There may still be enough of a morsel left in the front facing branch
to pull this off in 3 years. I could not rotate it back to the right CW anymore with my software.
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This is the importance of keeping foliage close to the trunk. It allows more options as you proceed.
Set it on a stand next to the tv a couple evenings and study it before you execute a next step
(referring back to the original photo). Do some work if you're styling it, stop, then revisit it another day.
I thought that as long as the roots were good and there was still top growth the tree would pump nutrients up to keep it alive...am I wrong in thinking this?
No not entirely, but the work done went beyond gambling the health of the tree. Don't forget, the foliage is the only receptor the plant has to UV.
Sure the roots uptake N...and foliage can grow, but you've insulted (term for working a plant) the tree both top side and below ground, which we normally
do one insult per year, with a few exceptions. The Sunlight will help build the roots back with enough solar panels (foliage) left to do so
provided your securing, to the pot well, and your after care instinctively provides care needed to nourish it back to health.
Then, we have to wait for new growth and feed sparingly the tender new feeder roots that do get fed by the foliage, so you're looking at a set back
in feeding too, relying on stored nutrients, ...vigour, health, is being depleted as we wait, then comes the heat and the tree enters a more dormant like
wellness issue, again, holding off on the time it takes vigour to return. In the meantime your aftercare has become more and more critical.
If I were to remove as much foliage as you did on a plant, it would probably be repotted the following year if there was a reason I felt it needed doing.
[EDIT: But probably not for at least 2 years, to get silly plump new growth.]
The idea is to go into repotting with vigour to increase your success rate, so, I mean that's how I approach repotting based on the weather outlook as well.