Growing Callistemons from seed

[Tristan_He]

Hi there, my mother has a very beautiful large shrub of Callistemon salignus which I would like to try to propagate. I've collected some of the seeds / nuts (or whatever they are). Does anyone have any advice on how to encourage germination? They look like the sort of thing that would be stimulated by fire.

Thanks, Tristan

[Maggi Young]

Advice from several Australian sites - so the months suggested for prime cutting success should be adjusted for northern hemisphere .... so I suppose July and August for semi-ripe wood....
https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2003/callistemon-acuminatus.html

http://anpsa.org.au/callis2.html

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/propagate-bottlebrush-plants-cuttings-38812.html

Interesting to learn that the seed heads are  from several years on each stem - and need to be brought indoors to encourage them to shed their seed.

[Tristan_He]

Thanks Maggi. After posting I also had a little look and realised these were capsules not seed - sadly not looking viable when I cut them open. So I think cuttings it is.

[Maggi Young]

I'm not sure that good seed would be set in the UK, Tristan - until someone tells us different, of course!

[Lesley Cox]

And cuttings of that whole family are wickedly difficult to root. Use a liquid rooting hormone at least and you may be lucky. As a help with rooting cuttings of eucalypts, proteas, pines and some other difficult things, an agricultural research institute in NZ (Ruakura) years ago developed a liquid rooting hormone called Liba 10,000. It's very good and I wouldn't use anything else.

[Hoy]

I have grown Callistemon from seed several times (not of European origin those seeds!). No problem with germination (quite ordinary treatment) but I have never successed with the plants outside more than a couple of years.