New Fukien tea project

[GreenThumbGuy]

Started a new project with a cutting from my Fukien tea tree. this is my 3rd cutting from this tree, one growing healthy and strong and the other gifted to my mother-in-law.I was looking for some advice on keeping this one as small as possible. the first cutting is doing really well but got bigger than i was expecting fast. I didn't want to trim it too hard, because I was afraid of hurting it. I have been trimming this one right along, and it seems to be doing well, but not getting any thicker. Any and all advice is appreciated.

 

[KennedyMarx]

If you keep trimming it's not going to get any thicker. The thickness is created by growing freely for some time. Fukien tea has such stiff and brittle branching that movement needs to be created by wiring the fresh growth when it has somewhat hardened off. That's the issue with a cutting. The trunk might end up straight as an arrow if you don't do the work to begin with.

 

[GreenThumbGuy]

Thanks for the insight. as far as the curving goes, I find i can manipulate that when i allow a new branch to begin growing. that's how i curved the tree i took the cutting from at any rate. i am a fan of directional pruning, as it has worked well for me in the past. As far as the thickness goes, your saying if i just let it grow like crazy it will get thicker? do you just prune it down to desired shape after the fact? thanks for the speedy reply and the help.

 

[KennedyMarx]

You'd let it grow out then cut it back. Repeat that to get a tapering trunk.

http://bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATdevelopingtrunksforbonsai.htm

 

[GreenThumbGuy]

Thank you so much. I (as you can tell) am pretty new to the styling of bonsai. have been growing trees and gardens for most of my life, but I just two years ago started growing bonsai. Purchased 2 trees on a complete whim, and have just been maintaining their shapes since then. I have cuttings from both trees (the other is a Ficus Benjamina) that are doing exceptional, just need some help with the styling. I appreciate your knowledge on the subject, and hopefully am not a bothersome "noob".

 

[Poink88]

FT is very slow to gain girth...especially in a pot.

While it is true that you can wire it...clip and grow can create a much more natural movement or character...do constant pruning (better yet, do both...clip and grow + wiring) until you got your desired shape then let it grow, in the ground if possible or an oversized pot.

Choose which way you want to go but either way...it will be very slowwwwwwwww.

Good luck!

 

[GreenThumbGuy]

I think I will follow both sets of advice. I have another clipping rooting now, so I can try both ways. Yea, I kind of figured it would be a slow process, but that's ok. I have lots of other short term gardening projects to occupy the time in between. thanks again for input.