Little Spekboom... then and now.

coltranem

Chumono
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I am not sure which front you are using but I like the second American flag picture. I am not sure how but it looks like the taper needs work.
 

just.wing.it

Deadwood Head
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I am not sure which front you are using but I like the second American flag picture. I am not sure how but it looks like the taper needs work.
I am not sure on a front yet... but you're absolutely right about the taper.
It's just starting to develop some kind of roots at the base now... plan to hit the roots hard next repotting, maybe put it on a tile or something to start a nebari worth looking at.
 

just.wing.it

Deadwood Head
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Two months since last pics.
It's been growing well, I even did some pinching in certain areas to encourage inner, weaker branches to grow....
It has reacted well to that, and is growing again, so I decided to open up the canopy a little more by adding a few more little guy wires...
I guess I'll leave the wires on until the end of summer next year.

It's done some major growth in this pot and I'm curious about the root growth, as I always let it dry out nicely between waterings, and I feed it strong.
Over the last year, I took 40 cuttings that all rooted (which I've given away since) and I threw away at least 60 more when I ran out of room to propagate cuttings.
This little tree (if you wanna call it a tree, I do) is a growing machine!

With that said, I will repot it next summer, onto a little tile or something, and try to grow it out for a while. I gotta thicken up the trunk and build a better root base.
That is my new focus with this tree, root base and taper.

Any here it is, I think it's starting to resemble a tree...what you think?
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AZbonsai

Masterpiece
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Cool wire job by the way! I really like your wiring technique. I run a wire around the base of the pot and attach guy wire to it but I like your method much better. I will be stealing it. I notice you do not use any rubber tubing between wire and tree. How long do you keep you wire on?
 

just.wing.it

Deadwood Head
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Cool wire job by the way! I really like your wiring technique. I run a wire around the base of the pot and attach guy wire to it but I like your method much better. I will be stealing it. I notice you do not use any rubber tubing between wire and tree. How long do you keep you wire on?
I just try to keep an eye on it to see if it's biting in anywhere, and I can move it slightly.
But on some other trees, I would use rubber or leather from an old glove to protect.
I plan to remove these guy wires mid summer during the repot.
At that point, I'll see how well it's held the branches and go from there in the new pot.

And thanks!
 

AZbonsai

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Hey also what size wire are you using on that!
 

just.wing.it

Deadwood Head
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Update:

I removed a major bar branch from one side of the canopy that had been bothering me, and stuck it in the corner of the pot...
I will be repotting this one soon, and will try to give it the old Ebihara treatment...need to thicken the base up!
I think I pinched out some of it at least once since the last pics.
It's gonna just grow for the rest of the year, repotting will be it until it's obviously recovered... which will probably be fast.
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And now I have another, smaller one to play with!
 

just.wing.it

Deadwood Head
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Its grown well since the May update...
Shot out shoots to 4-5 pairs of leaves...
Trimmed it in June at least once, maybe twice...

Today's update is another little trimming, and a repot...
The base of the tree, underneath, is not suitable for Ebihara-ing it...no biggie.
Into a shallower pot....I wanted to offset it more, but I was having trouble anchoring it in over to the left, so its more centered...for now.
Branches held nicely from the guy wires.

I'm calling it a Park Style Tree...even if you call it a succulent! ?
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eb84327

Mame
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Good post. You did a great job taking pics to show it's progresion. I received a p. Afra from a older guy that passed. I didn't know what to do with it untill I saw your post. I'm kinda looking to do the same. I cut it back and now am working on branch structure. Before and after pic. Thanks again for the post.
 

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AZbonsai

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Does it hold the shape from the wire?
 
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