AusBonsai

How's it going ausbonsai,
I've just decided to start doing bonsai yesterday, i have a bottlebrush and three varieties of wattle in the yard with seeds hanging off them. I want to make bonsai from all of them (or try ). I was thinking i'd try cuttings and seed propagation at the same time. I have a few ideas of how to do the bottle brush but any advice on seeds or cuttings of any bottlebrush or wattle would be appreciated since i don't know the species. I can take photos and try to upload them tomorrow if it's important to know the species/variation.

Hi Coldpressedmonkey , Welcome to Ausbonsai , take a look in the Propagation or the Native section .These topics are bound to have be discussed by members in the know .Its important to research all material , styles , fertilizers , mediums , regions and the like .There is a wealth of info already at your fingertips on individual species and methods .Cheers Alpineart

Thanks for the kind advice sorry for wasting time asking questions that have already been answered i didn't know there were any sections covering these things since i just registered and went straight to the questions i had before looking around. My bad

I have numerous Callistimon in the yad at home and this year they spread seeds everywhere, and now have them shooting in just about every pot and garden I have got

They started shooting end of winter and we obviously from last years seeds.

Take the seeds pods off after flowering and before they open
Sow onto a layer of seed raising mix and keep moist

Ken

kcpoole wrote:I have numerous Callistimon in the yad at home and this year they spread seeds everywhere, and now have them shooting in just about every pot and garden I have got

They started shooting end of winter and we obviously from last years seeds.

Take the seeds pods off after flowering and before they open
Sow onto a layer of seed raising mix and keep moist

Ken

thanks Ken I've got vermiculite and some seed raising mix if I add some vermiculite as well do you think it would improve success % ?
The two varieties in my yard are both red flowering though one is a darker/bluer red and the other is a paler red with yellow tips both have been flowering a while already.
Does after flowering mean, after flowering begins, or after it ends? and Is it blatantly obvious to a complete begginer like myself if the seeds have opened?
Also I was just given permision to take seed and cuttings from some pink and white varieties as well but was told to put seeds in a bag in the sun til the inner seeds came out and then sow the seeds is this totally unneccessary? or only neccesary for certain varieties?

coldpressedmonkey wrote:
thanks Ken I've got vermiculite and some seed raising mix if I add some vermiculite as well do you think it would improve success % ?
The two varieties in my yard are both red flowering though one is a darker/bluer red and the other is a paler red with yellow tips both have been flowering a while already.
Does after flowering mean, after flowering begins, or after it ends? and Is it blatantly obvious to a complete begginer like myself if the seeds have opened?
Also I was just given permision to take seed and cuttings from some pink and white varieties as well but was told to put seeds in a bag in the sun til the inner seeds came out and then sow the seeds is this totally unneccessary? or only neccesary for certain varieties?

Never tried Vermiculite, My Seed mix I sue is 50 /50 Peat moss and Sharp potting sand.

the after flowering Ends, the Seed pods will develop and eventually they will open and spread the load all around. If you Put a paper bag over the Seed pods after flowering finshes, you can collect them all then. Or cut off the pods before they open and put into a bag can do the same thing

Ken

Thanks Ken really appreciate the help. Congrats on all the shooters

No worries
Most of my shoots are getting to be about 1/4 inch in size now, and I will be repotting them all and seeing if I can do a mass planting / Trunk fusing thing with them like Dugz Bonsia

Ken

That should be interesting, sounds like you're getting your head out of the sand lol . So a 1/4 inch is big enough to repot i've put a couple cuttings in and tried my first air layering while i'm waiting for flowering to end but i'm being kept busy as a thermostat for a synsepalum dulcificum so i havent done the second tree yet and not many cuttings but it's just for fun. I expect I'll do better with the seeds but experience is key i reckon so I'm trying as much as i can since all the reading in the world can't match the doing.

Seeds will have potentially some sort of diversity and may not be exactly true to the parent plant. Commercial nurseries will, and ours does, always take Callistemon cuttings.

But, if you always do that, new varieties don't appear. Callistemon 'Eureka', for example, occurred in a batch of seedlings in a Sunnybank nursery and is now a very prevalent plant.

That adds some mystery to the wait . I'm collecting seeds and have 5 cuttings each from 5 different varieties so hopefully I'll get some the same and some new or different ones as well. I guess air layering would get the same result as cuttings. I only have a rough idea of how to do it but i'm giving it a go on two varieties and if they don't work i'll try a new method next year. Thanks S.O.P

No worries, mate. One thing I didn't stress though, is that there is a good chance it will be exactly the same, probably a great chance so don't think I meant that seed is any worse, or better, than cuttings.

In another industry, cuttings are called clones and with good reason. It's a genetic copy of the plant you take it from, so if that's important (like cultivars sold for very specific traits), that's why you do it. Plus, some seeds, can be hit or miss on germination, cuttings may be faster in that regard, and more guaranteed but then some plants don't do cuttings very well.

In our nursery, large trees are often better grown and easier from seed, cuttings usually small plants/shrubs. Bonsai is a perpetual small plant so that's not an issue either.

Thanks S.O.P, that's good to know. I have some cuttings in process and some seed pods bagged i also tried air layering two small Callistemon(sp*) trees do you know if air layering works or am i wasting my time?