Cjr Live oak yamadori

[Potawatomi13]

Great progress.

 

[Crawforde]

Nice work

 

[Cajunrider]

2nd growing season 2021
New flush after major cut back.
View attachment 399707

Selected a new apex and it is already 20” long.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Until the leaves are "leather hard" they aren't producing anything for the tree...Chopping new growth now will waste all the energy the tree put into making that new growth. I don't do ANYTING to collected trees for at least a year...

Yet another confusing viewpoint in bonsai horticulture. Yes pulling off new growth seems counterproductive. But why allow energy to continue into sucker growth when it’s not contributing new energy to the engines. Seems plucking out immediately would redirect the energy into more productive growth sites.? No?

 

[Cajunrider]

Yet another confusing viewpoint in bonsai horticulture. Yes pulling off new growth seems counterproductive. But why allow energy to continue into sucker growth when it’s not contributing new energy to the engines. Seems plucking out immediately would redirect the energy into more productive growth sites.? No?

I think I got @rockm’s message. The energy source is from the collected tree and it is very limited. Wherever it is expended we want to get it back plus interest else it runs out and the collected tree dies.

 

[Eckhoffw]

I think I got @rockm’s message. The energy source is from the collected tree and it is very limited. Wherever it is expended we want to get it back plus interest else it runs out and the collected tree dies.

Yes this makes sense. Letting the plant get a return on its growth while it fights for its life. And then -a year later or so, when healthy make decisions.
Thanks.

 

[rockm]

Yet another confusing viewpoint in bonsai horticulture. Yes pulling off new growth seems counterproductive. But why allow energy to continue into sucker growth when it’s not contributing new energy to the engines. Seems plucking out immediately would redirect the energy into more productive growth sites.? No?

Huh? Don't know how many collected trees you've worked with, but in the initial period post-collection ANY growth is good growth. The plant has invested in that growth using a compromised root system. IT chooses where it will grow--at least for the first couple of seasons. Preemption of that new growth by the grower in an attempt to conform to their design is counterproductive and potentially dangerous to the re-developing root mass. Removing it prematurely forces the plant to start over somewhere else. That costs energy and time, something newly collected trees have little to waste. Design is SECONDARY to health of the stock. Allowing new growth to run in the first months and even years after collection results in more successful collections...

 

[Eckhoffw]

Huh? Don't know how many collected trees you've worked with, but in the initial period post-collection ANY growth is good growth. The plant has invested in that growth using a compromised root system. IT chooses where it will grow--at least for the first couple of seasons. Preemption of that new growth by the grower in an attempt to conform to their design is counterproductive and potentially dangerous to the re-developing root mass. Removing it prematurely forces the plant to start over somewhere else. That costs energy and time, something newly collected trees have little to waste. Design is SECONDARY to health of the stock. Allowing new growth to run in the first months and even years after collection results in more successful collections...

Thank you for this.
No, I have not collected that many trees. At times I have been guilty of plucking off suckers/new shoots from the soil line-figuring the plant would abandon the main trunk.
Thanks to your explanation, I now see the light.

 

[Cajunrider]

Update 5/22/22

 

[Cajunrider]

Into a mica pot.

 

[Cajunrider]

I forgot that I left a sizable chunk of the tap root on the tree at the time of the last repot. That was a mistake. Cutting that chunk off was risky. The tree is weak now and must be brought back to health again.

 

[Cajunrider]

After 2 weeks of recovery in part shade, it is now back to full sun.

 

[Cajunrider]

After 2 weeks of recovery in part shade, it is now back to full sun.
View attachment 441705

Apparently that was too soon. Had to put a layer of bark on top to keep the roots from drying out. Back to part shade.

 

[Cajunrider]

It is still struggling mightily.

 

[Cajunrider]

It is officially dead. Sigh.

 

[Cajunrider]

It is officially dead. Sigh.

I took a chance and did a severe root prune after a storm caused the emergency repot in the middle of the hot summer. Too big a chance it turned out to be. In 6 short weeks, a perfectly healthy live oak bonsai is done!

 

[Potawatomi13]

I took a chance and did a severe root prune after a storm caused the emergency repot in the middle of the hot summer. Too big a chance it turned out to be. In 6 short weeks, a perfectly healthy live oak bonsai is done!

Absolutely no chance at all?

 

[Cajunrider]

Absolutely no chance at all?

It appears. I am still nursing it for a few more weeks for a Lazarus miracle. The trunk is drying out.

 

[Potawatomi13]

It appears. I am still nursing it for a few more weeks for a Lazarus miracle. The trunk is drying out.

!