brainfree's Raintrees!

[brainfree]

Hi All,
time to bring the tropicals indoors. It was a nice hot summer here, (some would say too hot) for Ontarioans anyway, but my little tropicals sure seemed to like it.

Anyway I’d like to hear people’s opinions on how long I should keep this sacrificial branch on my raintree. I’d like to take it off but thought it best to ask you knowledgeable folks first.
Cheers.

 

[brainfree]

Time to bring the trees in at night after a good hot (for Ontario) summer.
Had some nice summer growth as a result.

I‘d like to ask people’s opinions about how long I should keep this sacrificial branch on my raintree. Eager to take it off but thought I should ask you knowledgeable folks first.
Cheers.

 

[sorce]

Seems the sacrifice is not doing much except assisting overall health.

As long as the 2 top halfs remain close to equal in folaige, I think this will remain so.

Once it is larger, probably much larger, than the top sections, you may see a change in taper there, but to what avail?

I think you should grow it larger than the other 2 and use it. Cut one of the tops to be half the mass of the low, and the other top to be half that. So you can build that taper.

Make a 3 tiered flat top.

Sorce

 

[brainfree]

Seems the sacrifice is not doing much except assisting overall health.

As long as the 2 top halfs remain close to equal in folaige, I think this will remain so.

Once it is larger, probably much larger, than the top sections, you may see a change in taper there, but to what avail?

I think you should grow it larger than the other 2 and use it. Cut one of the tops to be half the mass of the low, and the other top to be half that. So you can build that taper.

Make a 3 tiered flat top.

Sorce

I'm not exactly sure what you're suggesting here other than you think I should keep it and let it get bigger.

 

[sorce]

You have to keep the top folaige of less mass than that low branch, or that low branch won't serve much sacrifice purpose.

Once it's thicker than the part just above it, it will begin to add more forth to what is below it.

So if you don't need it for your design, or care to keep the top trimmed so often, you can cut it off whenever.

It's quite the mission to actually "flip flop" the thicknesses, but this is always a mission yeah?
A good summer can flip flop things, sometimes it takes years depending on .... Everything!

I'd like to see you use it and pull it into the bottom right tier here.


I would just start keeping the tops pruned AF.

Sorce

 

[leatherback]

BRT as slow closing cuts. Certainly in the non-tropics. As such I do not let sacrifices run too long. I accept my BRT will not have dramatic taper. So at least once a year it is pruning time for any sacrifice branches on my BRTs. (Which explains the humble size)

 

[brainfree]

You have to keep the top folaige of less mass than that low branch, or that low branch won't serve much sacrifice purpose.

Once it's thicker than the part just above it, it will begin to add more forth to what is below it.

So if you don't need it for your design, or care to keep the top trimmed so often, you can cut it off whenever.

It's quite the mission to actually "flip flop" the thicknesses, but this is always a mission yeah?
A good summer can flip flop things, sometimes it takes years depending on .... Everything!

I'd like to see you use it and pull it into the bottom right tier here.
View attachment 333058

I would just start keeping the tops pruned AF.

Sorce

I do like the idea of a three tier top. I'll keep the top pruned- but to be honest I let it grow throughout this summer and I definitely got a thicker trunk ovderall as a result. I'll have to prune the branch back a bit though to keep it in line with the overall shape.

 

[sorce]

thicker trunk ovderall as a result

Mostly due to the top.

I'll have to prune the branch back a bit though to keep it in line with the overall shape.

Don't worry about shape or fitting into a silhouette until you get the thickness right.

I wish there was a less confusing way to explain this. I'll see if I can delete enough junk to make another picture!

Sorce

 

[LanceMac10]

...ONE FROM WIGERTS.......so ya' grow that low branch Ace "Freely"..........see how they have that branch wired up higher than the apex, that's what you'll want to do come spring........'cuz nuthin' says "stick in a pot" more than a scrawny BRT!!!

 

[LanceMac10]

BRT as slow closing cuts. Certainly in the non-tropics. As such I do not let sacrifices run too long. I accept my BRT will not have dramatic taper. So at least once a year it is pruning time for any sacrifice branches on my BRTs. (Which explains the humble size)

Slow/never! Sacrifice branch? When you first start developing a BRT, it's ok to prune often. This will give you more branching. Some you save but assess what can be an "escape branch". Grow this secondary branch off of a primary branch. The wound will be smaller and more likely to not die-back as far. If you have to make a "major" pruning wound, don't use a concave cutting tool. Use a set of bypass shears or a fancy "bonsai" saw. Particularly if it's near to the trunk. The cut area will die-back somewhat but if your good, the die-back portion will dry up. They'll be a slight bulge remaining but the wound should "heal" clean. No brown deth on the trunk.

Coming in today, we'll see if the thorns chew up the door frame.....


Plenty of trunk swelling shoots.....


...should have taken a pic of the scar on a branch just below the crown....it's been there since I bought it and it's been near 10 years.....ummm, how wide is a human hair? Thankfully it's positioned towards the rear and as long as it hasn't recently sloughed-off the bark, it's disguises great with the fancy Japanese cut paste....

 

[Carol 83]

we'll see if the thorns chew up the door frame.....

That would be a shame. Just send it to me, I have double doors it will fit through.

 

[sorce]

see how they have that branch wired up higher than the apex

Thanks for chiming in, seeing as how I only hope to own a BRT one day.

You see how this sacrifice branch really isn't doing anything either?

If it's not thickening anything below it, what's the point? To look cool? It doesn't even look cool!

Sorce

 

[brainfree]

Here's an update of my BRT's in their pale green winter foliage.

This one is now 17" tall.




I want to train this one as a Shohin. It's 6 " tall at the moment. I love the fact that the leaves are so much smaller than the first. I know it still has a ways to go.


From behind.



And after several attempts, I finally got a cutting to survive.

 

[brainfree]

I'm letting this guy grow out to thicken the trunk. I've already let it grow out once this summer and trimmed it about a month ago but it's growing like gangbusters right now and want to take advantage of this growth spurt. Very hot this week and it looks like we'll still have summer like weather for the next few weeks. I'll have to trim it back to size eventually to fit inside my house when it cools down, and just wondering how long folks think I should leave these long branches on before I bring it in.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

I would leave the branches on until you're ready to bring it inside. Then prune it back, leave stubs, and move inside

 

[brainfree]

Got some sage advice here to just let it grow……so I did.





My Raintree’s ready to be repotted now but I can’t decide which side should be the front.

1.

2.


3.

 

[brainfree]

 

[Dabbler]

I love rain tree's - there a very unique species - great job btw!