How to speed up the growth of baby trees?

Dear All,

I have a number of baby trees of varying species I want to attempt to turn into bonsai. Most are from the wild, 1-3 years old, and some are cuttings.

My problem is this. They are in very small pots at the moment, not mame or bonsai pots, just very small garden pots. However I'm sure these will act like Bonsai pots and keep the tree small. Yet I do not want to keep the tree small at this stage, I want the trunks to thicken, the cuttings to develop, etc. So I think they should be moved into bigger garden pots and left for a few years until they are ready for me to prune and move into Bonsai pots.

But just how big should the garden pots be, and what soil should I use? (Proper Bonsai soil is expensive).

Any help would be appreciated.

P.S Another problem. One of the trees I got from the wild looks great, in that it must have been growing between rocks for a few years as it has absolutely dwarfed itself, and is just about ready to be put into a bonsai pot. The problem is, however, is that it has one root that just travels straight down. If I chop off a third of this long root and plant it in a Bonsai pot will it be ok?

Thanks,

Bren.

Advertisement

JArmstrn

Hello!,
With your potensai that need to grow I recomend planting them in the ground or go to a home depot and pick up one of those black rectangular mortar mixing bins and add drain holes. For your collected plant, the root that goes strain down is called a taproot, normally in bonsai it is removed.
Hope this helps,
J___

TreeBay

J/s right.

Check out some of the articles by Brent Walston in the new links section.

Click in the upper right on Links, then go to

Education->Techniques-&gtevelopment.

Eventually that link board will have it's own URL.

One good article in particular is here

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

Thankyou to those who have replied, the answers have been extremely helpful. However after viewing the articles, i have some more questions.

1) What is a 'leader'? I have the impression it is the branch that grows up out of the chopped off trunk, rather than straight out like the others.

This leads to my second question.

2) If, as Brent Walston says in his article 'Developing Large Trunks for Bonsai', it is best to grow a tree for 10 years or so before chopping its trunk and moving it to a Bonsai pot, won't this result in just a large trunk with a small branch growing out the top, i.e out of proportion, a tree that bears no resemblance to itself in the wild? To have an idea of what i mean, check out the picture of his chopped Zelkova in training.

3) Is it also true that a tree's trunk will thicken very little in a Bonsai pot? If this is true, than as a beginner I have wasted a lot of my time as a lot of my young trees and cuttings are in Bonsai pots already.

Any replies would be gratefully appreciated.

Bren.

TreeBay

Hi Bren,

[b:c6ce39a2c6]1) What is a 'leader'? I have the impression it is the branch that grows up out of the chopped off trunk, rather than straight out like the others.[/b:c6ce39a2c6]

The 'leader' is the branch designated to form the apex of the tree. The tree and the hobbyist may have different ideas about which branch is the leader, so a tree placed in the ground can't be neglected for long. In a cascade style bonsai the leader might actually point downwards, but it is the branch that will form the eventual extension of the trunk.

[b:c6ce39a2c6]2) If, as Brent Walston says in his article[/b:c6ce39a2c6] 'Developing Large Trunks for Bonsai'[b:c6ce39a2c6], it is best to grow a tree for 10 years or so before chopping its trunk and moving it to a Bonsai pot, won't this result in just a large trunk with a small branch growing out the top, i.e out of proportion, a tree that bears no resemblance to itself in the wild? To have an idea of what i mean, check out the picture of his chopped [/b:c6ce39a2c6]Zelkova in training.

I have not read the article recently, but my memory of it (and in reviewing it again briefly today) is that it is an article on how to develop large trunks for bonsai, and is not meant to suggest that all bonsai must have large trunks, nor that trees should be grown for 10 years before they are cut and immediately potted up. The technique he describes in field training plants for bonsai involves letting them grow until the trunk base approaches the [i:c6ce39a2c6]desired[/i:c6ce39a2c6] thickness, then cutting again (still in the field) and allowing the trunk to develop still more, both healing the wounds and creating movement and taper in the trunk. This process is repeated over time, and depending on the caliper of trunk desired, this could go on for years.

