Bald Cypress Numero uno

[Moridin]

So I after saw @MACH5 and @Cadillactaste bald cypress and I fell in love with the species and knew I needed one.

I looked around and found a bunch of big ones for sale and told myself nope I am going to do this one from the start and make it mine. Last year I bought a small bareroot seeding and stuck it in a pot to grow it out and so far I've been pleased with how it has been growing here in Norcal. After it started getting tall and a little thicker I put some wire on the trunk to give it some wiggle, pulled the wire off when it started to dig in and let it grow all year so far.

Next year I will see what the roots look like in the shit soil its planted in, start working on the nebari, plant it in a larger grow pot (not the big planter pot it's in) with some proper soil and let it grow again to gain some trunk girth and keep it going the next few years.

Apart from my Hornbeam It is probably my favorite tree.

And as always thoughts, suggestions and advice are welcome.

 

[Colorado]

Nice! I love bald cypress too. So incredibly vigorous growers!

 

[Moridin]

Well it seems to be loving Norcal weather

 

[rockm]

FWIW, you're not going to get much, if any buttressing or root flare in a pot -- at least not enough to make any difference-within ten years. If this does well in Norcal weather, I'd plant it in the ground and let it go. You will halve development time of the root flare, or do even better in three or four years. Once that is done. saw it out of the ground, chop the top and containerize it. BC are extremely tough trees. Growing from a seedling is OK, but in a pot, you're going to spend five to ten years on the root flare alone...FWIW, folks in the Southeast start with big trees and chop them to size. There is no penality for starting with better stock. It's not cheating and gets far better results. If it were me, I'd get one of those big 'uns and work with it, leave this one out in the ground for a while.

 

[Moridin]

FWIW, you're not going to get much, if any buttressing or root flare in a pot -- at least not enough to make any difference-within ten years. If this does well in Norcal weather, I'd plant it in the ground and let it go. You will halve development time of the root flare, or do even better in three or four years. Once that is done. saw it out of the ground, chop the top and containerize it. BC are extremely tough trees. Growing from a seedling is OK, but in a pot, you're going to spend five to ten years on the root flare alone...FWIW, folks in the Southeast start with big trees and chop them to size. There is no penality for starting with better stock. It's not cheating and gets far better results. If it were me, I'd get one of those big 'uns and work with it, leave this one out in the ground for a while.

I have been thinking about getting it into the ground but I am going to be possibly moving in the next year.

It's currently in a 15 gallon pot to try a simulate ground growing as best as I can. It grew 6 ft. tall this year.

Hopefully if the move happens it'll get planted in the ground and go from there. I'm not really in a big rush as well.

Thanks for the advice though

 

[Cajunrider]

FWIW, you're not going to get much, if any buttressing or root flare in a pot -- at least not enough to make any difference-within ten years. If this does well in Norcal weather, I'd plant it in the ground and let it go. You will halve development time of the root flare, or do even better in three or four years. Once that is done. saw it out of the ground, chop the top and containerize it. BC are extremely tough trees. Growing from a seedling is OK, but in a pot, you're going to spend five to ten years on the root flare alone...FWIW, folks in the Southeast start with big trees and chop them to size. There is no penality for starting with better stock. It's not cheating and gets far better results. If it were me, I'd get one of those big 'uns and work with it, leave this one out in the ground for a while.

I wander around in the marsh area a lot. I get a chance to observe BCs that were planted at the same time in an area so I can compare the growth. Here is what I see in regard to buttressing and root flare. I have seen so many times that BCs planted in an area of soggy, loose ground have much bigger bases than others planted at the same time on higher ground. I've seen tree planted at the same time having nearly the same growth uptop but the base for the one in loose, soggy areas have huge buttresses and flare. I think the trees just respond to the looseness and develop bigger base to counterbalance it.

PS: I am testing my theory by planting my BCs in shallow pots without any tie down. In the beginning it was tough keeping the tree upright but my goodness, the trees spread out the roots quick and keep themselves stable very fast. Next spring when I repot, I will try to take pictures to show what I see.

 

[rockm]

I wander around in the marsh area a lot. I get a chance to observe BCs that were planted at the same time in an area so I can compare the growth. Here is what I see in regard to buttressing and root flare. I have seen so many times that BCs planted in an area of soggy, loose ground have much bigger bases than others planted at the same time on higher ground. I've seen tree planted at the same time having nearly the same growth uptop but the base for the one in loose, soggy areas have huge buttresses and flare. I think the trees just respond to the looseness and develop bigger base to counterbalance it.

PS: I am testing my theory by planting my BCs in shallow pots without any tie down. In the beginning it was tough keeping the tree upright but my goodness, the trees spread out the roots quick and keep themselves stable very fast. Next spring when I repot, I will try to take pictures to show what I see.

If you EVER see or know where a copy of this book is, GET IT. This pretty much explains (backed by research) how BC develop and why they develop. The buttress and root flare is site-dependent, developing differently according to the depth of the water table and surface water.

Baldcypress: The tree unique, the wood eternal: Brown, Clair A: 9780875117805: Amazon.com: Books

Baldcypress: The tree unique, the wood eternal [Brown, Clair A] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Baldcypress: The tree unique, the wood eternal

www.amazon.com

 

[BrierPatch]

Nice trees! I also love the BC's been looking at Bnuts for as much growing info I can find besides the youtube vids. I recently purchased 3, 2-3 footers online and I'm waiting for delivery hopefully sometime in late Nov-Dec.
I was planning on in ground planting for the first few years. I have a corner spot where it builds up water from runoff where it gets pretty marshy so figured that would be the best place.

Keep up the updates on your progress!