Distinctive characteristics, recommendations for the cultivation and reproduction of callistemon, advice on pest and disease control, interesting facts, species. Callisemon belongs to the genus of plants that do not shed their foliage throughout the year and belong to the Myrtaceae family. They can have both shrub and tree-like growth. The genus includes up to 35 varieties. Their native lands of settlement revered the territory of the Australian continent (on the eastern and southwestern coasts) and is partially found in New Caledonia. These are mainly endemic plants, that is, they do not grow anywhere else, except for the above places. They like to settle on wet sandy soils, as well as decorate the banks of streams, they can often grow on stony dry slopes, and some species calmly endure dry periods.
The people for the unusual type of inflorescences the plant is usually called Krasnoychynochnik or Krasnoychynochnik. However, this flowering bush bears its nomenclature name thanks to the translation of the Greek words "kallos", which means "beautiful" and "stemon" translated as "stamen". Sometimes you can hear how the plant is called "brush", apparently due to the fact that the inflorescences have the same shape as the bottle brush. The Germans associated these inflorescences with brushes for cleaning fireplaces, but in foggy Albion, residents considered them to be like brushes for cleaning glass in lamps. Those who were fond of smoking saw brushes in these inflorescences for cleaning their pipes.
Callistemon was first introduced to Europe in 1789, when Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820), an English naturalist, botanist and baronet, brought the Callistemon lemon variety to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The plant height can vary within 0.5-15 meters. Shoots are rounded or faceted, sometimes pubescent. The leaf plates are narrow lanceolate, their surface is hard and leathery; on the shoot, the leaves are usually arranged in the next order. The color of the foliage is grayish-green, the edge can be either simple, solid, or jagged, and you can even scratch the edges of the leaf. The leaf apex can be either pointed or blunt.
Inflorescences are collected from small flowers, and are located at the tops of the shoots. The outlines of the inflorescences are cylindrical, spike-shaped, they can vary in length from 5–12 cm with a width of about 3–6 cm. There is usually a leafy shoot at the top. In the flower, most of it is given under the filamentous stamens that peep out of the calyx. Sizes can reach such stamens 2, 5 cm and their color is very rich, most often it is a bright red tone, but there are varieties with yellow, greenish, orange, cream or whitish shades. Each flower has a five-lobed calyx, corolla and 3-4 nested inferior ovary. The flowering process takes place in the spring and summer.
After flowering, the fruit ripens in the form of a box filled with numerous seeds. The shape of the capsule can be spherical or ovoid. This representative of the flora is a cross-pollinated plant and is characterized by ornithophilia - that is, when pollination can be carried out by birds.
Callistemon growing tips, flower care
- Lighting for a beautiful meadow should be bright, but without direct sunlight. West and east facing windows will do. In the summer, you can take it out into the garden or on the balcony, but take care of shading.
- The temperature of the content when growing a plant with ruffy inflorescences from spring to the end of summer should be maintained within 20-22 degrees, and with the arrival of autumn days and in winter it is lowered, it is 12-16 degrees. Such a decrease in heat will be the key to successful further flowering, but at this time the humidity should not be increased, so as not to provoke putrefactive processes. If the heat indicators are not reduced, then the bush will quickly begin to grow and will not form flowers.
- The air humidity is maintained at a normal level, the plant tolerates dry indoor air well, but loves frequent ventilation. It is only important to ensure that the callistemon is not exposed to a draft. On the hottest summer days, it is recommended to spray every 2-3 days. The water should be warm and soft so that the drops of liquid do not form white spots on the foliage.
- Watering for a plant with brush inflorescences is carried out in the summer months once a week, but very abundantly, and in winter 8-10 days should pass between humidifications. The soil between them should dry out a little, but it is not worth bringing the earthen coma to complete drying, stagnation of moisture in a pot or in a stand under a flowerpot is more harmful for a red-grass plant - this can lead to the development of rot. Water is used only soft, well-separated and warm.
