Seiju Elm from Evergreen Gardenworks

[Maiden69]

I received this elm in NOV 2020 in a 4" pot from Brent, I moved it into a colander spring 2021 and didn't paid much attention to it other than water and fertilizer.



NOV 2021


I moved it into a grow bag this spring, March 2022, and moved it into my above gropund set up.





Took a few pics on 8 DEC 2022, I think I am leaving it in the grow bag one more season, depending on how the nebari looks when I check in January-February 2023, as I am rearenging the planters.

That is a 5' extension from March 2022 till DEC 2022, and the trunk almost triple the size. I know there is some reverse taper, kinda expected that as it was not managed the first year, I did trim down to 2's when I moved it into the bag and tried to remove excess buds from the area... I think I will let this guy grow and make some shohin from air-layers, but I will have to move it into a much bigger bag before that, so I don't have to mess with the roots for a long time.

 

[BrightsideB]

That’s some good growth! It will be cool to see how big you grow it. I have some mother tree’s I want to bonsai once I get enough layers and cuttings.

 

[jszg]

Brent on his website says he can easily get 1" per year in caliper growth. Nice to see that's not just a Cali thing lol

I was thinking if I were to put it in a big pot on top of open soil, harvest the escaping roots every other year or so for root cuttings, one would soon have an army of elms.

 

[Maiden69]

Brent on his website says he can easily get 1" per year in caliper growth. Nice to see that's not just a Cali thing lol

I was thinking if I were to put it in a big pot on top of open soil, harvest the escaping roots every other year or so for root cuttings, one would soon have an army of elms.

This is the description for Seiju on Brent's website.

Ulmus parvifolia 'Seiju' This sport of 'Hokkaido' was introduced by Carl Young of Lodi California. It has all the good qualities of 'Hokkaido' in a larger plant. The leaves (lower picture) are identical except they are about 1/2 inch and the plant may reach about 10 feet if planted out. It has the same deeply fissured corky/warty bark (upper picture) that begins roughening in about 2 years. The wood is stronger and more flexible and can be wired. Grows quickly, about 18 inches a year. This cultivar is best for Shohin through medium sized bonsai. It should be large enough to allow the bark to fully develop, but also can be grown to six inch caliper is a reasonable amount of time.

18" a year? Yeah, how about 5', granted it is only one straight shoot, but I bet that shoot will bring plenty of thickening below next season.

 

[giventofly]

View attachment 465409

what kind of pot is that? seems to be somewhat adjustable or made from cloth

 

[brentwood]

what kind of pot is that? seems to be somewhat adjustable or made from cloth

Grow bag, I've had great luck using them - curious what size that is.... Material typically like a tough felt.

Brent

 

[Maiden69]

what kind of pot is that? seems to be somewhat adjustable or made from cloth

Rootpouch, Model #: G200-03.

 

[birchman]

Great growth man, and Up the Maidens!
Looks like a fair layer of slow release on top which helped I bet. I am layering two off my mother tree this summer that I might allow to chunk up now I've seen this.
Cheers
BM

 

[Rivian]

Do you get fall color or do the leaves drop while still half green?

 

[Maiden69]

Not a lot to report, growing like crazy... I think I am going to start a few layers now that I have access to the tree as I moved it to the opposite side of the grow bed. barely any roots outside of the Root Pouch, but definitely will need to be moved to a new one with some root work on spring. Barely visible as my iPhone fuse all colors together. It is the long stick in front of the trident, right at the corner of the planter. Will try to get some more pics later, it is freaking hot out there right now.

 

[River's Edge]

Well done. You are having great success with this approach. I have experienced a similar growth pattern with my Seiju elms. They show great bark characteristics within five years and the cuttings take very easily. I do find that the excessive growth rate requires more management in order to create movement and taper in development. Also concur that frequent pruning required at nodes to prevent the development of inverse taper.
For the cuttings I upsize containers frequently and arrange the roots each time. They do tend to produce very coarse roots if not managed. All part of the growth rate characteristic. Just as an extra note, they do grow well and fast in containers for those who may not have the grow beds available. Not as fast as in the ground but very quick compared to most trees in development. I have used Anderson flats. Two per plant, one nestled into the other to give better drainage and air pruning of roots below. The width of the flats allows for good nebari development and lots of root growth. This approach requires frequent watering and may not work for everyone though.
Just as you are I am using slow release organic fertilizer.

 

[Maiden69]

Just as an extra note, they do grow well and fast in containers for those who may not have the grow beds available. Not as fast as in the ground but very quick compared to most trees in development.

For those who would like to get an extra push of development, I have been able to get slightly similar results using a tree in a Root Pouch inside an oversized pot. I am a proponent of making things easier so I use all inorganic media in the pouch, on the pot you could add mulch/perlite/pumice... any media that holds a little water, but does not get soggy like potting soil. The idea is to provide a little extra moisture and something for the escape roots at the bottom to grow into providing you a little more growth on top.

