Backbudding on P Mume

BobbyLane

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so what is the magic formula, tell us how you did it:)
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Nybonsai12

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Did you prune recently?
I've gotten back budding on trees in the ground after cutbacks and chops.
 

leatherback

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In a pot in my garden for 3 years or so. But was already in a container before. I let it grow, full sun, loads of water, loads of chickenshit. Trim in late spring, work the leaves as per @Brian Van Fleet 's recommendations, I think. Let it flower and trim back.

Third spring in a row with buds on the main trunk.
 

RobertB

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Any in better spots? I am not sure I would even use those depending on how the tree looked. Good to see though.
 

ThirdCoastBorn

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This is obviously dumb beginner's luck then, as mine's already had three new branches sprout from near the bottom. Picked it up in the fall, have done no pruning as of yet, but FWIW there were no flowers this year :-( No idea about that, whether it was the preceding summer/fall temperatures and/or my likely overwatering/mis-fertilizing (I'm new). But just thrilled it's showing such signs of life this spring!
 

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Brian Van Fleet

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People do say that, but they backbud like you show with ease. What I have found is that branches tend to get leggy, and the interior buds are often not viable, so you’re battling leggy branches after some time. Look at old umes and you’ll see that trait. They’re supposedly easy to graft though, so they can be brought back into check with grafts. Have yet to try.
 

leatherback

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What I have found is that branches tend to get leggy, and the interior buds are often not viable

Would this be the result then of too dense a canopy,? In that case.. could one get rejuvination by vigourous growth followed by a deep cut back in winter?
 

Brian Van Fleet

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Would this be the result then of too dense a canopy,? In that case.. could one get rejuvination by vigourous growth followed by a deep cut back in winter?
No, it’s just how they grow. And I think we are discussing two different types of back budding, a response to trunk chopping, and a response to pruning branches back. The former should predictably result in back-budding. The latter is the problem.

For example, this Ume is an example of the latter. See how the branches are getting leggy, and new growth is concentrated at the tips, and the bifurcation occurs closer to the tips than to the trunk? The bare branches inside don’t have any viable buds, and the branches die if they are pruned back to no buds.

There is a technique to encouraging vegetative buds, by removing the first and second leaf of the new shoot when they grow to about this length. That results in vegetative buds forming more reliably at those petioles. Still, all that accomplishes is growth next year in this year’s extensions. Grafting becomes necessary to push back growth toward the trunk.
DFB8107E-2884-4FB9-8F0D-185CC9B95F69.jpegC48254E0-0C92-428F-AF4E-10A504DDC84D.jpeg
 

leatherback

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And I think we are discussing two different types of back budding, a response to trunk chopping, and a response to pruning branches back. The former should predictably result in back-budding.
The buds I am getting is not due to trunk chopping, but regular spring pruning, which is what caused my surprise...

There is a technique to encouraging vegetative buds, by removing the first and second leaf of the new shoot when they grow to about this length. That results in vegetative buds forming more reliably at those petioles.
Yup, this I do too.
 

leatherback

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I have a much larger mume (https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/prunus-mume-starterplant.37137/).

As I am not happy with its vigor yet, I allowed a few flowers to open, en then removed all the buds. I did this by breaking the flower bud out of its covers. These covers have now expanded into 1/4 inch leaves.

Has anyone else experienced this?
 

Brian Van Fleet

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I have a much larger mume (https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/prunus-mume-starterplant.37137/).

As I am not happy with its vigor yet, I allowed a few flowers to open, en then removed all the buds. I did this by breaking the flower bud out of its covers. These covers have now expanded into 1/4 inch leaves.

Has anyone else experienced this?
Not completely sure I understand. Are you suggesting flower buds reverted to vegetative buds because you removed a part of the flower bud? I know I haven’t experienced that. Flower buds set closely on either side of the vegetative bud, and maybe you removed those, exposing the vegetative buds which were there all along. 1 and 3 are flower buds, and 2 is a vegetative bud; photo from December.
29FA86F1-107E-4654-9345-AD242FFB3707.jpeg
 

leatherback

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Not completely sure I understand.
Getting near midnight here. Tomorrow not home. Will take a pic one of these days.
Just slowly finding that mumes are not that bad at setting buds as people claim they are. The big mume I have with 5-fold the branches if the current buds are all going to grow.
 

R3x

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No, it’s just how they grow. And I think we are discussing two different types of back budding, a response to trunk chopping, and a response to pruning branches back. The former should predictably result in back-budding. The latter is the problem.

For example, this Ume is an example of the latter. See how the branches are getting leggy, and new growth is concentrated at the tips, and the bifurcation occurs closer to the tips than to the trunk? The bare branches inside don’t have any viable buds, and the branches die if they are pruned back to no buds.

There is a technique to encouraging vegetative buds, by removing the first and second leaf of the new shoot when they grow to about this length. That results in vegetative buds forming more reliably at those petioles. Still, all that accomplishes is growth next year in this year’s extensions. Grafting becomes necessary to push back growth toward the trunk.
View attachment 235546View attachment 235547
I wonder (not suggesting to) if you cut back (at the end of winter) all the branches heavily to no (visible) buds - would the tree die or response with back-budding as in the case of trunk chopping? Because my general experience with deciduous trees is they want to grow and would push buds to survive. Haven't tested it with Ume yet as all my Umes are quite young. But I am trying to root cuttings with different methods to get enough material to experiment.
 

leatherback

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if you cut back (at the end of winter) all the branches heavily to no (visible) buds - would the tree die or response with back-budding as in the case of trunk chopping?
If healthy. it should backbud.
 
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