Developing shohin from cut down stock

saurak

You don't need luck, you need a small miracle Kidding aside,that virt is wonderful.
Can't wait to see ur progress.Keep us posted okay?

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If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it. Does it make a sound? Yes... God is listening

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bonsaial1

Today I was able to take the leader and cut it back to continue with budding for the future. I already had a couple buds just starting to turn green about pin head sized near the base of that leader. Cutting it back like this will send it into overtime and it should be full of buds there fighting to see who gets to be the big cheese in the apex world!

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Vonsgardens

Al, I don't do much with elms, just a few collected ones. When (at what point in development) do you make your choices to limit growth to key buds. In Tridents, I can do it almost any month, but elms as a group have just been more finnicky. Any help?

John

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bonsaial1

Hi John, Well thats a tricky question. Elms for me are very easy because the tips are so directional. They will go just exactly where you point them with directional pruning. At this point with this small tree I will focus on getting some of the branches to lignify asap. Working on elms I find it easier to prune only once in spring and once in fall. This keeps the basic shape intact and affords me just small pinching the rest of the time.

On this small tree I will have to let the branches grow quite long to get any wood this year. This is why the wire has been left long on the one branch. Even though this will probably become the second branch, I will concentrate more on this branch due to the fact that this branch will help set the mood for the tree. By virtue of the branch seeming to be lower on the trunk on the left that may well be the first branch. The sasha eda will be the second branch though.

In this pic the apex has been pruned back and it has budded quite well. About another month and I should have the beginning of some wood at the bases of those first small branches.

Cheers, Al

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Groghunter

My opinion is worth the bandwidth I use to post... but man... that lower trunk is #%*(@#%(#%*#@ purty.

Eaglion

Dear Al,

First of all, thanks for your inspirational articles.

I want to ask you and others a question.

I have one Japanese maple and two red leaved (Bloodgood) maples. I started to air layer several branches and trunks. (For those interested, the reason for my action is in this article. http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/f20/air-layering-question-japanese-maples-28559.html)

These trees are tall. In Bloodgoods, the distance between the ground to first branch is very long. By looking at the vigor and their willingness to root, to make use of the thickness of the trunk, I can easily start new layerings in these areas too. But if do so, when I want to separate them, the bottom part will be left with no branch and foliage at all, just like a very low trunk chop. According to the rate of rooting of the other layerings, this separation will be around the beginning of autumn but before they shed the leaves.

Do you think they can survive the winter with such a low trunk chop leaving them leafless?


Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

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Taylan Benker
Eurosia Bonsai Club-Turkey
www.avrasyabonsai.com

bonsaial1

In my area they would. I have no idea about the winters where you live. I would seek out someone a little closer to home to ask the info. You should be OK but safe is always better.

Cheers, Al

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bonsaial1

The first branch that I wired is starting to lignify. It is turning brown slowly but should be good and hard by fall. Most branches will bot fork untill the have gone thru the lignification process. A green shoot for the most part will just continue to grow forward.

As I scraped around at the soil I found that the plant has only a couple large roots off of one side of the plant. Zelcova and elms are notorious for having very large fleshy roots.

I compensated for this by ground layering the tree on the opposite side of the large roots. On inspection tonite I noticed that some roots have already emerged from the cut. No hormone on this one just a cut and bury with a patch of moss on the cut. It is rooting along the rest of the cut too, they just are too small to photograph. I did 180 degrees of the trunk. Next year I will do the other half.

Cheers, Al

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Real men don't wear coats with "happi" in the title.