About Princess Persimmon

Messages
1,502
Reaction score
3,139
Location
Eastern MA
USDA Zone
6B
Very cool. I have a few young ones going and definitely lost one during a repot, the root situation seems to be a challenging one. I did get a couple of cuttings to take last year too. There’s something so alluring about these delicate beauties.

Very curious to see how the male / female grafted tree moves along!
 

Bricker918

Mame
Messages
157
Reaction score
395
Location
Sacramento, CA
Can these be cut back past foliage to encourage back budding? I got a few from Julian Anderson last year and one is very leggy.
 

NaoTK

Chumono
Messages
670
Reaction score
3,600
Location
Western Oregon
Can these be cut back past foliage to encourage back budding? I got a few from Julian Anderson last year and one is very leggy.
Yes, you can cut back to nothing and it will bud. However, my preference is to walk it back by cutting to the lowest leaf, however funky it may look. You will get tons of back bud options in 1 month. You should do this now, and it could have been done along with spring repotting as well. Do not touch the new shoots for at least 2 months or they will snap right off.

1686091277523.png1686091336023.png


I'm doing this on 30 or so trees right now :)
1686091451092.png
 

Bricker918

Mame
Messages
157
Reaction score
395
Location
Sacramento, CA
Yes, you can cut back to nothing and it will bud. However, my preference is to walk it back by cutting to the lowest leaf, however funky it may look. You will get tons of back bud options in 1 month. You should do this now, and it could have been done along with spring repotting as well. Do not touch the new shoots for at least 2 months or they will snap right off.

View attachment 492421View attachment 492422


I'm doing this on 30 or so trees right now :)
View attachment 492423
Great! I’m going to do that right now 😂

Thanks Nao!
 

vp999

Omono
Messages
1,899
Reaction score
3,597
Location
Washington DC
USDA Zone
7A
Now I see who’s hogging all the princess persimmon, any chance you’re willing to sell me one with a chunk trunk Nao ?
 

vp999

Omono
Messages
1,899
Reaction score
3,597
Location
Washington DC
USDA Zone
7A
Anxiously-waiting GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY
 

Gabler

Masterpiece
Messages
2,362
Reaction score
3,195
Location
The Delmarva Peninsula
USDA Zone
7a
What is the best time to wire them ? I managed to killed a couple last couple weeks.

View attachment 492639

I can't tell if you're joking of not. In case you're not joking, you strangled your tree to death with all that wire, and then tied its corpse into knots for good measure. At first, I actually thought it was just a wire sculpture.
 

vp999

Omono
Messages
1,899
Reaction score
3,597
Location
Washington DC
USDA Zone
7A
I can't tell if you're joking of not. In case you're not joking, you strangled your tree to death with all that wire, and then tied its corpse into knots for good measure. At first, I actually thought it was just a wire sculpture.
I was inspired by those twisted trunk shohin shimpaku junipers. I twisted the trunk to make it appear bigger. Maybe I just chose a wrong time of the year for it. Can’t learn if you don’t try right… expensive lesson lol. Thanks


BTW … It wouldn’t have been awesome looking once the wires removed…. Had it survived lol.
 

Gabler

Masterpiece
Messages
2,362
Reaction score
3,195
Location
The Delmarva Peninsula
USDA Zone
7a
I was inspired by those twisted trunk shohin shimpaku junipers. I twisted the trunk to make it appear bigger. Maybe I just chose a wrong time of the year for it. Can’t learn if you don’t try right… expensive lesson lol. Thanks


BTW … It wouldn’t have been awesome looking once the wires removed…. Had it survived lol.

As a consolation, you now have an awesome wire sculpture.

I don't think your problem was the time of year. You just really can't put that much of a bend in that thick a branch all at once on a deciduous tree.

I tend to prefer a more naturalistic style for my trees, so I use less wire than the average bonsai hobbyist, but I always advocate to use wire very sparingly. That is to say, I try to avoid wiring any deciduous tree branch that's two or more years in age, and I only wire maybe a third of the branches at most.

Lastly, guy wires are your friend. Wherever practicable, use them instead of coiling wire around the branch.
 
Last edited:

vp999

Omono
Messages
1,899
Reaction score
3,597
Location
Washington DC
USDA Zone
7A
As a consolation, you now have an awesome wire sculpture.

I don't think your problem was the time of year. You just really can't put that much of a bend in that thick a branch all at once on a deciduous tree.

I tend to prefer a more naturalistic style for my trees, so I use less wire than the average bonsai hobbyist, but I always advocate to use wire very sparingly. That is to say, I try to avoid wiring any deciduous tree branch that's two or more years in age, and I only wire maybe a third of the branches at most.

Lastly, guy wires are your friend. Wherever practicable, use them instead of coiling wire around the branch.
Thank you! I understand what you're saying ...But how do you achieve something like this with guy wires?

213166-22a1fb09850ce9181c72dfb7d33417a7.jpg
 

NaoTK

Chumono
Messages
670
Reaction score
3,600
Location
Western Oregon
What is the best time to wire them ? I managed to killed a couple last couple weeks.

Nice effort! I can't say that I've killed a tree by wire. Did the roots get messed up by all that wiggling? I have killed branches. I kill branches any time of the year with micro-breaks. Very large branches you can break in half no problem. @vp999 I bet that twisty one was done in the green branch state.

I did want to say usually the weird structure in PP is achieved with root cuttings. Here are some inspirational Japanese shohin:

1686233838750.png1686233856342.png1686233883817.png

1686233911672.png

1686234025935.png1686234087627.png

I want to talk about this next one from the Kokufu this year. It is made of separate root fragments or one twisted root chunk.

1686234194437.png

So I wanted to recreate it. I saved up the genetically identical root fragments from the year before.

1686234486998.png

....and compose them into believable root chunks
1686234275370.png

it's working well!
1686234958477.png
 

vp999

Omono
Messages
1,899
Reaction score
3,597
Location
Washington DC
USDA Zone
7A
Nice effort! I can't say that I've killed a tree by wire. Did the roots get messed up by all that wiggling? I have killed branches. I kill branches any time of the year with micro-breaks. Very large branches you can break in half no problem. @vp999 I bet that twisty one was done in the green branch state.

I did want to say usually the weird structure in PP is achieved with root cuttings. Here are some inspirational Japanese shohin:

View attachment 492723View attachment 492725View attachment 492726

View attachment 492727

View attachment 492728View attachment 492729

I want to talk about this next one from the Kokufu this year. It is made of separate root fragments or one twisted root chunk.

View attachment 492730

So I wanted to recreate it. I saved up the genetically identical root fragments from the year before.

View attachment 492733

....and compose them into believable root chunks
View attachment 492731

it's working well!
View attachment 492735
You are correct sir! The tree was green lol. I got too ambitious. I cannot wait until you start selling your PP.
 
Top Bottom