General Shimp summer maintainence?

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This one has been developing nicely over time and seems healthy; but should I be thinning out the upward pointing growth periodically? I’ve also heard to remove “crotch growth,” but isn’t that the closest thing to back budding for these? If you could point me to some reference material, I wouldn’t mind doing some reading.

I may lightly repot deeper into the same container this Spring if it makes a difference.
 

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I got inspired, but I think I don’t quite have the concept down. There was this backwards facing branch that I didn’t care for so I thinned some of the upward growth. Now I realize it was tying the apical foliage mass together, and I have given him a bald spot.
in retrospect, I should be going after the downwards facing and weak growth first and the dense shoots. Should I leave that section alone for now and hope it fills back in gracefully?
Also, about this crotch growth; do you ever keep it as a new section? Should I cut back to it or just let it develop? There are three branchlets that it could replace. The strongest towards the camera is the only one in danger of shading lower growth.
 

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leatherback

The Treedeemer
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Also, about this crotch growth; do you ever keep it as a new section? Should I cut back to it or just let it develop? There are three branchlets that it could replace.
I also wonder about this at times. In general, one removes. But I for one do not see at what point you go.. Hm.. I will leave this one. I quite frequently leave branchlets on the inside to use as replacement when trimming back the tree. But perhaps it is part of the long-term maintenance, instead of the annual cycle? As in, each year you remove it. But when the tree needs a bigger overhaul you let some of them go for a year before cutting way back?
 

Shibui

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For me it depends what else there is. If existing branches are long, thin and spindly I will allow some small shoots to grow until they are large enough to remove the longer ones. Remove crotch shoots if the existing branchlets are compact and in the right spots to allow sun to penetrate into the tree.
Remove shoots that are too long and wire a shorter side branchlet to replace it. That process becomes a regular maintenance task as the tree grows. Suitable healthy inner shoots and branchlets are important for this so it is also important to allow sun into the interior to make sure there will be good inner shoots that can be used at some stage in future.

Your bald patch can be filled by wiring one or more of the side branches over that area.
 
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