Shohin hinoki cypress - and two questions

Carl_Bergstrom

Hello everyone,

This is my first post to bonsaiTalk, so I should probably introduce myself. I'm currently living in Seattle, and I've been working with bonsai for the last six or seven years.

Attached is a picture of one of the first trees I ever acquired. The main picture was taken yesterday; the inset shows the tree six years ago. As you can see, it suffered some dieback last year while out of my care. My guess is that the dieback occured because the root system was weakened by a combination of overwatering and an overly-dense soil mixture. Which brings me to my two quetions.

1) Should I risk an emergency repotting now, even though it's a bit late in the year, or should I wait until next spring on the grounds that the tree has good color now and indeed has improved a bit since I re-acquired it three months ago?

2) Should I get rid of the jin low on the main trunk? (See the virtual below).

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

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Carl_Bergstrom

Here's the virtual of the tree with the jin removed.

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TreeBay

It was recommended to me by a Japanese bonsai master to repot False Cypress (including Hinoki) and Cryptomeria in late spring as opposed to early spring. So I don't believe you are necessarily too late to carry out a transplant. I would definitely keep this tree in filtered sun after the transplant, although that is probably a good idea with hinoki anyway.

Generally, if a tree is unhealthy it is a good idea to pot it up to a slightly larger container until it shows some improvement.

Personally, I don't mind the jin. It tells a true story of survival and is a conversational element in the tree. I would sharpen it a bit, and treat it with lime sulfur to preserve it.

Regards,

Matt

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Carl_Bergstrom

Thanks for the advice, Matt.

I've got a larger pot ready to go, so I'll probably move forward with the transplant.

As a side benefit, this will get it out of the inappropriately-colored pot that it is in now.

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Adam

I agree with Matt, I think the jin gives it a little tall tale about its survival through the fiercist storms and harsh weather.

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Adam C.

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zeb

I'm with the others when it comes to the jin.
I like it more like it is now than what it was earlier. When I first saw the picture I haven't read your post yet, but I thought you were going in the right direction with it.

Treat it with lime sulphur. Don't know what that really is but everybody tells me to do that on my jins.


Welcome aboard!
Zeb

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Shambhala

I like the jin, it actually compliments the dieback It looks really good!

Carl_Bergstrom

Thanks for all of the feedback - by popular vote, the jin stays! I will lime-sulfer it, though I personally don't like the overly-whitened appearance for anything except a tree that suggests a high-mountain or rocky-coast setting.

As an aside, there's been some discussion lately about how a little tree planted in a bonsai plot and left there will, after a decade or so, turn into...a little tree, planted in a bonsai pot.

The picture with which I started this thread is a perfect illustration; the inset and the main picture were taken six years apart. The trunk is still very slim and still has little by way of taper; only the marked change in the bark texture suggests that any serious amount of time passed between the two photographs. For this particular tree, I don't mind - but if I wanted a hefty trunk with strong taper, a bonsai pot would not have been the way to go.

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