At some point the tree is lifted and more controlled refinement takes place (that is the Zelkova's stage). Then, according to this approach, the tree is potted only when the structure of the trunk and perhaps the main branches is defined.

[b:c6ce39a2c6]3) Is it also true that a tree's trunk will thicken very little in a Bonsai pot? If this is true, than as a beginner I have wasted a lot of my time as a lot of my young trees and cuttings are in Bonsai pots already. [/b:c6ce39a2c6]

If your ultimate goal is a thick-trunked tree, you will not be advancing the cause much in a bonsai pot. Bonsai pots are good for refinement and display, or moving trees around. Containers, because they limit the spread of the root system, aren't particularly well-suited to developing wood, and the drainage, frankly, is lousy.

Considering whether your time is wasted doing anything really depends on your goals. (I know a few people who would suggest that this entire hobby consists of wasting time ) In any case, in the process of cultivating trees in pots, you will learn more about their needs and how to maintain and refine them, so I don't see it as wasted.

Not all bonsai have or need thick trunks. If you consider the hibiscus that Walter posted in the Gallery a while back, you'll see a tree that is very well developed, but could hardly be considered to have a massive trunk. Putting that plant in the ground at this point would ruin it utterly, as new shoots would form from the branches in explosive growth, causing them to thicken and all refinement would be lost.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Matt

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

KZitzewitz

Some of the books I have been reading show some great ways or what trees look like after they have new buds grown to make a new tree. one book has an azelea in the exposed root side that is kind of an orange pink, and the other is the bonsai handbook by david prescott. take a look at these in your local library or bookstore, just glance through them to see what things they do, those are just a few.
also just as a suggestion, if you go to lowe, home depot or some of those other places (fred meyer if you have one) have nice either wood, or that cardboard/peat pots that are huge enough to use as training. for soils, I would use a bonsai-ish soil if they are to be potted, that way it gets used to the soil, but the components are more readily available then you think, if you go get some turface, and orchid bark (fine grade) I think the lot (at least here is oregon) will see you back 15.00 and you will have enough soil for several plants.

__________________
--Kristopher

johnbonsai

Hello there, I have one view of deciduous Trees that can be helpful, try to imagine growth as electricity, the easiest route in a tree would be from the taproot straight through to the apex. If you reduce the height, and wire upwards a new leader, it will grow upwards ( and outwards) naturally to get at the light in a competitive way as all trees' do. From the chop the rest of the trunk should throw out new buds from all over, these can be encouraged in the right places and removed from the wrong places, luck plays a part. With an untouched root system the tree will readily be able to grow back the top part that has been removed because it has the root system of a much larger plant. So the energy, like electricity will shoot straight through to the apex as well as feeding the rest of the live parts. Then the new leader will develop, the cut should be sealed and will quickly develop a callous. As the growth extends the leader will thicken and the cut will heal. Soon there will be a chance to cut the leader again when there is a smooth transition from trunk to leader, when the base of the new leader will be as thick as the top of the trunk. Then the "electricity" energy will need to be re-directed. This is done by reducing the root system and shaping the foliage to favour sideways growth. The downward growing taproots are removed at the base of the trunk. Visible thick surface roots are kept, but these should be pruned below the soil surface to finer roots to generate more, finer feeding roots. All other thick roots should be pruned back and finer roots should be trimmed. When doing this to a new Bonsai try to keep as much of the finer roots as possible. A lot of thick roots might only have finer roots at the ends so be careful when trimming, and don't be in a hurry to fit the tree into a Bonsai pot. The tree's new pot should be quite shallow but wide. Maybe as deep as 2 or 3x the thickness of the trunk and as wide as the tree is high. Given time the dificult roots can be modified and the sideways root growth will help to flare the trunk even more. Again with time and good pruning both above and below, the tree will be able to have a Bonsai pot, and it will be on it's way to being a Bonsai. Yours, Johnbonsai.

__________________
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a delay of about three hours." Milton Burle.