Some of my butcherings

Finally.... not to bore you further, and due to max 6 images per post allowence, the continuation of the above two posts.

If the Grewia grows as well as I hope it will over the remainder of the summer and through-out the winter, I plan on repotting it in Spring 2017.

Here are some pots I have in mind for it. I think it will benefit from a round pot, but dammit man, those little 5" rectangles would look snazzy with it too!

5" ERIN rectangle.





About 4.5" ERIN round - this one is fairly shallow so it would need to be planted higher in order to fit the roots.



About 5.5" IKER round



Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for looking!

I picked up these 3 Korean Hornbeams at the end of October 2015. I pretty much got them leafless except for a few stragglers, as it was fall, and they fell.

They over wintered well, buried in the ground. Leafed out in the spring and grew quite well over the first half of the summer. New growth hardened off, and from what I gather it was time for a trim. I have had no prior experience with Korean Hornbeams, so the decision to prune was gleaned from others care recommendation sprinkled from across the intraweb.

These are from the beginning of June:

The butchering took place a week ago, so 3rd week of July 2016.

Not sure if the triple trunk will fuse together on this species. but atleast I'm trying to set it on what I see as the right path.














They will remain untouched until next year. I may repot the smaller one next year, but they all seem happy and healthy. So we'll see.

The schefflera was re-potted at the end of April (2016). Last time it was pruned was February (2016). It grew well, had some run ins with scale for a while, but did fine.

Figured it's end of July, might as well give it a haircut that will last it for the remainder of the year. I probably could have been more aggressive. Better to do a little bit at a time I guess. Cleaned up some of the roots. Had algae growing on them, plus still hundreds of green fertilizer pellets from the nursery soil, as well as decomposing matter in all the little caverns. Tried to clean up as much as time allowed for.





My preferred front



Wife's preferred front.

Mike,

is the Sparrow's Plum [ Sageretia t ] still with you ?

In China listed as zone 7 outdoors hedge.

Tropics, handles morning sun or dappled sunlight.
Wounds larger than this - [ ] can give problems and will often rot.

Simple soil - 2/3 inorganic to 1/3 organic
Part of the inorganic can be able to absorb water.

Sometimes in late spring they need to be defoliated to get back the green look.

*********Please test all new ideas on expendable rooted cuttings, and not the mother plant.************

Easy vining shrub to grow, will flower around Christmas to grow a small reddish berry.

Takes about 2 years to be repotted.

For the Shefflera, maybe fewer roots, the one's left with thicker structures.

Hope the serissa is still alive. The Chinese type gives a dense leaf build up.

As usual make sure the tree outshines the pot.
Liked everything else I saw.
Thanks for showing.
Good Day
Anthony

Anthony said:

Mike,

is the Sparrow's Plum [ Sageretia t ] still with you ?

In China listed as zone 7 outdoors hedge.

Tropics, handles morning sun or dappled sunlight.
Wounds larger than this - [ ] can give problems and will often rot.

Simple soil - 2/3 inorganic to 1/3 organic
Part of the inorganic can be able to absorb water.

Sometimes in late spring they need to be defoliated to get back the green look.

*********Please test all new ideas on expendable rooted cuttings, and not the mother plant.************

Easy vining shrub to grow, will flower around Christmas to grow a small reddish berry.

Takes about 2 years to be repotted.

For the Shefflera, maybe fewer roots, the one's left with thicker structures.

Hope the serissa is still alive. The Chinese type gives a dense leaf build up.

As usual make sure the tree outshines the pot.
Liked everything else I saw.
Thanks for showing.
Good Day
Anthony

Click to expand...

Hi Anthony,

The Sagretia T I still have. It's growing happily outside. It will be brought indoors with other tropicals for the winter. My cut on it is more like ------- so I really hope it doesn't rot out.

The serrisa was lost two months ago. It happened because there was lots of alcohol, and people who haven't been in my area for a loooong time stopped in for a few days. Priorities shifted. Serissa's died. I blame the dehydration on the beers. True story.

Just so I understand, you're saying to leave the thicker roots and get rid of the thin ones? The thought to remove some of the air roots has crossed my mind before.

I agree with your statement on pots. I already am well aware that the Schef. pot is too deep for the tree. It was the only one I had other then Tupperware containers that would have fit it. So it's temporary as I think I found a proper one. As for the grewia. Let me ask you this, do you think a rectangle would work with the curves. It's a feminine tree imo. Would a masculine pot cross lines that shouldn't be crossed?

Thank you kindly.

Mike,

with any tree, the idea is to make it lush - Health.
Then slowly take your time and work out a Design.
A drawn design will always aid your memory.

How to.
Take a dead on frontal image.
Print it.
Take a sheet of good quality tracing paper.
Trace the trunk and main branches.
Then imagine in the domes.

You can always show the effort/s here and ask for help ------- if you need it.

Lost the Serissa - well get 3 to 5 more, take cuttings. Look for the Chinese type.
Please try again.