- Fertilizers for callistemon are applied during the growing season, which occurs in spring and summer. The regularity of such actions is every 14 days with the use of dressings, which do not include lime. You can use fertilizers for flowering indoor plants. The bush responds well to organic products. With the arrival of autumn and winter, it is not required to feed the bush.
- Pruning is carried out to form the required outlines of the bush. Callistemon tolerates this formation very well, and it serves to enhance branching.
- When carrying out a transplant, it is recommended. Change the pot and the soil in it for young plants annually, and also in the case when the earthen lump is completely entwined with roots. They guess this operation for the spring period, as soon as new young leaves are formed on the bush. If the callistemon specimen has reached a large size, then only the upper layer of the substrate is replaced in the pot. In a new container, holes are made in the bottom to drain excess liquid and then a good layer of drainage material is poured - 2-3 cm. This can be medium-sized expanded clay or pebbles. A substrate that is rich in nutrients and with low acidity is suitable for red grass. You can make up a soil mixture yourself by mixing in equal parts sod soil, leafy soil, coarse sand (you can replace it with perlite), moistened peat substrate or humus. Some growers recommend growing such a ruffy plant in a modified gravel composition, based on peat soil, pine bark (parts should not exceed 3–6 mm in size) and perlite.
Carrying out the reproduction of callistemon at home
You can get a new plant with brush inflorescences by sowing seed material or by planting cuttings.
Seeds are sown from August to early spring. The seeds are scattered on a moistened peat-sandy substrate, laid near the bowl. The container is covered with a piece of glass, a transparent lid or wrapped in polyethylene - this will be a way to maintain high humidity. The container with the crops of callistemon is placed in a warm place, with good lighting, but without direct streams of ultraviolet radiation. Every day, the crops are ventilated and, if necessary, the soil is moistened with a fine-dispersed spray bottle. When the first shoots appear, the shelter is removed and the seedlings begin to accustom to the conditions in the room. When the plant is 2–3 cm in height, they are dived into separate pots with a diameter of 7–9 cm, and the tops of the seedlings are pinched to start branching. The growth of seedlings is very small and in a year it is equal to 4–5 cm, and such red grass plants will begin to bloom only after 4–5 years.
Cuttings are also harvested between August and March. A lignified twig is selected and its top is cut off so that the length of the cutting is 5–8 cm. It is recommended to dip the slices into a root formation stimulator - heteroauxin or "Kornevin". They are planted in moistened sand, poured into seedling boxes. The germination temperature is maintained within 18–20 degrees. It is also recommended to carry out bottom heating of the soil. To maintain high humidity, the cuttings should be placed under a cut plastic bottle or covered with a glass jar (if not, then wrap it in a plastic bag). Seedlings are placed in a well-lit place, but shading from the scorching sunlight. When the cuttings take root, they are transplanted into separate containers with a diameter of 7 cm. The substrate is made up of equal parts of sod and leafy soil, adding peat soil and river sand. As the soil in the pot dries out, abundant watering is required. When the entire provided earthen lump is braided by the root system, transshipment (without destroying the soil lump) is carried out into pots with a diameter of 9 cm.
Callistemon pest and disease control methods
From harmful insects that can harm callistemon, mealybugs, scale insects, aphids, whiteflies, thrips and spider mites are isolated. All of them begin to infect a plant with inflorescences-brushes, if the conditions of detention are violated, for example, the humidity level is too low or there is a frequent flooding of the substrate. It is necessary to first try to wash the leaves of the red-grass plant under warm shower jets, and then carry out the treatment with non-chemical agents so as not to cause a serious impact on the bush. Such drugs can be soap, oil or alcohol solutions. Before processing the soil in the pot, it is recommended to cover it with plastic wrap so that drops of liquid do not fall on the roots.
If such drugs help little (or do not contribute to the destruction of pests at all), then insecticidal agents are used, for example, Karbofos, Aktaru, Aktellik or similar.
It happens that there are other problems, including:
- drying out of leaf plates can occur due to excessive watering of the soil or a large amount of fertilizer has accumulated in it;
- no buds are formed, the plant does not bloom, in case of a lack of lighting or in winter, the heat indicators were too high;
- the red-grass plant can wither because of the calcareous soil.
