Another newbie growing from seed - 1 year on (Ireland)

[Rcarter15]

Hi all,

Hands up I’m a complete newbie at this, I was given a seed kit last year and figured I’d see what happened. I had a total of 5 grow, unfortunately I thought 3 were weeds (Japanese Black Pines) so I let my kids look after those for the week they lived. The last 2 (Jacaranda) I’ve looked after for the past year and they’ve grown reasonably well (see pics). I’ve had to top them this weekend as they had an aphid invasion but I think it’s under control.

My real question is what now? When should I start to train them? How do I make them smaller back to bonsai size? Or do they need more time to thicken? Trunks still seem pretty thin?

Thanks for any advice

Richard

 

[Rcarter15]

For idea, I’m being very optimistic and aiming for the attached lol

 

[Fidur]

Welcome to the forum!!. It would be good to know your location (write it in your profile).

I'm a beginner as well, but as I have a species that somehow has those same growing patterns, I'm gonna dare to give you some ideas (take all I say with a grain of salt).
I grew this albizia julibrissin, from seed, through "clip and grow" and wiring. I let it grow to the size you have right now. Then i chopped and begun again:


I let it grow for a year:



and then prunned again,... and so on. Right now, after the last iteration:



As I said, I think jacaranda grows with a similar pattern, so maybe my example is good for you...

 

[dbonsaiw]

I've never worked with jacaranda but understand they are strong growers and respond well to bonsai work.

I also use pics of nice trees to give me inspiration and guidance. The question now is how do you get from where you are to where you want to be? Your inspiration pic has nice nebari, a large base, taper and movement. These are all qualities you will need to develop over many years. Next steps:

At the appropriate time (likely spring), repot and set your roots radially to begin nebari development.

Let the tree grow freely - more growth will give you more trunk thickening.

When you get closer to the size of the base you want, chop and grow the new leader for taper and movement.

There's a good couple of years separating your current tree from the goal. But one foot in front of the other.

 

[Rcarter15]

Thanks, I’ve repotted last weekend into bigger pots to give the roots more room. I guess next year I can spread them out radial? Should I be looking at wiring it yet? The trunk still seems pretty thin to me?

 

[Rcarter15]

Actually I just checked my camera roll, the above two trees only sprouted in July 2023, so we’re only 9 months old not a year as per title! Probably much too early to think about wiring and pruning?