Pair of Cryptomerias

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I found 2 Cryptomerias tucked away at Maruyama Bonsai Nursery, the best in the greater Sacramento area. Mr. Maruyama said they’ve been sitting there for 25 years; he doesn’t remember the last time they were repotted.

Both are about the same size.
Caliper 2.5”
Height: 30”+

They’ve clearly been left to grow unchecked for some time. Exposing the roots revealed an old up-potting with a layer of decomposed substrate. They were pot bound around the decomposed layer. I had to take about 1/2 of the root mass to get through the mess.

I repotted in the same plastic training pots.

My plan:
1. Repot and recover this year. Hopefully the root work wasn’t too much.
2. Next year: likely air layer the top of the upright. I’ll jin the apex after removing the layer.
2a. The slant may get ajin, but I haven’t made any final plans yet. I’ll start cutting them back for branch selection next year as well.

I’ll post the progression here.
 
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#1
 

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Looks like fun stuff ! Are they still open with the quarantine or it hasn’t affected that area yet ?
 
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Looks like fun stuff ! Are they still open with the quarantine or it hasn’t affected that area yet ?

They were open when I picked up the first one. I went back to grab the second one a few days later. I couldn’t resist, it was the last of its kind in his nursery, and the world is locked down so why not! They were closed but the owner was there. He let me grab it.

They're now closed indefinitely.

To answer your other question: Sac hasn’t been under the same restrictions as the Bay Area.
 
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They were open when I picked up the first one. I went back to grab the second one a few days later. I couldn’t resist, it was the last of its kind in his nursery, and the world is locked down so why not! They were closed but the owner was there. He let me grab it.

They're now closed indefinitely.

To answer your other question: Sac hasn’t been under the same restrictions as the Bay Area.
Perfect thank you and good luck with the material.
 

n8

Shohin
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Nice. I know these trees. Always thought about picking them up, but never did. Good material!
 
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About 2 weeks since the repot and I’m still holding my breath after the aggressive root job I did on these. More so for #1, the upright. It’s root ball was nasty.

I took a closer look today and there are still green tips pushing new growth, along with some die back on the longer adolescent branches. #1 is in more distress, but neither has taken a sharp downward turn. They’re both still sporting their winter bronze that is slowly turning green.

All of my fingers and toes are firmly crossed as I continue to wipe the optimistically nervous sweat from my brow.
 

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Public journaling: Nothing too exciting here. I was nervous about these 2 making through the extreme repot that required butchering my way through aged (and decaying) layers of up-potting.

Apparently the cryptomeria can handle a root pounding. They’re both thriving. There’s a lot of active growth all over both of them.

Plan update: I grabbed 4 more middle aged crypto’s to make a group/forest with the upright in this thread. There’s some thought that went into this decision:

1. Trunk height to diameter ratio is too high for my liking, so it would require a chop (or air layer as I had mentioned above) to stay singular.
2. I think the bark is too nice to chop.
3. The air layer is too short to get excited about.
4. Using all of the trunk would look fucking awesome... and sounds better than butchering it and messing with the remains.
4a. This can be achieved (more) convincingly if there are other proportionally tall trees planted nearby in a group.
5. I found (and bought) 4 more well-priced crypto’s at Maruyama’s that will make a beautiful group. I’m extra excited about the caliper variety. I’ll build a new thread for that in due time.
6. The slant will stay slanted in its own pot. I look forward to exercising some creativity with that one as well.
 

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