As to alcohol ----------- try not to be so sad, life is good, celebrate with a hike in nature.
Sit near a waterfall and enjoy or catch a fish [ release if you like ]
You may find a native Bonsai.
Best of growing.
Good Day
Anthony

Anthony said:

Mike,

with any tree, the idea is to make it lush - Health.
Then slowly take your time and work out a Design.
A drawn design will always aid your memory.

How to.
Take a dead on frontal image.
Print it.
Take a sheet of good quality tracing paper.
Trace the trunk and main branches.
Then imagine in the domes.

You can always show the effort/s here and ask for help ------- if you need it.

Lost the Serissa - well get 3 to 5 more, take cuttings. Look for the Chinese type.
Please try again.

As to alcohol ----------- try not to be so sad, life is good, celebrate with a hike in nature.
Sit near a waterfall and enjoy or catch a fish [ release if you like ]
You may find a native Bonsai.
Best of growing.
Good Day
Anthony

Click to expand...

On bad days I drink 2-3 beers a month. On good ones, 0 beers a month. In the winter I enjoy a glass of Scotch once in a while to keep the blood warm. When a friend (brother from a different mother) you haven't seen in 5 years drops in out of the blue and stays for three days because time spent was too good to end, more than a few beers were had. Basically my quota for the summer. Both the brain and and serrisa got dehydrated. No one was/is sad. Quite the opposite.

I don't own a tv. Most of my time is spent working at people's homes, in the garden at my house, cooking, and in nature.

Sadly the serissas here with the small leaves are too expensive for what you get, for my liking. It was a lovely learning experience with it, and I do miss the one I had, but I'm not going out of my way to find another one. It has to find me..

I will definitely apply your sketching suggestion. But probably not until winter when I have down time, and a glass of scotch.


Best.

Mike

I repotted a couple Portucalaria Afras. This one is an update to the first post in this thread.

July 2016 - pushing out new growth.



And then yesterday, ready to be repotted. Growing healthy, but in the same nursery soil I acquired it in 2014. Who knows how long it was in it before I got it.







Unfortunately some branches broke off on the right most side while wiring. I notice they're fairly delicate while wiring, especially around new growth, but they do tend to hold their shape in a short period of time.

In the pot, 1/3 Akadama, 2/3 lava/haydite/growstone mix.

Pot is a 6"ish ERIN Oval

Here's the cutting today, from the first post on the left side of the tray. Happy n healthy.









I took a cutting from a larger Afra in April 2016. In less than 4 months it grew so many roots it started eating up the mesh in the bottom of the pot.
Just a couple of root shots while repotting the cutting. I'll post this particular progression once it starts taking shape, but not for a while. Just showing off healthy root growth.
I've fed it some Mycho suppliment a few times. I think it's that in the roots.



Before/After

I can't believe that Grewia is so small!
I like the rectangle.

Good stuff bro!

Sorce

sorce said:

I can't believe that Grewia is so small!
I like the rectangle.

Good stuff bro!

Sorce

Click to expand...

Thanks Sorce. Yeah the size of the Grewia makes it difficult to wire. But with a little patience some of the larger branches are doable. Otherwise just guy wires.

To compliment @Redwood Ryan 's thread http://www.bonsainut.com/threads/indoor-greenhouse-experiment.25505/

Some photos of my first attempt at growing ficus' and a schef under a humidy dome for the full winter season.

Basically the setup is this. A seed tray with a humidity dome, kept under a 4 bulb HOT5 fixture, with two additional single bulbs, higher up and to the sides.

Humidity kept between 90-99%. Temperature 20-26 degrees Celcius. 16 hour light cycle. They get watered lightly approx once every 10-14 days.




Ficus Benjamina cutting, from my donor ficus which I have been experimenting on since the very start of my bonsai foray.

Cutting taken Oct 27



This is a purely practice on tree. Including repotting. Yes I know the pot is too big.

November 15, roots protruding through the soil. Moved from 2 bulb to 4 bulb shelf.



November 27, new growth really trying to push through on the tips.



Dec 15, Growing healthy. All the old cut leaves from the original cutting have dropped. Lots of new growth.







7 weeks from cutting to pot full of roots. Not bad!

Small leaf ficus variety. Nov 27. 4 weeks after being put under the humidity dome, aerial roots forming in the canopy!



and aerial roots forming at the base.



Dec 15, more aerial roots up high and low.

Schefflera cutting taken this summer. Pretty much neglected all it's life.

Nov 27, 4 weeks after being placed into the humidity chamber. and 1 week after having a branch cut off.

Branch is callousing and aerial roots forming.







Dec 15 aerial roots climbing out of the pot, and cut branch showing new growth!

Tiger Bark cutting taken May 2015.

I was sooooo happy about this back budding that happened this summer on it.

November 15, 2 weeks after the humidity immersion. Aerial roots forming above fortuitous back bud.



Nov 27, lots of healthy new growth.









Dec 15. More roots. More growth.