need suggestion on where to start.
- Thread starter junmilo
- Start date
jk_lewis
Masterpiece
It is VERY young. You probably shouldn't "start" anything for a while. Wait until the "needle dimples" disappear off the trunk. I'd just put it in a medium deep container with much better soil and let it grow for a couple of years. There's lots of time ahead of it.
jeanluc83
Omono
I'll offer up what I would do. Understand that I'm not an expert so take if for what it's worth. I'm also have not experienced the kotobuki verity so my advice is based on regular JBP. Kotobuki may not be as vigorous as regular JBP so others will need to chime in on that point.
Even though the tree is young you will still want to do a few things to get the tree started on its way. I would get the trunk wired for some movement. I've noticed that my JBP bulk up considerably late summer early fall. If you wire now the bends should set fairly quickly. Next spring repot into a pond basket or colander. You want to get the roots started in the right direction early. It appears to be very young so it should tolerate a fair amount of root work.
At this point don't remove anything that's green. You want the tree to grow. Anything you remove will slow the growth of the tree. You will need to work on the bar branches as some point in the near future but at this point keep everything you've got. Once you get some vigorous growth you can start to reduce the whorls down to one branch each.
It might be a good idea to scrape off the top layer of soil to see where the roots start relative to the graft. A better view of the graft will help with advice on the direction of the tree.
For now give it as much direct sun as you can and fertilize generously.
Even though the tree is young you will still want to do a few things to get the tree started on its way. I would get the trunk wired for some movement. I've noticed that my JBP bulk up considerably late summer early fall. If you wire now the bends should set fairly quickly. Next spring repot into a pond basket or colander. You want to get the roots started in the right direction early. It appears to be very young so it should tolerate a fair amount of root work.
At this point don't remove anything that's green. You want the tree to grow. Anything you remove will slow the growth of the tree. You will need to work on the bar branches as some point in the near future but at this point keep everything you've got. Once you get some vigorous growth you can start to reduce the whorls down to one branch each.
It might be a good idea to scrape off the top layer of soil to see where the roots start relative to the graft. A better view of the graft will help with advice on the direction of the tree.
For now give it as much direct sun as you can and fertilize generously.
Eric Schrader
Chumono
Kotobuki can be nice trees. Even with all my experience with regular JBP I've not figured them out totally. Seems like you treat them more like a white pine. But, what you have there is a young grafted tree. The graft will almost certainly always be a problem, so plant that one in your yard as a landscape tree and find a tree to use for bonsai that you wont regret working on after you learn more. There's no part of a bonsai that you get to hide, and a glaring graft right at the base is going to disrupt any pleasing visual you manage to create.