Interesting facts about callistemon
All varieties of callistemon have fungicidal properties. Their leaf plates, when moved or touched, release an essential oil that has multiple active components. This action is more pronounced when the sheet breaks. Because of this, the risk of catching colds is reduced in the room where the pot with a beautiful grass plant is located and the air quality is increased.
Callistemon species
There are a large number of varieties of this plant, here are just a few of them:
- Callistemon woven (Callisemon viminalis) also bears the name of Woven karsnotychnik or Karsnotychinnik woven. But locals call him Weeping Bottlebrush. The plant is endemic (grows only in this place on the planet) southeastern Australian lands. It prefers to grow on damp sandy substrates and along river banks. In countries with a tropical climate, it is used as an ornamental crop. The plant has an evergreen deciduous mass and can have both a bushy and a tree-like shape, while its shoots reach a height of 8 meters. The leaf plates are narrow, their surface is hard and leathery, and are located on the branches alternately. When flowering, multiple small buds are formed, which are collected in inflorescences at the tops of the shoots. The shape of the inflorescences is cylindrical and they are quite dense; in length they can reach 4–10 cm with a total width in the range of 3–6 cm. At the same time, a leaf-bearing shoot may be present at the top of such a spike inflorescence. In the flower, the main part is set aside for numerous filiform elongated stamens that look outward from the bud. Each flower has a calyx with five lobes and a corolla, as well as an inferior ovary with 3-4 nests. When fruiting, woody capsules with spherical outlines ripen, inside which numerous seeds are placed.
- Callistemon lemon (Callisemon citrynus) is a dense shrub or small tree. Synonyms for the name of this variety are the names Callisemon lanceolatus or Metrosiderus citrinus. The native habitat is in Southeast Australia. The height of the shoots of this plant reaches 3-5 meters, but when grown indoors, the parameters rarely exceed 2 meters. Branches are bare, straight, shoots, have a faceted surface and pubescence. The lanceolate leaf plates grow up to 2.5–9 cm in length, with a width of about 0.6–0.8 cm, with a tip at the top. Over time, the surface of the leaf becomes bare and multiple glands appear on it, and the veins are more developed on the sides and in the middle. It has spike-shaped inflorescences, the length of which varies in the range of 5-10 cm. Small flowers gather in the inflorescence, which have long filiform stamens with a length of 2.5 cm and a bright red color, they have dark crimson anthers. The flowering process occurs in June-July. This variety is often grown as a pot plant. It is best to keep this callistemon in a cool place. When rubbed, the leaves exude a lemon aroma, which is what the name of the variety served as, this feature helps to purify the air in the room.
- Callistemon viminalis (Callisemon viminalis) has a shrubby form of growth and shoots with strong pubescence, which gives elongated silky hairs. This differs from the previous variety in the drooping shape of the branches. In nature, the height of a plant can reach 7 meters, but when grown indoors it rarely exceeds 1 meter. The leaf plates are of various sizes and very brightly colored inflorescences. Varietal species are appreciated, in which the leaves are very densely located on the shoots, they are sessile and rather small. The most popular variety is Captain Cook.
- Callistemon the beautiful (Callisemon speciosus) also found under the name Metrosiderus speciosus. With its native land, this plant reveres the lands of the southwest of the Australian continent. It can grow as a small tree or shrub, stretching to a height of 4 meters. The shoots have faceted outlines, but over time they are rounded, there is pubescence and a grayish-brown color. The leaves have a narrow lanceolate shape and in length they vary from 3 to 10 cm with a width of up to 0.6 cm. The apex can be blunt or pointed. The leaf is whole-edged, bare; middle and marginal veins stand out on the surface. In the process of flowering, inflorescences with spikelet outlines are formed, reaching 10 cm in length and about 3-4 cm in width. They have multiple oil glands. The filaments are elongated and colored in a crimson-red color, their length is 2.5 cm. The color of the anthers is yellowish. The flowering process will stretch to June-August. Often grown as a pot plant in cool rooms.
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