Callistemon PALLIDUS

Callistemon PALLIDUS - Lemon bottlebrush, Callistemon pallidus, Zylinderputzer.

Can be grown indoors in bonsai style.

Callistemon is a very beautiful plant, especially in full bloom, and a national symbol of Australia. Callistemon blooms year-round, but most abundantly in spring, starting from late September, and in autumn, from late March. At the peak of flowering, Callistemon looks stunningly spectacular thanks to hundreds of weeping flexible twigs with yellow-green fluffy brushes of flowers at the tips, completely framing the green crown of the tree. Indoors, it reaches no more than 1 m (3.3 ft) in height.

Callistemon pallidus (Bonpl.) DC. is an evergreen shrub with numerous erect shoots forming compact, dense specimens. Shoots are reddish in youth. Pale-yellow flowers are gathered in fluffy terminal spike-like inflorescences. One of the rather undemanding species.

Sowing is carried out from August to March superficially in a pre-prepared mixture of peat and sand with a neutral reaction. Sowings are covered with glass or film to maintain a microclimate. Seedlings emerge after a month at an optimal germination temperature of 18-20 °C (64-68 °F). When seedlings reach a height of 2-3 cm (0.8-1.2 in), they are pricked out into 7-9 cm (2.8-3.5 in) pots. Recommended substrate: sod, leaf mold, peat soil, sand in a ratio of (4:2:2:1). By the end of the year, tops are pinched. Because seedlings grow quite slowly, feedings with higher nitrogen content are applied. A month after pricking out during summer months and favorable weather, seedlings can be taken outdoors or provided with constant ventilation. Callistemon is very light-demanding, so it should be placed exclusively on a sunny windowsill.

Special notes: Seeds are extremely small!

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It prefers a warm climate, direct sunlight, moderate watering with soft water, and acidic soils. When cultivated as an indoor container plant in summer, it is desirable to keep it on a balcony, loggia, or patio at a temperature of 20-22 °C (68-72 °F); toward autumn the temperature is lowered, and in winter it is kept in a cool bright room with temperatures around 12-16 °C (54-61 °F), but no lower than 8 °C (46 °F). Watering in spring and summer is abundant, with settled water as the upper soil layer dries out; in autumn and winter watering is moderate. The plant is fed during active growth from spring to autumn once every 2 weeks with a complete fertilizer containing low phosphorus.

It is repotted as roots fill the pot, about once a year, into a peat substrate with coarse sand added to adjust acidity. After flowering ends, the bush is pruned. With proper winter care, indoor Callistemon can bloom from late spring until autumn. Branch pruning is best performed in autumn. By the end of the year, tips of Callistemon seedlings are pinched to initiate branching. Subsequently, as they grow, they respond well to pinching and shearing to form a bushy shrub.