bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post

Howdy folks!

Here's another River Red from the batch of $1 trees I mentioned in post #17 and post #19. For some reason, I never posted it earlier, but that means that its entire 'progress' can be seen in this single post.

Pic 1 shows the tree as it was just after purchase - note the large, hardened, yellowish leaves, and the overabundance of roots. The orange marks indicate where pruning took place.

Pic 2 shows the tree after a severe root-prune.

Pic 3 shows it after a year's growth in a wider, shallowish pot (I had removed a few branches which were obscuring the trunkline. Note the difference in leaf size and colour from the same time last year. (There was still new growth occurring, albeit slowly - but knowing that I intended to remove a large amount of foliage with the repot, I am comfortable with repotting at this stage.)

Pic 4 shows the development of the nebari and lower trunk.

Pic 5 once again illustrates the Euc's tendency to grow tap roots straight down. When I repot this time, it will be into a much shallower container so that the root growth will be forced to contribute to the appearance of the surface roots.

Pic 6 has the tree all root-pruned (about 60-70% root reduction, leaving all upper roots intact) and placed into a wider, shallower pot. This pot is not necessarily where this tree will continue to live, but its size and shape are ideal for the roots growth I require at the moment.

Pic 7 (seen below in the next post) finally shows the tree as it is now. The wire will have to be removed within a month or two, depending on how vigorously the thing takes off. At this time of year (and with the amount of remnant foliage) I expect to see new growth within 2 weeks. I should add that I am not altogether happy with the styling of this tree at the moment - I wonder whether or not I should have been a little more bold in the reduction of the trunk length after the 1st branch. I'll wait and see what the new growth offers up...

Thanks.

FlyBri.