Bald Cypress Soil Mix

[jkd2572]

I don't think keeping them in water is required for good health. I wish john g would chime in as he has grown many.

 

[M. Frary]

p

Mellow Mullet has pretty much said everything I was going to say about the topic. I recently collected a Bald Cypress with a 22in trunk, hacked nearly all the roots off to fit it into a grow box, filled it with an organic mix of peat, pine bark, and sand, then place the tree into a kiddy pool filled with water. Its been doing great, and has been budding out from head to toe here in Florida. This blog post here shows how it was collected and potted.

http://godzilladontplay.wordpress.c... bonsai soil? Doesn't that clog up the works?

 

[Mellow Mullet]

I don't submerge mine above the rim of the pot, check out the photo, so soil floating is not a problem. I am not saying that submerging them is necessary for the health of the tree, but I have had excellent results doing it, and so has my dad. We both have knees forming and the trees are growing like weeds. Others may have different results, based on location and conditions. It works for me, so I do it.

 

[markyscott]

I don't think keeping them in water is required for good health. I wish john g would chime in as he has grown many.

I don't think it's required, but keeping them in a couple of inches of water gives me and, more importantly my house sitter when I travel, a margin of error with a drought sensitive plant. In terms of the effect of flooding on the growth of Bald Cypress I have heard a lot of anecdotes, but have seen only one objective study:

Chiplis, D.J., 1990, The Effect of Flooding on Trunk Diameter in Bald Cypress and its Application as a Bonsai Technique, BCI 29 no. 5, pp 13-16.

As it is a journal article, I won't post it here without permission. But anyone who wishes a copy can send me a PM.

- Scott

 

[markyscott]

I had mine in pots with no drainage last year but was only using pine bark and turface. I noticed that the particles, being light, would float. How do you guys combat that when putting the pots in water? Maybe a screen over the top?

My bald cypress are all over 3' tall and are in 4" pots. When I put them in water I only flood the bottom inch or so of the pot so I never have problems with pumice floating off the top. My objective with placing them in water is to allow for a margin of error with the watering as they are drought sensitive.

- Scott

 

[markyscott]

Would you mind posting a picture of your Peve Minaret? I like the foliage better on those as well. Do they form the same nice looking trunks with flaky bark and such as the full sized cultivars?

Here you go - a Peve Minaret in second-rate inorganic soil. It's about 6' tall - foliage tends to be quite tight and compound leaves spiral around the branches. "Minarets" tend to turn vertical forming the towering habit from which it is named. Bark texture is quite similar to to regular bald cypress and I've not noticed any difference in rate of thickening above and below the graft in the three or so years I've had it. Left to grow unrestricted, new buds extend up to 12" or so in a growing season, so far less than 1/2 the growth I get from my regular bald cypress left to grow freely. So far this season the new growth has extended only 6" or so while my regular bc's have extended nearly 12". So much slower growth.

It was starting to get a bit dark when I took these, but I tried to get a photo of the whole tree, a closeup of the foliage, and a closeup of the trunk around the graft union.

 

[markyscott]

Here they are right side up.

 

[bonsairxmd]

My Bald Cypress came in today from sunbright farms. It's massive!

 

[bonsairxmd]

Any thoughts on this bald cypress? Will do a trunk chop next year to let roots get established this season. Trunk diameter is 3" before nebari flair so think I'll shoot for an 18" tree.

 

[Zach Smith]

Any thoughts on this bald cypress? Will do a trunk chop next year to let roots get established this season. Trunk diameter is 3" before nebari flair so think I'll shoot for an 18" tree.

To be blunt, the biggest problem with this tree is complete lack of taper. But take heart, you can create what you need provided you're willing to put in the time and not rush the tree into a bonsai pot. Your options are 1) chop the trunk way, way down to within a few inches of the surface roots and regrow it completely, or 2) cut about half off what you have now, grow a new leader and then make a longer tapering cut in a couple of years. Cypress grow fast, so you should be able to make either procedure work in about five years to give you a decent specimen.

Good luck!

Zach

 

[bonsairxmd]

Thanks for your candid opinion and advice. Much appreciated! I'll probably go for the latter option. There is not much taper at all but a little more than what it looks like in the picture. It goes from 3" to 2" diameter from just above the nebari to the top. I planned to create a new leader to get some taper but wasn't sure exactly where to chop or how long it would take.

 

[Zach Smith]

Thanks for your candid opinion and advice. Much appreciated! I'll probably go for the latter option. There is not much taper at all but a little more than what it looks like in the picture. It goes from 3" to 2" diameter from just above the nebari to the top. I planned to create a new leader to get some taper but wasn't sure exactly where to chop or how long it would take.

There's a whole procedure for creating taper in bald cypress that was developed by Guy Guidry some years ago. The main thing to remember when you start is to make your trunk chop straight across and not angled, since the healing at the chop will be very vigorous and if you make an angled cut you'll end up with a reverse taper. In the second year you can begin angling the cut at the original chop. In your case you'd be ready to make the lengthy angling/tapering cut provided your growth was vigorous enough the prior year. Again, it's probably a five year project for you.

Zach

 

[bonsairxmd]

What side of the trunk is it preferable to choose the new leader from
with a flat cut?

 

[Zach Smith]

What side of the trunk is it preferable to choose the new leader from
with a flat cut?

Doesn't matter. Your next cut is what matters, it goes on the back side of the tree (or to one side or the other, depending on where the buds appeared when you made that first cut). Bonsai is all about optical illusions, hiding flaws, etc. This is obviously tougher with deciduous trees.

Zach

 

[jbhuynh]

Bald cypress are one of my favorites to grow in Houston and they'd probably do well in Oklahoma City. There are native stands as far north as Southern Illinois and planted trees in Ohio, Seattle, and other northern areas. They seem to be quite adaptable. I presently have five trees, two of which are large collected yamadori and the others are nursery-grown plants. I've had others that I've sold or given away over the years.

In terms of soil, I do not use organics, but I'd probably be in the minority here - I think most use a really heavy soil. But I can also tell you that it is not necessary for healthy bald cypress - at least not in my back yard. What you must avoid is droughting your tree - they don't tolerate it well. So some people use organics - I use a bit finer grain size to increase the water saturation and layer the top of the soil with about a quarter inch of sphagnum moss to decrease evaporation loss.

I do put them in water during the hottest part of the summer as it gives me a margin of error with the watering, but I do not leave them constantly flooded nor do I submerge the entire rootball. I use deep plastic pots and I drill drainage holes about 1 1/2 inches or so from the bottom. I water daily into the soil and it pushes water out the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot and out the drainage holes in the tray.

In terms of other components of care, I keep them in full sun all year and they are heavy feeders. I use both fertilizer cakes and liquid fertilizer twice a week when I water. They need to be repotted frequently - one of mine pushes itself about an inch above the rim of the pot every year.

I've never lost any branches so I can't help you with that. But they are heavily top dominant and this will weaken lower branches over time unless you actively manage growth. But good luck - they're one of my favorite trees to grow.

Scott

Scott, I live in Katy, TX. I have some seedlings about 6-8 months, do you recommend bringing them inside over our winters here?

 

[markyscott]

Scott, I live in Katy, TX. I have some seedlings about 6-8 months, do you recommend bringing them inside over our winters here?

In Katy, bald cypress should be fine out of doors all winter no problem. Only thing I’d watch for are those occasional hard freezes where it’s 75 one day and 20 the next. Bring them in for the freeze when that happens. Those only happen once every 10 years or so though - other than that, I keep mine outside all year.

S