Playing with mame - japanese shimpaku cuttings

[Stella]

I got some cuttings from a imported tree from our club mentor.
These are very special to me as this is not a variety we get here in SA, so propagating cuttings will be a big priority with these

This is the mother tree:

The Story of a Little Shimpaku, from Japan to South Africa

Japan has always been at the top of my bucket list of places to go since I started bonsai. I finally got the opportunity to go in 2017, when the Eighth World Bonsai Convention was held in Saitama, Japan. It was a dream come true to get on the plane and touch down on Japanese soil. My goal for...

www.willowbonsaishop.com

Number one is about 3 years old and got some wiring done. Had this cutting for about 2 years and it's growing strongly.


This spring he gave me 4 more 1 year old cuttings

Number 2 I just got it higher in the pot and added some wiring creating tight bends.
Tried getting the bends as close as possible to the ground, so it's difficult to see the trunk in this pic.


Then our club was asked by the Japanese embassy to do the bonsai section in their cultural expo. And I was asked to do a demo and talk - the theme was bonsai for tiny spaces.
So Number 2-4 went to the demo and this is the start of my 1st composition.

Didn't want to do a forest so the idea is still to create the illusion of 1 tree in cascade style


We are info fall now, so wrong time for cuttings, but I did plant 6 very tiny shoots, and made myself a make shift greenhouse with a plastic toy box.
Our winters are very short and not to cold, so by any luck there may be one or 2 shoots that might root (Holding thumbs)

This will be my progression thread for all my projects related to these imported tree cutting

 

[Shibui]

I like what you are doing with these cuttings. I'm doing similar with shimpaku cuttings over this side.
The parent tree is a good example of a tree created with early twisting and bending and well worth trying to make similar trees.

 

[coltranem]

Nice work. You might want to try a few nect time with even tighter curves.

 

[Shibui]

I've found that really tight bends can sometimes be counterproductive. As the trunk thickens the tight bends merge to form fused lumps on the trunk. Unless it is really low and can become the base of the trunk or you can carve some shari to reduce the thickening and fusing the reverse taper is quite unsightly.
By all means make some tight bends and twists but keep an eye on them as they thicken.

 

[coltranem]

I've found that really tight bends can sometimes be counterproductive. As the trunk thickens the tight bends merge to form fused lumps on the trunk. Unless it is really low and can become the base of the trunk or you can carve some shari to reduce the thickening and fusing the reverse taper is quite unsightly.
By all means make some tight bends and twists but keep an eye on them as they thicken.

I agree but the OP was discussing Mame sized trees. I agree bend size should be related to final tree size.

 

[MaciekA]

I've had some luck with keeping the fine detail in bends in juniper. I grow in pots of similar size to @coltranem 's pictures (those might as well be shots of my own shimpaku cuttings / mame-to-be). I then transition them to tiny mame-sized bonsai pots and small-size pumice and akadama much much earlier than anything else. It works well.

I've found that the "offramp to a bonsai pot" to save fine detail and prevent smoothing and fusing is pretty similar for deciduous broadleaf too.