I have a question as a beginner.

I have a newly bought mugo pine nursery plant with not-so-great-looking nebari. Reading about the growing boxes made me drool. My question is related to the fact that all the examples shown seem to be of pretty well-developed trees so the impression I got is that a growing box would not be the first step in growing a tree out but rather perhaps a second step after allowing the trunk to thicken?

Or would it be overall best to plunk the thing in a roomy growing box from the first?

Proper roots need to be developed at the time the trunk is built. That can be done in a container, or in the ground over time, but if the root system is neglected, a mediocre tree may result.

If you have the space available, and your garden soil is suitable, you could put your mugho in the ground, but it will probably be easier to care for it in a growing box of some kind.

Regards,

Matt

thanks for the info!

Okay I have a follow-up question then. would it be helpful to "layer" the trunk base by wounding the bark and applying root hormone to encourage radial roots along with the growing box, or would this not prove fruitful on a mugo pine? Or, alternatively, would the tree get a sufficient idea from the box itself to form those nice radial roots?

Now you are in a different thread - the one on rooting hormone.

I had this question, recently:





The screen keeps the soil from falling through the openings between the slats in the bottom of the box. It's big enough to cover the bottom of the growing box, or about twice as wide as the drainage holes on a bonsai pot, and the spacing is somewhere between 1/16 and 1/8. It's available on the TreeBay Bonsai Tools & Supplies site here:

Shop Drainage Screen

The bulk screen is good for growing boxes. If you want to learn to secure the screen in a bonsai pot, check here:

Securing Drainage Screen For growing boxes, we just staple it down with a staple gun.

Regards,

Matt

One ? MAtt, would the growing boxes thicken the trunks, also work on the nebari and work on the radial roots at the same time. Cause i dont have a tree bed or anywhere to put my trees in the ground.So if it helps thicken the trunk that would be great

Adam: With out the benifets of a growing bed I would say that growing boxes are the next best thing. Your trees will develip a little slower but yes they will increase in trunk size. Follow matts lead on this one and you will be ahead. Good Luck.
ripsgreentree

OK I got convinced, I will build my growing boxes, but, wait... I'm growing my trees from seedlings, and they are still really small, how long do I have to wait, to pass them to their growing boxes? how shallow should the container be for seedlings?
thanks

Jose Alberto

One practical plan for seedlings is to put several into a growing box and grow them together as a forest for a few years. Trim any roots that grow straight down. Some have had good luck planting the seedling in the box on top of a piece of tile to limit the downward spread of roots.

Rips, I suspect, would suggest putting them in the ground, and if you have the space and dedication to care for them there, they would do quite well there as well.

Sometimes, trees in the ground can be forgotten, overrun by weeds or pests, browsed by deer, etc. So planting several trees in a box is a safe bet.

As for the depth - For seedlings, a little less than 1/2 the depth of sankastaff's box size would be good. A "one slat box" as AL called it.

http://www.memobug.com/treebay/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=Gallery&action=display&num=10207384 70

This is too deep:

Ok, thanks, I get the idea now, so, the most important thing is to have a big superficial area, despite the height of the container? am I right? how many area should a tree have for itself?

About planting them on the soil, unfortunately I have a bonsai size patio, so I guess I can't plant a tree there... well, Matt, as always you've been really helpful... thanks...

Jose Alberto