Question Regarding Chojubai

[roberthu]

I recently acquired 2 white Chojubai from Julian Adams and they arrived with flower buds all over. My question is should I remove some or all of the buds to save energy for leaves? I ask this because last fall I bought a white Chojubai also from Julian and it also flowered profusely. However, some buds didn't open fully and remained on the tree through the winter. It has just warmed up here in Georgia nd that tree tried to open up but eventually died. All branches and trunks were dried up. I dug the tree out and see a lot of find roots extending to the turface I planted it in. By the way, Julian also plated it in mostly turface and I just slip potted it into a bigger pot. This makes me think that the tree used too much energy to flower in late fall and winter. It basically exhausted itself with sugar and starches and didn't have enough to push out new leaves. I know now is spring and the trees should be able to start gaining energy with photosynthesis. I just worry that the flowers will consume too much and weaken the trees.

Thoughts?

 

[River's Edge]

I recently acquired 2 white Chojubai from Julian Adams and they arrived with flower buds all over. My question is should I remove some or all of the buds to save energy for leaves? I ask this because last fall I bought a white Chojubai also from Julian and it also flowered profusely. However, some buds didn't open fully and remained on the tree through the winter. It has just warmed up here in Georgia nd that tree tried to open up but eventually died. All branches and trunks were dried up. I dug the tree out and see a lot of find roots extending to the turface I planted it in. By the way, Julian also plated it in mostly turface and I just slip potted it into a bigger pot. This makes me think that the tree used too much energy to flower in late fall and winter. It basically exhausted itself with sugar and starches and didn't have enough to push out new leaves. I know now is spring and the trees should be able to start gaining energy with photosynthesis. I just worry that the flowers will consume too much and weaken the trees.

Thoughts?

Chojubai are finicky about repotting or disturbance of roots in general. The only time I would concern myself with too much energy being used prior to leaf opening would be when cuttings are being propagated or after a recent repot. In this case the trees should be fine. However given your experience you may wish to seek the advice of Julian as he is most familiar with their condition. In general a lot can be learned from consulting with the growers when working with their product.

 

[roberthu]

Chojubai are finicky about repotting or disturbance of roots in general. The only time I would concern myself with too much energy being used prior to leaf opening would be when cuttings are being propagated or after a recent repot. In this case the trees should be fine. However given your experience you may wish to seek the advice of Julian as he is most familiar with their condition. In general a lot can be learned from consulting with the growers when working with their product.

Thank you. I did consult Julian and he said not to worry about it. He said Chojubai are big bloomers and flowering doesn't hurt the tree.

Now I am thinking maybe this is a good time to do a little experiment: remove most of the flower from one and leave the other one untouched and see which one grows better this year.

 

[River's Edge]

Thank you. I did consult Julian and he said not to worry about it. He said Chojubai are big bloomers and flowering doesn't hurt the tree.

Now I am thinking maybe this is a good time to do a little experiment: remove most of the flower from one and leave the other one untouched and see which one grows better this year.

It never hurts to experiment, but with a sample size of one, be careful about drawing any conclusions

 

[Shibui]

Chojubai seem to flower right through the year at my place. Excessive flowering rarely causes problems but sometimes trees that are on the brink of death will flower profusely in a last ditch attempt to pass on genes. The result is death but the flowering was not the cause.
Removing flower buds may divert available energy to growth. Fruit uses even more resources so removing fruit before it develops seems to be even more useful.
I have also lost one chojubai after repotting but flowering was not the problem.
Slip potting can cause unexpected problems when the new soil is different to the inner older soil or the new pot is too large for the roots to colonize quickly. Care also needs to match the soil type and watering a different potting soil as you would your own can also cause problems.

I strongly suspect that flowering is not the cause of your problem. Need to look further.

 

[roberthu]

Chojubai seem to flower right through the year at my place. Excessive flowering rarely causes problems but sometimes trees that are on the brink of death will flower profusely in a last ditch attempt to pass on genes. The result is death but the flowering was not the cause.
Removing flower buds may divert available energy to growth. Fruit uses even more resources so removing fruit before it develops seems to be even more useful.
I have also lost one chojubai after repotting but flowering was not the problem.
Slip potting can cause unexpected problems when the new soil is different to the inner older soil or the new pot is too large for the roots to colonize quickly. Care also needs to match the soil type and watering a different potting soil as you would your own can also cause problems.

I strongly suspect that flowering is not the cause of your problem. Need to look further.

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you!