Progressive 2016 Bonsai Tip Cooperative

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Two tips.
  • When you get the urge to re-work a tree that's not yet recovered from the last time - don't, buy (collect/steal) another one. Repeat until you have enough trees to enable you to work on your trees whenever you feel like it.
  • Trees make themselves healthy by prolonged, unrestricted periods of foliage growth in open ground in full sun; they generally do not get healthier by being pruned, repotted or over fertilised.
I'm sure more will come to me...
 

leatherback

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Repeat until you have enough trees to enable you to work on your trees whenever you feel like it.
After this, apply the "Only purchase / collect / steal when better than the rest " rule as well as the new-in -worst-out rule: Never get a new tree that does not improve your collection, and when you do get a new tree, get rid of the tree in your collection with the least potential.

Getting the cambium to stop recovering in an air layer: Make the girdle wider than normal, and leave the girdled section sticking out below your substrate, outside the bag.
 

Anthony

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Jeremy,

generally 300 trees will do the job, which is what we recommend down here.

10 to 20 years later, reduce to 30 or 50.
AND NO MORE CUTTINGS !

Successful airlayers on the Gingko and Russian Olive, yes !!!!
Good Year
Anthony
 
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Jeremy,

generally 300 trees will do the job, which is what we recommend down here.

10 to 20 years later, reduce to 30 or 50.
AND NO MORE CUTTINGS !

Successful airlayers on the Gingko and Russian Olive, yes !!!!
Good Year
Anthony
Which is good because I've got over 365.
 

Dav4

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If you are impatient or just in a hurry, thoroughly wiping down the girdle with 70% isopropyl alcohol will kill the residual cambium cells.

Also, I've never had a layer fail when using a knob cutter to take continuous bites into the water wood, 360 degrees around the trunk, which definitively removes any microscopic remnants of the cambium. I've also had 100% success using sphagnum moss as the rooting medium.
 

Dav4

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When making approach grafts, regardless of species, the two things my experience has shown me is that it's easy not to make the groove accepting the graft deep enough, and grafts that are not fixed solidly in place are likely to fail. So, when making approach grafts, cut the depth of the groove so that the top of the graft is level with the surface of the bark, and fix it in place through whatever means available. I've used grafting tape, thumb tacks, grafting nails, and staples. Whatever you use, try and fix the graft in place both above and below the level of the groove, if possible.
 

Stan Kengai

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When choosing or growing material, look for good low trunk movement or slant. Unless you're attempting a broom style, no one wants a baseball bat trunk.

When growing material from cuttings, the second and sometimes third growing season(s) should be spent in small, shallow containers growing slowly. This will help develop nebari and give you lots of low buds/branches to work with. I have some good examples that I can show in the spring. You can either continue to develop in small containers for mame and shohin material, or plant in the ground or larger pots for bigger material.
 

Adair M

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When making approach grafts, regardless of species, the two things my experience has shown me is that it's easy not to make the groove accepting the graft deep enough, and grafts that are not fixed solidly in place are likely to fail. So, when making approach grafts, cut the depth of the groove so that the top of the graft is level with the surface of the bark, and fix it in place through whatever means available. I've used grafting tape, thumb tacks, grafting nails, and staples. Whatever you use, try and fix the graft in place both above and below the level of the groove, if possible.
If possible, cut the groove in the stock (trunk or branch) so that its wider at the bottom than at the top. Like an inverted V. This helps to lock the scion part into place as it grows. The reason many approach grafts fail is because the growing scion pushes itself out of the groove.
 

Bonsai Nut

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Would roundup work?

NO. Roundup would NOT work. Roundup is absorbed through foliage, (only minimally through roots), and transported to growing points of the plant/tree. It inhibits a plant enzyme involved in the synthesis of three aromatic amino acids: tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine. (Do research on glysophate if you want to read more). Because Roundup does not work as a contact herbicide, you will either get no impact, or could damage / kill your tree if it is absorbed. Roundup will only work on actively growing trees (i.e. does not damage dormant or pre-emergent trees, seeds or weeds)... but that is what we are dealing with when we air-layer.
 

leatherback

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Bend your cuttings and seedlings as early on as possible!

