Ryan

lol...sorry I miss read FlyBri.... thanks for the advice mate.

Cheers

Ryan

FlyBri wrote:Gday Ryan!

How healthy are the plants in question?

I have found Callistemons to be most forgiving when it comes to rootwork - with nursery stock that sounds like the ones you are describing, I have had success by hacking the bottom ⅓ -½ of the rootball with a sharp hatchet or machete, then teasing out the remainder of the twisted roots and trimming accordingly. I find that being quite aggressive with the roots of nursery stock is the way to go, as it is important to try to get a good basal flare going on early in the piece.

With my couple of Callistemons, when performing the type of rootwork mentioned above, I have usually removed foliage proportionate to the amount of roots removed, whether in the form of tip pruning or the removal of whole branches. Make sure to repot into a well-drained mix and water often while the plants recuperate.

I wonder where Mr Pup is...

Good luck!

G,day I have been busy reading PM 42 on the Bunjingi contest. I agree with you Mr Fly the most important thing is the after care. Compensation of top and bottom, so the roots do not have to work overtime repairing the damage to roots and feeding the tree.
I have found that you can be aggressive with them when they are established as Bonsai. I will be doing a thread soon on Bottlebrush care from go to whoa. Pup

I have a callistemon that was nursury stock and as you described. mine was in poor health when i started. I defoliated and removed 90% of the roots. Dont keep it too wet afterwards and position in full sun. When it has grown back it may need the water tray. I find that mine is very thirsty on hot days but i still allow it to mostly dry. Had it for two years now, it just finished flowering, bloody ants ate them. If you have a Little John the tips of new growth will repeatatly die off, dont know why but even ones in the ground do it! Good luck!

I have one that was in a 200mm pot also.

Took prolly 90% of the roots off and it's going strong. I really didn't expect it to survive.

They are bloody tough.

Good Luck.

I found a Callistemon at Riverview nursery about 4 mnths agon now and it was completely pot bound.
I have to remove most of the roots (90%), and also too most of the foliage off

It s starting to come back now with new growth on the top

Ken