Lightning strike JBP

[Giga]

Here's a experiment for ya that your gonna love or hate I got this JPB 2 years ago for a steal of a deal and from the second I got it I wanted to do something "out there". This tree is decent size and I've grafted and approached grafted to get branches on where I wanted them. It still has 4-5 year to go to get to the "final image" but I like where it's going. It will simulate as if being struck by lightning and a new leader took over. It will be semi hollowed down in a year or two like a a real tree will have done where the lighting traveled down the tree to the ground. Whether you hate it or love it, your along for the ride and i'll get a few better pics for you.

when I found it in a nursery about 7' tall


and here it is now about 3' tall

 

[Adair M]

Giga,

Is that approach graft taking?

 

[barrosinc]

It seems like it should be further in a groove?

 

[drew33998]

I think it should have been facing upward instead of downward and much deeper. Adair what are your thoughtS?

 

[Giga]

Giga,

Is that approach graft taking?

It seems like it should be further in a groove?

yeah I was worried about it too but it took - also if you look I also cut through the base of the branch this year about 1/2 way through to strengthen the graft. I have no idea why it pushed out so much as it was close to flush when I did it but there is a strong bond there and I will most likely remove the base in 2017. The graft is just over a year old. It's ugly but I'm not to worried about it right now

 

[Adair M]

yeah I was worried about it too but it took - also if you look I also cut through the base of the branch this year about 1/2 way through to strengthen the graft. I have no idea why it pushed out so much as it was close to flush when I did it but there is a strong bond there and I will most likely remove the base in 2017. The graft is just over a year old. It's ugly but I'm not to worried about it right now

Ok. Another thing you can do us make a tourniquette of a piece of wire on the feeder section. Wrap a wire all the way around, and twist it tight, kinda strangling it a bit. It will help make the branch use the graft junction.

One thing we're doing now on pine approach grafts is cut the scion back on three sides. We used to only cut the sides. But we've found that sometimes the "bottom", the side of the scion that lays deepest in the groove, will fatten as it and the top take more of the load to support the branch. When that happens, it pushes the branch out of the groove.

So, cutting 3 sides prevents that from happening.

 

[Adair M]

And, I would remove the long extended part of the grafted branch now. It's not part of the future design. All its doing is making the graft junction swell. Which could cause it to fail. (It was good to keep it at first, you want the branch to draw nutrients to swell to fill the groove. It's done its job. Now it's time to remove it.)

 

[Potawatomi13]

Looks much healthier than when you got it. Good work.

 

[Potawatomi13]

And, I would remove the long extended part of the grafted branch now. It's not part of the future design. All its doing is making the graft junction swell. Which could cause it to fail. (It was good to keep it at first, you want the branch to draw nutrients to swell to fill the groove. It's done its job. Now it's time to remove it.)

Would it help to use one or two thin nails to hold in place as well?

 

[Adair M]

Would it help to use one or two thin nails to hold in place as well?

Well, the time to have done that was when the graft was first placed. I use the little nails Boon gets in Japan, that have a soft green plastic head.

I'd like to see some more pictures because it looks like it's pushing out of the slot.

Some more techniques to hold the scion in the slot:

When you make the slot, carve it so it looks like this:
/__\ That is, bigger nearer the core of the trunk. That way, as the scion swells, it kinda locks itself in place.

And instead of nail, you can use staples. Here's the thing... Using s staple directly over the scion will make it really hard to remove later. And it will scar. So, cut a strip of rubber from a hose to fit over the scion. Then cut a short piece of chopstick to place over the rubber. Then hammer in two or three staples to secure the scion in the slot.


Can you tell I've done this quite a bit?

THE trick I've found that has helped the most is to remove the bark off back side of the scion. It seems to push itself out less.

Oh... ONE more thing...

See how your branch will appear to be coming off at a funny angle? If possible, I try to find a scion that has a branch. And fit it in so that the side branch comes out of the slot in a more natural angle. It's not always possible, however. In that case, I use a different kind of graft.

 

[Giga]

Looks much healthier than when you got it. Good work.

Hey if anything I do have a very good green thumb - bonsai imagery and experimentation, we'll see

 

[onlyrey]

I thought you had a tree that was actually hit by lightning.

That would be really cool. Maybe grounding a bonsai far from the house, and with a little bit of "luck", lightning strikes. It'd be cool to have a legendary bonsai that survived a lightning.

 

[CWTurner]

Maybe grounding a bonsai far from the house, and with a little bit of "luck", lightning strikes. It'd be cool to have a legendary bonsai that survived a lightning.

Man, I have plenty of trees that would be improved by a good lightning strike.
CW

 

[Giga]

I thought you had a tree that was actually hit by lightning.

That would be really cool. Maybe grounding a bonsai far from the house, and with a little bit of "luck", lightning strikes. It'd be cool to have a legendary bonsai that survived a lightning.

Man, I have plenty of trees that would be improved by a good lightning strike.
CW

LOL

 

[Giga]

Update about a week after candle work, still has a ways to go. Pardon the cellphone shots

 

[KillerButts]

Where would I finish the strike, all the way to the roots or end it about there?

 

[BobbyLane]

Where would I finish the strike, all the way to the roots or end it about there?View attachment 317839

have you seen the roots? when making decisions like this its good practice to know/see which roots you could be damaging, how important are they to the tree, are they feeding essential parts of the tree, what branches are they connecting to. if you dont know, i would probably stop there tbh.

 

[KillerButts]

have you seen the roots? when making decisions like this its good practice to know/see which roots you could be damaging, how important are they to the tree, are they feeding essential parts of the tree, what branches are they connecting to. if you dont know, i would probably stop there tbh.

Thank you Mr Lane, I have a few roots at the base just providing to the skin above the wound. I am curious how the strike is traditionally meant to end?

 

[sorce]

Ooooh! strike!

Sorce

 

[Shibui]

I don't think there are any rules about where a shari stops but I prefer to stop above ground. Dead wood under the soil rots away too quick. Above ground you can apply preservatives and keep it solid for longer.