First Time Blueberry Yamadori Development Project

Njyamadori

Chumono
Messages
869
Reaction score
811
Location
New Jersey
March 17th 2021 I have collected this New Jersey Blueberry most likely Vaccinium corymbosum. It was one of my first collected trees and one that I actually took care of . Im starting this thread to see how it develops in its first stages then going into its structural branching . So I will try to be on this thread for a few years and the longest I can . I will take any advice and here starts the adventure!
 

Njyamadori

Chumono
Messages
869
Reaction score
811
Location
New Jersey
DA3587F1-7075-4AAE-A662-D53AA4EF9E6D.jpeg
March 17th 2021
I was out collecting in a area with tons of blueberry since I have seen a blueberry in a bonsai book. I saw this cool looking blueberry that had this weird trunk and was about 5 feet tall. I fully chopped the roots in hope of better roots . Now thinking I really should of invested in a bigger and better pot instead of this food container !
 

Njyamadori

Chumono
Messages
869
Reaction score
811
Location
New Jersey
E93A5668-6874-4CCB-B361-9A240F7BF386.jpeg
June 14th 2021
Just a little update that buds have been pushing and that this plant is gonna live from the chop . As a beginner doing the chop was so scary and most people would think it would die . First problem I’m starting to face is that I wish buds would come from the middle branch that looks so cool . Right now is July 14th and still no buds from the middle branch . The buds are branching out and getting longer tho ! I’m gonna do more updates in the fall and every season going forward . So here’s where it is at and always I love advice !
 

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
Messages
11,337
Reaction score
23,254
Location
on the IL-WI border, a mile from ''da Lake''
USDA Zone
5b
Looking good.

For sizing up blueberries, in nursery pots, the recommended soil is a blend of peat, bark & a handful of hardwood sawdust. The sawdust is to feed their endomycorrhiza. The sawdust should be less than 10% of the total mix. 2% to 5% is about right for the sawdust. That is the "nursery pot" soil, for most rapid growth and able to hold enough water that daily watering is not needed.

In bonsai pots, a mineral soil is better, in that the pumice or granite grit will interlock and hold the tree in place. I use roughly a third of the nursery mix with a third of pumice and a third of clay product like haydite or hydroton, or kanuma if I have Kanuma. For bonsai pots this media blend gets sifted while dry, and fines that go through window screen are thrown out.

Keep an eye on watering, an all pumice mix can be too dry for blueberries. Because of their mycorrhiza, they like at least some organics in their mix. It looks like you are using organic cake to feed your blueberry, this may be adding enough organics to get by. So don't do any repotting now just because I offered up mix advice. Think about it for future repots, in 2022 or later.

This will need to grow a year or two before you begin pruning. Chances are fair that middle branch is dead, but you won't know for certain until next summer. Just let it grow for the moment.
 

Njyamadori

Chumono
Messages
869
Reaction score
811
Location
New Jersey
Looking good.

For sizing up blueberries, in nursery pots, the recommended soil is a blend of peat, bark & a handful of hardwood sawdust. The sawdust is to feed their endomycorrhiza. The sawdust should be less than 10% of the total mix. 2% to 5% is about right for the sawdust. That is the "nursery pot" soil, for most rapid growth and able to hold enough water that daily watering is not needed.

In bonsai pots, a mineral soil is better, in that the pumice or granite grit will interlock and hold the tree in place. I use roughly a third of the nursery mix with a third of pumice and a third of clay product like haydite or hydroton, or kanuma if I have Kanuma. For bonsai pots this media blend gets sifted while dry, and fines that go through window screen are thrown out.

Keep an eye on watering, an all pumice mix can be too dry for blueberries. Because of their mycorrhiza, they like at least some organics in their mix. It looks like you are using organic cake to feed your blueberry, this may be adding enough organics to get by. So don't do any repotting now just because I offered up mix advice. Think about it for future repots, in 2022 or later.

This will need to grow a year or two before you begin pruning. Chances are fair that middle branch is dead, but you won't know for certain until next summer. Just let it grow for the moment.
Thanks so much ! I didn’t think of anything when collecting this . I didn’t even know what it was when I collected it . So I just put it in this since I had a ton . It’s a very small container so up coming spring I will repot . As you can see this is my first outdoor growing season for bonsai .
 

Njyamadori

Chumono
Messages
869
Reaction score
811
Location
New Jersey
B99C082B-4AC3-45D6-8B7B-E8AE47B9B827.jpeg
February 22 2022
Spring is coming up and I’m planning to pot it up in soil somewhat like what @Leo in N E Illinois mentioned above. Not much growth was added during the summer so I’m probably gonna leave it alone this year also. The middle branch is definitely 100% dead which is a huge bummer and it was the best branch here . Also if you haven’t check my “New Jersey Blueberry Yamadori” thread of a similar blueberry that I collected but bigger and older please check that out also . Let’s hope these both recover fully !
 
Messages
234
Reaction score
255
Location
Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Take it slow. They really don’t like having their roots damaged (usually because they don’t have many roots close in ). Good luck.
 

Njyamadori

Chumono
Messages
869
Reaction score
811
Location
New Jersey
Well it’s definitely not a good tree so I put it in this smaller shohin like pot . Yes I could of put it in a bigger pot to develop the taper much faster but its just for the fun of it.
E2E2BD11-79B3-40AF-A2C9-324EF742F23B.jpeg
 
Messages
1,502
Reaction score
3,139
Location
Eastern MA
USDA Zone
6B
Well it’s definitely not a good tree so I put it in this smaller shohin like pot . Yes I could of put it in a bigger pot to develop the taper much faster but its just for the fun of it.
View attachment 429711

Fun is good! I think I’ve been psyching myself out knowing I’m putting unfinished trees in pots but tbh I’m not a professional so, I think merging the fun and the strictly correct is worth it for me.
 
Top Bottom