Noob with a wisteria

[Ceijay]

Six years old. Grown from a seed. Should I make it a bonsai???



Just gonna keep this short and sweet and I'll answer any questions about them in the comments should anyone be interested. Also I have a mountain of questions of my own as usual.

Anyway I don't wanna sound rude or lazy but I'm extremely new to the bonsai art and I would really appreciate someone who would give me a bit of a step by step on where to get started IF these little guys are ready for it. If not I'll try again in another 6 years.

 

[Cypress187]

Depends if you want a mame or a shohin (tiny or small bonsai). Most likely you want it shohin size, and I think it needs to grow a little fatter for that, maybe it's possible to do a first chop now. But im not the best person to give advise about chopping.

 

[0soyoung]

A mame wisteria, what a concept! Flower racimes and compound leafs are on the order of a foot long (dwarf varieties are only about half that). Quite an image!

Chopping is like chopping a tree - cut it between one-third and one-half the ultimate height you want. Put it in full sun, but out of the way in the back of your garden. Trim the runners back in the fall when the leafs start to fall, keeping in mind whether you want to make it look like a tree or twisting on itself. To make it look like a tree you will needed to wire the runner stubs to point them outward, in the directions you want them to go. Repeat, repeat, repeat ...

They remain flexible for quite a long time. So you can put some movement into the trunk now or with guys for a few years yet.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I would sink them in the ground of you have a location available to do so. You will see better results thickening the trunk if you do so. I might be so inclined to add some more movement with wire as well. I have a sucker from an American variety wired in ground myself. But not sure this is the time to wire. With being into December already. Let one more advanced advice you on that. I've not wired mine this late. But something to think about come spring...is to wire a bit more movement and put in the ground to speed up its growth.

 

[0soyoung]

I think they grow rapidly enough in a pot, but if you've got a place in your landscape for it, plant it. Then you'll have to deal with a lot of root reduction to cram it back into a pot (it is just a fact of life - conservation of trouble).

 

[sorce]

I don't think it's time for a wysterectomy yet!

Sorce

 

[garywood]

CJ, however you decide to grow it keep in mind that W. doesn't "heal" large cuts easily. Make small chops more often than one large later on. If deadwood doesn't matter then, it doesn't matter ;-) Also, seedling W. takes a LONG time to flower so work toward a design that shows them and when they come the tree will be ready.

 

[Ceijay]

Depends if you want a mame or a shohin (tiny or small bonsai).

I do not think W. is a good species for a small bonsai, although the smallest sizes are my favorite I think a med or large is in order here.

As for ground planting that is not an option. It has been grown in pot all it's life though.

CJ, however you decide to grow it keep in mind that W. doesn't "heal" large cuts easily. Make small chops more often than one large later on. If deadwood doesn't matter then, it doesn't matter ;-) Also, seedling W. takes a LONG time to flower so work toward a design that shows them and when they come the tree will be ready.

Thanks for the chopping tip. I actually learned about it's poor healing here but I was already aware of how long it would take before it bloomed. Only like 10 more years to go right?!

So would everyone generally agree it would be good stock for training or should I let it grow?

It will always need to remain about the size that it is now so I just hedge it when it tries to kill me with the runners. The space between nodes seems short in the branch closer to the trunk??? It's trunk is horribly straight as it was never intended for bonsai and I should mention there's a bit more of it under the dirt. I dunno about the nebari, I covered it in early summer to let it develop just in case.

And then there's its ugly little sister down there...

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

No.

 

[Ceijay]

No.

lol just flat out no? Not even to learn on?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Not even to learn on?

No.

 

[Ceijay]

No.

Ok well simply putting "No" isn't really much to go on but thanks for participating I guess.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Ok well simply putting "No" isn't really much to go on but thanks for participating I guess.

To be fair, they were yes or no questions, and you were keeping it short and sweet. Here's more to go on:
The trunk is thin, straight, and taperless.
It has no low or close buds to build on.
Wisteria grow tendrils & compound leaves, making bonsai training challenging, and requiring lots of room for what it is.
They're appreciated for snaking trunks and flowers. Yours will have neither for a very long time.
Wisteria grow wild in our areas. If you want one, go collect a big fat trunk that is already of blooming size.
I see nothing remarkable about this plant, and the redeeming qualities of wisteria are years away of good training at best.

Therefore, no, I would not recommend you make it into a bonsai.

 

[Ceijay]

To be fair, they were yes or no questions, and you were keeping it short and sweet. Here's more to go on:
The trunk is thin, straight, and taperless.
It has no low or close buds to build on.
Wisteria grow tendrils & compound leaves, making bonsai training challenging, and requiring lots of room for what it is.
They're appreciated for snaking trunks and flowers. Yours will have neither for a very long time.
Wisteria grow wild in our areas. If you want one, go collect a big fat trunk that is already of blooming size.
I see nothing remarkable about this plant, and the redeeming qualities of wisteria are years away of good training at best.

Therefore, no, I would not recommend you make it into a bonsai.

cool.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I would still sink it into the ground and years from now...when it blooms. It would make a nice landscape trained tree. Have one I purchased for just that purpose. Its an American variety so its blooms smaller but rewards me with blooms through spring and summer. So I can't complain.

 

[GrimLore]

So would everyone generally agree it would be good stock for training or should I let it grow?

In general Wisteria that are nice Bonsai are often large collected stumps and the trained plant is often fairly large to accommodate the foliage. That is why most here agree it is to small for a presentable plant in show. There are very nice looking ones that size and you could certainly pot it up in a nice container adding nice color to any bench and let it grow.

Grimmy

 

[Ceijay]

I would still sink it into the ground

So again I can't put it in the ground. It not an option for me so I don't know to put that any simpler.

In general Wisteria that are nice Bonsai are often large collected stumps and the trained plant is often fairly large to accommodate the foliage. That is why most here agree it is to small for a presentable plant in show. There are very nice looking ones that size and you could certainly pot it up in a nice container adding nice color to any bench and let it grow.

Grimmy

What sizes to W. usually go up to. I know they are generally very large. this one is about 3 feet tall maybe.

Again it's never been trained other then hedging it so I can't see why It should be excepted to be a $100 stock plant. Regardless though the information is still helpful, thank you.

 

[Cadillactaste]

So again I can't put it in the ground. It not an option for me so I don't know to put that any simpler.



What sizes to W. usually go up to. I know they are generally very large. this one is about 3 feet tall maybe.

Again it's never been trained other then hedging it so I can't see why It should be excepted to be a $100 stock plant. Regardless though the information is still helpful, thank you.

Oops...missed that part. Sorry...if you've taken it this far from seed...then keep at it. If it brings you joy that you brought it this far. I would still maybe wire it. And also look for some collected material as suggested. Have something to tinker with...and once it flowers...you can brag that you grew it from seed.

 

[GrimLore]

What sizes to W. usually go up to.

This one has a double base two 6 inches wide 4 feet apart. It grows 20 feet in one direction and 20 foot up a tree. It grows a minimum of 40 feet in the other direction and up 2 or 3 trees at least 25 feet. The base spreading plant grows easily to 6 feet with no support but its own branches every year. How big - HUGE. I have seen larger but this one I have access to.



Grimmy

 

[Cadillactaste]

Forgot...I was told to allow the runners a year. Then cut back to have smaller scars...Bill V. gave me that advice...so you can take that and sink it in the vault.