Advice and resources for turning a Fukien Tea into a cascade style.

[gfreak]

Hey y'all, i've had this Mallsai for maybe 3 months or so. When I got it i wasn't a huge fan of the S shape they had made with it, so i decided to see if i could turn it sideways and get it to cascade.
Would love any tips about this specific tree, but then any resources or books/videos that talk about the general form of how to get a plant to cascade would be great!

I was actually pretty worried about this guy cause I read after i got it, that they're super tempermental and hard to keep alive. But it seems to love Houston weather! lol

Thanks!

 

[gfreak]

Any tips for that kinda thing? I did get the book: principles of bonsai design, which has some great info.

But if anyone has any info about doing it with fukiena specifically that'd be awesome!

 

[gfreak]

Some very minor wiring, and a lot of growth in the last month now that we're in the middle of summer. Still going strong!

Really not sure what to do with the upper right half on it though styling wise.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Well, you kept it alive - which is sometimes a struggle for some people with Fukien Tea! You've gotten a lot of growth from just nine months!

I think what you may be struggling with in the design is that it feels to me almost like you are growing two cascade trees at once. You have the first strong descending branch, which quite simply could be used as the entire tree. All you would have to do is cut off the top part of the tree, and then train that branch, allowing a little sprout off the top to become the new apex. Or, you could remove the first and second branch, and grow your cascade design from the top of the tree after it bends down to the left. Either is a possibility... but doing both leaves you with a confused design. And neither design would use that second branch that goes off to the right - the whole believability of a cascade is that there are forces of nature acting on the tree and pushing it down and in one direction, so to have strong growth heading in the other direction is inconsistent.

 

[gfreak]

Well, you kept it alive - which is sometimes a struggle for some people with Fukien Tea! You've gotten a lot of growth from just nine months!

I think what you may be struggling with in the design is that it feels to me almost like you are growing two cascade trees at once. You have the first strong descending branch, which quite simply could be used as the entire tree. All you would have to do is cut off the top part of the tree, and then train that branch, allowing a little sprout off the top to become the new apex. Or, you could remove the first and second branch, and grow your cascade design from the top of the tree after it bends down to the left. Either is a possibility... but doing both leaves you with a confused design. And neither design would use that second branch that goes off to the right - the whole believability of a cascade is that there are forces of nature acting on the tree and pushing it down and in one direction, so to have strong growth heading in the other direction is inconsistent.

View attachment 498514

Ok yea i see what ya mean by chopping off the top/right completely.

Is there really no way to make it work with 2 cascading branches? 1 longer and 1 shorter as they wrap around?

i.e. is it gonna be that much better I fi just focus on 1? I like that low branch, but would hate to sacrifice that much of the original tree lol.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Ok yea i see what ya mean by chopping off the top/right completely.

Is there really no way to make it work with 2 cascading branches? 1 longer and 1 shorter as they wrap around?

i.e. is it gonna be that much better I fi just focus on 1? I like that low branch, but would hate to sacrifice that much of the original tree lol.

Well... the primary challenge is that the base of your trunk is kinda wonky... with how it rises straight up out of the ground and then takes a 90 degree turn to the left. That 90 degree turn draws the eye and looks artificial. There aren't too many trees in nature that take 90 degree turns. Usually you would fix the problem by changing the planting angle and by leaning the tree over to the left... but you can't do that with your lower branch in the way.

However right now you can continue to grow the design and see how it looks. Plus the lowest branch is in a good position to serve as a sacrifice - thickening up the base of your trunk. There is no rush - you can decide if you want to remove it later, or you can decide if you want to remove the upper part later, or perhaps just keep both because you like it that way

And of course - I am commenting from what I see in a 2D photo. If you turned the pot slightly counter-clockwise so that you didn't see the tree in such a side profile, the trunk bend might not be as noticeable

 

[gfreak]

Well... the primary challenge is that the base of your trunk is kinda wonky... with how it rises straight up out of the ground and then takes a 90 degree turn to the left. That 90 degree turn draws the eye and looks artificial. There aren't too many trees in nature that take 90 degree turns. Usually you would fix the problem by changing the planting angle and by leaning the tree over to the left... but you can't do that with your lower branch in the way.

However right now you can continue to grow the design and see how it looks. Plus the lowest branch is in a good position to serve as a sacrifice - thickening up the base of your trunk. There is no rush - you can decide if you want to remove it later, or you can decide if you want to remove the upper part later, or perhaps just keep both because you like it that way

And of course - I am commenting from what I see in a 2D photo. If you turned the pot slightly counter-clockwise so that you didn't see the tree in such a side profile, the trunk bend might not be as noticeable

That makes sense, that was about as far as I could tilt it originally when i got it out of the original pot/soil it came in.

using that lower branch to thicken up the trunk was my original plan when I saw that start growing there, didn't really think about it interferring with being able to tilt it more.

Well, like you said i'm in no rush and have plenty of time haha. I did go ahead and remove that one coming off the right side though.

appreciate the help!