i too am eager for the continuation fly thanks for that pal.

Greetings Fly,
I will be eagerly awaiting your illustrated treatment, when doing so I would appreciate if you would be kind enough to divulge details of tools and methods you use in the process. My seedlings are now in a happy placement within the garden resulting in massive growth, prompting me to consider what pruning/training (pinching/cutting) will be required in the not to distant future to optimise inter nodal spacing.

http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/attachm...achmentid=56852

Thanks,
Red.

Well, here it is. It's not rocket surgery, but I hope it helps...

• [1] & [2] Pics of the the roots as the tree is slipped from its tube. Note the lack of fat, white tips which would indicate that the roots are actively growing.
  
  
• [3] You can see that a good deal of soil has come off the top, exposing the little lignotuber. Often times, tubestock like this will be devoid of roots in the upper soil, so it is better to work out where the roots are before trimming the lower roots. In this case, I have removed virtually no roots, and have merely shaken out the excess soil above the roots.
  
  
• [4] A more vigorous specimen: there are the very beginnings of new roots tips at the lower right, but I'm happy to continue without fear of harming the tree.
  
  
• [5] I've prodded the roots here and there to open them up. I've cut back the major root and trimmed the minor ones.
  
  
• [6] It was a hot, windy day when I performed this root work, so I had a tub of water at hand to keep the bare-rooted seedlings happy. Note that I have decided to work on all 10 seedlings at once... Why would I want to do that, I wonder?..
  
  
• [Tools] Nothing more sophisticated than a pair of scissors and piece of 10mm dowel carved into a point (my patented Stick Of Poking™).
  
  
• [Note] I have removed some of the foliage from each seedling (not shown). At a guess, I probably removed about ⅓ of the upper foliage by simply cutting back the upper trunk(s).

So there you have it. Root-pruning Euc seedlings in a nutshell. I wish I could make it seem more involved and mystical, but it's really not.

Thanks.

Fly.

Attached Images

	C_Citriodora_Seedlings_01.jpg (71.6 KB, 12 views)
	C_Citriodora_Seedlings_02.jpg (71.3 KB, 8 views)
	C_Citriodora_Seedlings_03.jpg (55.0 KB, 11 views)
	C_Citriodora_Seedlings_04.jpg (72.0 KB, 10 views)
	C_Citriodora_Seedlings_05.jpg (70.4 KB, 11 views)
	C_Citriodora_Seedlings_06.jpg (72.2 KB, 269 views)

Fly, when repotting Eucs do you try to spread the roots out into a more horizontal fashion just under the topsoil or leave them in their tubestock near vertical style?

Last repot I spread mine horizontal in an attempt to promote wind resilience figuring that new growth from these existing roots would return to vertical as they seek water. In my case the increased risk of drying associated with being so dependant on topsoil moisture immediately after potting is offset by my automated (timer) misting system.

I also used a weak seaweed treatment after the repot to help overcome the shock.

Thanks for the step-by-step illustrated process Fly, appreciated. I'll be using it as a reference in the future.

Red.

Gday Red!

It is best to try to get the horizontal root spread started early in the training of a Eucalypt, but ofttimes the roots of tubestock will be too stiff or brittle to allow you to shape them much. This is where the trimming of all the thicker tap-style roots can help, as it can force the tree to grow roots further up towards the trunk base. If you can achieve a nice radial flare with your young material, then go for it by all means. (In the project I've started with the aforementioned Corymbia citriodora seedlings, achieving radially spaced roots is not a concern for each individual tree.)

Regarding the placement of the roots "just under the topsoil", I'd be careful to keep at least 10mm of soil on top of young, developing roots: the key here is to provide your surface roots with as much protection and moisture as possible, so that they grow in favour of more opportunistic tap-style roots. I find that a generous serve of coarse sand or fine gravel applied as a mulch helps greatly in keeping surface roots cool and moist.

Thanks and good luck!

* * *

So, I finally got around to removing the air-layer I started back here. Upon inspection of the layer site, I found that much of the wounded trunk was bridging over again, but the roots which had formed prevented me from getting in and re-re-stripping the trunk. Perhaps I could have left it in place longer (as viewed in the 3rd pic), but I wanted to get the layer off and give it a couple months of growing on its own before Winter hits. Also, by removing the layer now, I have a much better chance of controlling the development of surface roots than I would if I had waited until next Spring.

[1] The layer as removed from the lower trunk. For such a top-heavy form, the roots' hold on the pot and medium gives it good stability. You can see at the top that I have removed a good portion of growth and foliage, so the tree can better cope with its newly reduced root system.

[2] The layer still holding its own, even without the support of the little pot.

[3] A detail of the new roots: as mentioned above, more roots would have been better, but I'm fairly happy with this result. Note the red cracks in the main bark: these indicate that the layer has been growing vigorously above the parent tree.

I have since placed the layer (sphagnum and all) into a larger pot with some Bonsai soil. I will probably remove more top growth today in order to better balance the foliage with the roots. Pics to follow.

Thanks.

Fly.

Attached Images

	Euc_Layer_04.jpg (71.2 KB, 25 views)
	Euc_Layer_05.jpg (72.7 KB, 17 views)
	Euc_Layer_06.jpg (71.4 KB, 23 views)

Gday folks!

Please find attached recent pics of the 'parent' of the Euc layer from the previous post. I've included a shot of the ex-layer site, showing exactly how thick the bark on this little tree is (note that the bark is already starting to roll-over the wound, just 3 weeks or so since I removed the layer). Anybody care to try counting the rings?

Some may wonder what the point of this post is...

Thanks.

FlyBri.

Attached Images

	Ba_Loc_RR_Post-Layer_01.jpg (72.1 KB, 27 views)
	Ba_Loc_RR_Post-Layer_02.jpg (66.9 KB, 10 views)
	Ba_Loc_RR_Post-Layer_03.jpg (70.4 KB, 21 views)
	Ba_Loc_RR_Post-Layer_04.jpg (67.7 KB, 7 views)
	Ba_Loc_RR_Post-Layer_05.jpg (61.2 KB, 33 views)

Hi Fly and other Eucalyptus thread followers,
Looking through the gallery I came across a picture from May 2007 of a Eucalyptus Nicholii by Peterh.

A truly stunning example of what can be done with Eucalyptus material.

http://pictures.bonsaitalk.com/showphoto.php?photo=6508

Can only dream of my Bonsai's eventually achieving this level of beauty.

Red.
P.S. Earlier photo here:
http://www.anbg.gov.au/images/photo...13LH03/093.html