Lucky Find.

discobassoonist

Nice find, congrats.

You mentioned that you've removed a lot of foliage? That's probably good considering you didn't get all that many roots out.
What environment was this guy groing in? IF it was in sandy, rocky or extraordinarily dry pocket of earth, it may surprise you by springing right back with a little extra TLC etc.

Also, remember to do as little as possible to this tree while it's in recovery, for at least 2 years. Just let it settle, and I personally like the idea of the plastic over the foiliage, just make sure it get's aired out every other day, mold and excessive moisture will definitely hurt it more. I have not collected such a speciment before, only smaller trees, and I remember being told to leave it alone for a good while. Especially conifers. It's a little different with deciduous, but I would still apply the same caution.

But good luck, I really hope that this guy survives, it's stunning.
Regards,
Dane (BTW ~ Do you have any collection pics?)

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pablo

I remember that Kimura describes in his book "The Bonsai Art of Kimura" a very extreme recovery of a Juniper (the one that was later called "the Dragon"). When the tree arrived to Kimura's workshop, he realized that all the roots had been cut out at gound level. The foliage left was living on the remaining sap in the trunk! He turned the tree upside down and managed to get roots near what was the apex before. As part of his method, he wraped every living branch in rafia, in order to limit evaporation. He also left very little foliage. I think the rafia part is worth a try.

I've also have had some success applying warmth to the rootball (constant 23 degrees Celsius) by laying a terrarium heater system under the pot, although it might be too warm now in LA for this treatment.

By the way, I do not think that too much rooting hormone will do any good to the tree.

Good luck with that one.
Pablo

Attila

I placed all my collected California Junipers under plastic tent. Watered with SuperThrive solution until I saw new growth. The plastic tent was under shade cloth, with morning sun and afternoon shade. Growth medium was pure pumice, nothing else. I wouldn't use a bonsai pot at the beginning. Istead, I would use a very deep pot and increase drainage as much as possible.

All my collected junipers survived, so next time I would do the same thing.

Attila

Larry

Im not really sure what superthrive is, only that a lot of people go on about it. But what i would do with some plants that had wilted would fill a hole with water containing a weak Miracle grow solution and put the weak plant in there.

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Today is or was yesterday's tomorrow

Carl_Bergstrom

No! Don't use any fertilizer on a weak or wilted tree.

-Carl

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In love with trees

Larry

Carl,
Ive done it before with nursery bought plants that looked a bit worse for wear and it picked them up and made them take quicker. Obviously it would be a much weaker solution than normal.

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DNA Perfect

Hey All, Thanks for the kind words and advice. I covered the foliage with plastic. Do you think it is wise to reduce the folige even further? I can all ways regrow foliage but never that trunk again. When I dug it up it was in an area of high foot traffic. The stunted growth and gnarled trunk are from many years of being stomped on by people. When I dug under the tree I realized it had been planted about 3 feet back, close to a wall, but after years of being walked on the tree grew further out. Any way the roots were under a wall except for what is left. I dug under carefully but it snapped. Also the people allowing me to dig this up were giving me the wierd eye for digging under ther wall. So massively reduce foliage ?? Yes?? Thanks for your support all, this guy has gotta pull through. ~Ken

carmi

Carl,

"No! Don't use any fertilizer on a weak or wilted tree."

In my experience I do believe it is one more
"holy cow"…

Moshe

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Shalom (Peace),
Moshe.

Colors are an optic illusion of light – As viewers for the bonsai creation. M.S.C.

Carl_Bergstrom

Moshe,

Thanks - I stand corrected! Brent (who wrote the article that you referece) certainly knows his stuff and has a lot more experience with these things than I do.

So I think I may be just plain wrong in saying that one should never fertilize a plant in stressed condition.

With my best regards,
Carl

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In love with trees