Help identifying this clump of trees

[MrBonsai19]

I got these trees as a “throw-in” from an estate sale of a bonsai grower that passed a few years ago.

The pot was rooted into the ground and the seller just kinda ripped it out and offered it to me suggesting it was not something he was likely to sell.

To me it looks like princess persimmon just based on the base of the trunk being black. That is something I have seen with one other princess persimmon.

I suspect it is a fruit tree of some kind because it does have thorns.

I would also welcome any advice on how to get this back on track in terms of development. I am hoping to repot in late winter and would like to know if the trunks can be reduced at that time along with the repot to get the back to a reasonable size.

Since bringing them about a month ago I’ve been watering and fertilizing and there is one tiny little bud coming up now.

Thanks for any help or insight.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Looks like princess persimmon to me as well. They tend to throw sucker growth anyway, but when they are pot-bound it can become extreme. It is late in the year for a full repot, but you could slip pot it into a large pot just to give it some breathing room - then do a full repot in the spring. Do not be surprised when you repot if you end up with several individual trees because root cuttings are an effective way to propagate them. Don't prune right now - particularly if you want it to flower in the spring - because it has likely already set flower buds for next year. It is hard for me to say exact timing since in SF you have such long growing seasons.

Princess persimmon is sexually dioecious, so there are male and female individuals, and usually at this type of year you would see fruit on the tree if it were a female. However lack of fruit is not a guarantee that the tree is a male - there could be many reasons you don't see fruit, including the tree didn't fruit in the spring due to poor conditions (lack of nutrients, etc) or the fruit could have been stripped or eaten by critters.

These trees love fertilizer, and typically have very dark green foliage when healthy. If you are using irrigation water in SF, make sure you know your water chemistry. If your water is high in pH (most CA water will be) consider using an acid fertilizer like Miracid water soluble and you might be surprised how quickly the tree greens up.

 

[MrBonsai19]

awesome thanks for the in depth feedback! Do you grow them in full sun?