Prunus mume progress thread

[Trueblackpercula]

Hi everyone I decided to start a new thread to track the progress of my prunus mume that was purchased in December of 2020 from eBay. I must say you guys and ladies make it look super easy to twist and bend trees not to mention repotting a tree.
Well I set up shops outside and even was able to mix up 50% akadama 50% pumice for the new pot I received from Justine.
Below is what I did and I hope the tree makes it as I did some serious bending and trunk cracking.
I just want to say thanks to everyone here and countless hours of YouTube videos I think I managed to create a good shape for the future outcome of this tree.
I will also like to say the tree is not grafted but I can say was air layered from older stock as you can see from the pictures. The tree had roots from the base all the way to the bottom as it looked like a cut branch on the bottom of the root structure. So this is great news for me as if I am correct I should get flowers next year.

so I mixed the soil trimmed the roots back and some of the upper branches and potted the tree first.
The next thing I did was I cracked the tree down the middle and the tree was full of life So if it dies it was my fault.
Once split it I wrapped the tree with raffia and sealed a few places where I had to remove some of the upper fin roots from the air layering.
Once I was completed with that I used 3m self sticking electrical tape over it for an added layer of protection from the heavy gauge wire I used.
After I wired it I than went to town on shaping it from a picture I found on Instagram for reference.
Lastly I placed a nice layer of spagnium moss on top to ensure the tree has plenty of moisture.
Well that’s it let me know your thoughts are.
One question I am assuming this stays like this until next season before I can take the wire and tape off correct?
Enjoy the pictures.
Michael

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Here the rest

 

[Trueblackpercula]

I also took a nice size root and placed inside of a grow tube filled with spagnium moss and water to see if I get lucky. I placed the tube in the ground just to hold it in place and it gets partial sun.
Let’s see what happens.
Michael

 

[Trueblackpercula]

The finished project for this year.
Michael

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Well to my surprise while water the trees today I noticed tiny little sprouts poking out from one of the branches and it’s only been less than three weeks.

I think the tree is going to survive the drastic cutting, trunk splitting and bending I performed.

will post more pictures as she develops.
Michael

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Well to my surprise while water the trees today I noticed tiny little sprouts poking out from one of the branches and it’s only been less than three weeks.

I think the tree is going to survive the drastic cutting, trunk splitting and bending I performed.

will post more pictures as she develops.
Michael

View attachment 367637

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Double post

 

[Rivian]

Nice work on the bend
Why did you decide to put it in a bonsai pot instead of fieldgrowing for a few years?

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Nice work on the bend
Why did you decide to put it in a bonsai pot instead of fieldgrowing for a few years?

To be honest I had that pot made for it and I didn’t want to wait years to use it. I do understand that field growing it was a much better way to get growth but felt for me I just could wait a couple of years.
I had been looking for mume for years with no luck and when I found this one, well my craziness took over lol. I know in my heart it should have gone in the ground but I really wanted to experience the bending and cutting techniques with it in a pot.

that’s the only reason.
Michael

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Well it’s been 6 weeks now and it looks like only one side of the tree is doing well. I decided to unwrap the other side to encourage sprouts in hopes that it will work. I will say the leaves I am getting from what I call the healthy side appear to be rich in color.
Michael

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Looks good.

 

[Trueblackpercula]

She’s really starting to add some great growth now. I think the fertilizer I am using needs to be adjusted a little as the N I am using is a little low for this new tree. Will post soon the progress.
Here is the fertilizer I am using.
Michael

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Changed out the fertilizer to this one and the tree has exploded. The leaves and the length of the two shots are super healthy. The shots are well over 18” and I plan on letting them grow until next season. The only thing that didn’t take well was the moss as the fertilizer looks like it dried it out. I order the little baskets for the fertilizer and should have them soon so I don’t place the fertilizer directly on the moss. I hope it comes back because it was looking super nice.
Michael

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Studies show tissue analysis for most vascular plants, from trees to asparagus, have nutrient ratios that work out to roughly 12-1-4, or somewhat similar, and the calcium is 12 the magnesium is 3 and then the long list of micronutrients, including iron, manganese, copper and sulfur. If you are growing in inert bonsai media, you need to supply all the nutrients. The Superfly is closer to ideal than the other stuff. Low nitrogen fertilizers are a waste of time and money. High phosphorous fertilizers are equally a waste.

 

[LittleDingus]

Studies show tissue analysis for most vascular plants, from trees to asparagus, have nutrient ratios that work out to roughly 12-1-4, or somewhat similar, and the calcium is 12 the magnesium is 3 and then the long list of micronutrients, including iron, manganese, copper and sulfur. If you are growing in inert bonsai media, you need to supply all the nutrients. The Superfly is closer to ideal than the other stuff. Low nitrogen fertilizers are a waste of time and money. High phosphorous fertilizers are equally a waste.

What do you mean by "closer to idea"? Close to the 12-1-4 found in plant tissues??

Isn't matching the nutrient ratios to the rations typically found in tissues a little too "simplistic"? It ignores other variables such as uptake efficiency which can vary by Ph. The presence/absence/species of mycorrhiza and whether the plant forms a symbiosis can effect uptake efficiency. Even the form nitrogen is bound in can impact how efficient a plant can uptake it and make use of it.

I agree that there is an "optimized" fertilizer ration that keeps costs down and protects the plant from adverse effects from "too much", but I think matching tissue ratios is not a very accurate predictor of the "best" ratio to provide without some understanding of the other variables at play.

 

[Trueblackpercula]

I have did a little twisting and bending today to try and get movement off the two stems that grew. They are wired without any protect to the soon to be branches. So I expect to have scaring but seeing the branches are so young I figured it will heal up in a couple years. There is nothing more to do this year to the tree but maintain its health.
I hope to get more steams/branches so the tree can start filling in.
I will say these two new branches grew extremely fast as they on showed up in April and now we are in the middle of June.
Michael

 

[Trueblackpercula]

So I noticed today what appears to be new set of leaves below and at the base of the first set of leafs. Could this be the sign of flower buds starting to develop? Just wanted to share.
michael

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Almost forgot.
Front and back of the leaves as the tops look to have tiny hairs.
Michael

 

[Trueblackpercula]

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Flower buds (1,3) form on either side of the vegetative bud (2) in the fall. I don’t think those embryonic leaves indicate flower buds.