Neltuma CHILENSIS

Neltuma CHILENSIS - Chilean mesquite, Chilean neltuma, Chilean prosopis, Mesquite, Prosopis, Algarrobo.

Can be grown in bonsai style!

Neltuma is a genus of woody plants in the legume family (Fabaceae), segregated in 2022 from the genus Prosopis based on molecular research. Species of the genus grow in arid regions of North and South America, and the old name Prosopis is still widely used in catalogs.

Plants are deciduous trees or shrubs, most often thorny. The leaves are alternate, bipinnate, feathery, the leaf rachis often ends in a spine, and the stipules in many species themselves transform into thorns.

The flowers are small, regular, pale yellow or greenish-white, gathered in axillary spike-like racemes. The fruit is an indehiscent pod, straight, sickle-shaped, or spirally curved, with a thin woody shell and thick fleshy sweet pulp inside. The seeds are light brown or reddish-brown, oblong, and flattened.

Chilean mesquite is a small tree up to 12 m (39 ft) tall, and a shrub in more arid areas. It grows in Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia, in foothills and interior valleys, ascending to the lower limit of the winter snowline.

The trunk is short and twisted, the crown is spreading, the foliage is delicate, and the thorns are large and sparse. Flowers and fruits are the same as throughout the genus: small pale yellow racemes and long pods with sweet pulp.

Neltuma seeds are dense, light or reddish-brown, oblong, flattened, and mature in indehiscent pods. Their coat is very hard, so scarification is required before sowing: the seeds are nicked or filed without damaging the embryo. Stratification is not required.

After scarification, seeds are held for 1-2 hours in a 1% potassium permanganate solution, then soaked for 24 hours in warm water with the addition of a growth stimulant: SUPERthrive, HB-101, Aminozol, Epin, or Zircon. During this time, they should swell noticeably. Then they are sown into a moist nutrient substrate to a depth of about 1 cm (0.4 in), moistened from a spray bottle, covered with plastic film or placed in a mini-greenhouse, and germinated in light at a temperature of 23-28 °C (73-82 °F).

Under favorable conditions, the first seedlings appear within a week, main germination is completed within 2-3 weeks, and individual seeds may delay longer. Sowing containers are regularly ventilated; waterlogging and drying out are unacceptable. Pricking out is carried out after the formation of 2-3 true leaves into individual deep pots: the taproot develops very early and goes deep.

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The plant needs full sun: it is a desert species, and it needs the maximum amount of light.

In winter, neltuma tolerates frosts down to -10 °C (14 °F), though it drops its leaves. In indoor cultivation, a bright, cool overwintering is sufficient.

Watering is very limited: moderate, only after the substrate has completely dried out. Waterlogging is more dangerous for this plant than drought.

The substrate should be loose, well-drained, with an alkaline reaction, containing a large proportion of coarse sand or perlite. Drainage is placed at the bottom of the pot, and a deep container is chosen: the plant has a powerful taproot.

Fertilizer is applied infrequently, using a complete mineral fertilizer: as a legume, neltuma provides itself with nitrogen through nodule bacteria.

Shaping is carried out by pruning and wiring; the plant tolerates it well. It is more convenient to work with gloves: its thorns are large and sharp.