I have come to realize I have been putting bends too high up. If the trunk does not have some curvature in the first 2 inches or so, you will be hard pushed to get any interesting shape later on, I find. So I now put bends in cuttings once they root, and seedlings in the first year of growth.
 

bonhe

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I order to increase the success rate of cutting survival, I use a plastic tent to keep the humidity up. I find that a two liter coke bottle works amazing for this, cut it in half and you have two "tents" to put over cuttings. I find it easier to work with than plastic bags, as you can easily remove it to water, check for progress, etc.

John
I have been using the one gallon water container. I cut it horizontally into 2 pieces: 2/3 and 1/3. Put the soil in and insert the cuttings. The upper part covers over the lower part. When I did not see the water drops in the inside wall, I opened the cap and sprayed water through the opening and closed the cap back.
1.png

The ume cuttings are inside at this time.
2.png

Bonhe
 

fredman

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QUOTE="Smoke, post: 313502, member: 66"]Would roundup work?[/QUOTE]
Please tell me you were joking.
 

Smoke

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NO. Roundup would NOT work. Roundup is absorbed through foliage, (only minimally through roots), and transported to growing points of the plant/tree. It inhibits a plant enzyme involved in the synthesis of three aromatic amino acids: tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine. (Do research on glysophate if you want to read more). Because Roundup does not work as a contact herbicide, you will either get no impact, or could damage / kill your tree if it is absorbed. Roundup will only work on actively growing trees (i.e. does not damage dormant or pre-emergent trees, seeds or weeds)... but that is what we are dealing with when we air-layer.
sorry....that was kinda tongue in cheek....
 

Adair M

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A month or so ago someone asked if there is any benefit to cutting spent leaves off deciduous trees.

Here's my take on that: I have seen this done in Japanese language instructional videos. They defoliate the leaves after they have passed peak color. Then, they trim the branches back. They defoliate in order to see the branch structure. To make the cutting back easier.

Which leads me to: why cut back deciduous trees in the fall? Why not in the spring? The reason is the sap is falling. Much less likely to bleed sap. Perhaps the worst time to cut back is early spring when the sap is rising. Think of it this way: when do they collect maple sap to make maple syrup? Late winter to early spring.

So, the professional bonsai nurseries need to cut back all their trees in the fall. So, to get the job done on dozens or hundreds of trees, they have to work quickly. Defoliating, while it does take time, allows them to be able to cut back the trees faster. Plus, they're now bare and can be put away for the winter, all nice and tidy.
 

crust

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This years tip to my self is:
To stop looking at root work as a debilitating process and rather as a building process--an make it happen that way.
Hawthornes specifically do not benefit from typical recommended deciduous pruning schedules and for densifing respond best to frequent soft pruning.
 

0soyoung

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QUOTE="Smoke, post: 313502, member: 66"]Would roundup work?
Please tell me you were joking.[/QUOTE]

Make sure you don't delete those square brackets. It makes the quote look like this

QUOTE="Smoke, post: 313502, member: 66"]Would roundup work?[/QUOTE]

instead of this
Would roundup work?
 

fredman

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Yeah as unfriendly as a mobile is to me, I lost Wi-Fi at the moment I was editing and I think it sent it at that moment as well....very frustrating
 

eferguson1974

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In this thread, add tips that can help a fellow bonsai friend in their quest for more techniques. Try to limit your self to tips that have worked for you rather than "I read it on the internet".

My tip.
When doing layers, it is important that the cambium be dead on the peeled part so as not to bridge. The easiest and most efficient way to do this is peel the area and let it dry out a day or two. Then cover with moss or soil cup.
Good idea for a thread. Tour first tip taught me something, thanks.
 
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