Baku1875
Shohin
Consolidating all of my bucida spinosa/terminalia molinetti tree progressions and work into a single thread to keep things less spammy.
I appreciate and welcome any constructive criticism, questions, suggestions. The poll is for the first tree.
This is my 2nd biggest one, has kind of a long boring trunk (it had a circumferential canopy that shaded out the lower branches for a while as I hadn't pruned it for years).
(up potted on May 2nd from a 5"dia x 3 deep" circular pot to an 8"x6"x3" unglazed training pot, raked roots radially, got some white pumice, hyuga pumice, recycled akadama as the mix, cut the obese taproot)
May 2
The rear facing branch is destined to be sacrificed, but for now I dont want to stress the tree out any further.
I'm more focused on getting an interesting nebari going first then I'll sort out my options. For now, it's nice to practice getting pad formation and separation anyway.
I think I made the mistake of pruning too much off the top right before the repot (big chop of a vertical piece where the 3 way junction of branches is at), weakened my tree's ability to recover from the repot and send roots out quickly.
Last year I was plucking the flower buds off before they were getting pollinated and it seemed to produce plenty of healthy foliage. Then again, I didn't repot or do big prunes last year on this tree....can anyone confirm if flower bud removal is a valid technique to conserve energy and help a tree focus on foliage?
Mites hit it hard after repot, orange/yellow spotting on leaves, webs, leaves falling. Had to spray neem oil for two weeks, then I just resorted to jet setting on hose daily, under and over all the branches. This week it was looking healthier and started issuing new leaves, and the color improved, so I decided to do the planned wiring to improve light exposure, especially for the pads on the left branches that were shading each other out.
Before the mite infestation, and the general pad idea (May 4)
Before wiring today, you can see the branches sitting on top of each other, not efficient for photosynthesis.
after the wiring. It didnt involve any extreme bends, just flattened the pads and out of each other's way making an alternating pattern. The primary branch from the trunk pointing down, then flat at the end.
Front view of the pads on left branch
I'm new to any kind of secondary wiring, this took me a lot longer than I expected. I went loose and put the branches in position first so it is less likely to bite so soon. I'm undecided on what to do with the lower right branch so I left it angled down. I plan on putting a thinner gauge and flattening it out, but dont know which direction yet.
It's a really wonky looking tree for now, a long way to go before it looks decent, but it's good practice. The growth habit on these automatically flattens out and spreads pads horizontally after a growing season as long as they aren't shaded.
Should i give the branch on the lower right a twist to the left, or level it out to the right(I dont want it to get shaded by the front facing pad)? Maybe the front pad just to the right of the T top can twist left as well to conceal the T top a bit and reveal the new apex branch more?
Let me know if you guys have any ideas for the tree. Personally I'm starting to really think of trunk chop once the nebari is sorted out lol..
These are my other two that I repotted the same week as this one, but without pruning. They appear a lot healthier and didnt get hit by the mites, so that confirms the 'don't prune before repot' theory. I used just about same mix as the others, rinsed and recycled akadama from the root ball, hyuga pumice, white american pumice, and some leftover monto clay for top dressing. They went into similarly sized training pots as the other (8x6x3), up potted from 5"x3" circular clay pots.
Probably going to semi cascade this one as it develops and lengthens that branch
This last one has a more balanced design from the front, a shohin informal upright-ish. I just need to keep the apex under control so the taper doesnt get undone.
More wiring on these later this summer when growth slows down.
I appreciate and welcome any constructive criticism, questions, suggestions. The poll is for the first tree.
This is my 2nd biggest one, has kind of a long boring trunk (it had a circumferential canopy that shaded out the lower branches for a while as I hadn't pruned it for years).
(up potted on May 2nd from a 5"dia x 3 deep" circular pot to an 8"x6"x3" unglazed training pot, raked roots radially, got some white pumice, hyuga pumice, recycled akadama as the mix, cut the obese taproot)
May 2
The rear facing branch is destined to be sacrificed, but for now I dont want to stress the tree out any further.
I'm more focused on getting an interesting nebari going first then I'll sort out my options. For now, it's nice to practice getting pad formation and separation anyway.
I think I made the mistake of pruning too much off the top right before the repot (big chop of a vertical piece where the 3 way junction of branches is at), weakened my tree's ability to recover from the repot and send roots out quickly.
Last year I was plucking the flower buds off before they were getting pollinated and it seemed to produce plenty of healthy foliage. Then again, I didn't repot or do big prunes last year on this tree....can anyone confirm if flower bud removal is a valid technique to conserve energy and help a tree focus on foliage?
Mites hit it hard after repot, orange/yellow spotting on leaves, webs, leaves falling. Had to spray neem oil for two weeks, then I just resorted to jet setting on hose daily, under and over all the branches. This week it was looking healthier and started issuing new leaves, and the color improved, so I decided to do the planned wiring to improve light exposure, especially for the pads on the left branches that were shading each other out.
Before the mite infestation, and the general pad idea (May 4)
Before wiring today, you can see the branches sitting on top of each other, not efficient for photosynthesis.
after the wiring. It didnt involve any extreme bends, just flattened the pads and out of each other's way making an alternating pattern. The primary branch from the trunk pointing down, then flat at the end.
Front view of the pads on left branch
I'm new to any kind of secondary wiring, this took me a lot longer than I expected. I went loose and put the branches in position first so it is less likely to bite so soon. I'm undecided on what to do with the lower right branch so I left it angled down. I plan on putting a thinner gauge and flattening it out, but dont know which direction yet.
It's a really wonky looking tree for now, a long way to go before it looks decent, but it's good practice. The growth habit on these automatically flattens out and spreads pads horizontally after a growing season as long as they aren't shaded.
Should i give the branch on the lower right a twist to the left, or level it out to the right(I dont want it to get shaded by the front facing pad)? Maybe the front pad just to the right of the T top can twist left as well to conceal the T top a bit and reveal the new apex branch more?
Let me know if you guys have any ideas for the tree. Personally I'm starting to really think of trunk chop once the nebari is sorted out lol..
These are my other two that I repotted the same week as this one, but without pruning. They appear a lot healthier and didnt get hit by the mites, so that confirms the 'don't prune before repot' theory. I used just about same mix as the others, rinsed and recycled akadama from the root ball, hyuga pumice, white american pumice, and some leftover monto clay for top dressing. They went into similarly sized training pots as the other (8x6x3), up potted from 5"x3" circular clay pots.
Probably going to semi cascade this one as it develops and lengthens that branch
This last one has a more balanced design from the front, a shohin informal upright-ish. I just need to keep the apex under control so the taper doesnt get undone.
More wiring on these later this summer when growth slows down.