Some pics of the bark... I swear this iPhone camera is not the best as it used to be with the 8-10 generation. I guess I will have to attain a black or white background cloth or plastic to see if the camera focus on the tree.





I was fertilizing with a miracle grow sprayer... big mistake, not using that again. It moved all the particles away from the top of the soil. I moved them back in place.

 

[pandacular]

Incredible results, wow. If you were to do it again, would you skip the colander and go straight to the root pouch? I ask as this tree inspired me to pick up a seiju (and a catlin!) from Brent, and I hope to emulate your growth.

generally when you transplant a tree to a bag, do you up-pot it? I'll be receiving a 1 gallon and am wondering if I'd be better off with a 1 gallon pouch or 2 gallon folded down.

 

[Maiden69]

Yes, knowing what I know now I would have used the Root Pouch and waited for the right time to repot and do full root work before moving it into. I only upsize if I want the tree to grow faster and coarser, but only once the roots are sorted out. On this one I should work the roots and move it into the same size bag... but it will depend on the condition of the roots. If they are decent I may just go to the next size bag.

Catlin is a pain... they do ramify faster, but I think it is not for a beginner, a Seiju can be a handful as well, it corks a lot and develops inverse taper if you are not on top of it, I think Catlin can do the same... not sure. Brent used to have a lot of Catlin specimens, he has a few seiju now I think. Another good one to work with is the yatsubusa, it corks but is different than Seiju.

 

[roberthu]

Do you think using organic potting soil like the ones sold at big box store in root pouch is a feasible way to grow out trees? Or inorganic is the only way to go?

 

[Maiden69]

Do you think using organic potting soil like the ones sold at big box store in root pouch is a feasible way to grow out trees?

If you can manage the watering correctly. That stuff is garbage for container growth, and while a root pouch would be considered in-ground depending on where you place it, that media absorbs and retains too much water for my liking, If you were doing this for a BC I would say ok, but not for anything else that can not withstand having the feet wet for too long.

Get a few bags of Bonsai Jack (minus anything organic) and use that, come next time you have to move the tree to a bigger bag or a pot all you have to do is sift the media out for fertilizer, pieces of roots, etc... give it a decent rinse in water, let it dry and re-use. I wouldn't use any particle that breaks down in the bags.

 

[roberthu]

If you can manage the watering correctly. That stuff is garbage for container growth, and while a root pouch would be considered in-ground depending on where you place it, that media absorbs and retains too much water for my liking, If you were doing this for a BC I would say ok, but not for anything else that can not withstand having the feet wet for too long.

Get a few bags of Bonsai Jack (minus anything organic) and use that, come next time you have to move the tree to a bigger bag or a pot all you have to do is sift the media out for fertilizer, pieces of roots, etc... give it a decent rinse in water, let it dry and re-use. I wouldn't use any particle that breaks down in the bags.

I probably need to spend a few grand to plant all the trees I want to with Bonsai Jack media. Probably worth asking them for a wholesale price.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Maiden69]

I probably need to spend a few grand to plant all the trees I want to with Bonsai Jack media. Probably worth asking them for a wholesale price.

Thanks for sharing!

How many trees do you plan on doing? I have between 30-40 trees and I don't think I have spent more than $400 in soil from them, and I still have around 10-12 gallons left to use. I don't fill the entire bed, just the pouch, and the biggest pouch I have in-ground is 3 gal, they are also cut in 1/2 height-wise, so I think the most I have in each bag is around 1.5 gal minus the root ball. The biggest bag I have used was a 7 gal for the collected BC, and that one was cut with pumice 50/50, again, not filled more than 1/2 way up.

While the cost is a little bit at the start, you can re-use the soil, and it is 100 times easier to clean a root ball out of these particles as it would be of any organic crap you can use on them.

 

[roberthu]

How many trees do you plan on doing? I have between 30-40 trees and I don't think I have spent more than $400 in soil from them, and I still have around 10-12 gallons left to use. I don't fill the entire bed, just the pouch, and the biggest pouch I have in-ground is 3 gal, they are also cut in 1/2 height-wise, so I think the most I have in each bag is around 1.5 gal minus the root ball. The biggest bag I have used was a 7 gal for the collected BC, and that one was cut with pumice 50/50, again, not filled more than 1/2 way up.

While the cost is a little bit at the start, you can re-use the soil, and it is 100 times easier to clean a root ball out of these particles as it would be of any organic crap you can use on them.

Oh that's good to know! I planed to use mostly 5-gallon ones and thought I needed to fill the entire bag...

 

[Maiden69]

Oh that's good to know! I planed to use mostly 5-gallon ones and thought I needed to fill the entire bag...

Remember that you are "building" bonsai, you don't want a super-dense 12" tall rootball. 5 gal bags are huge, the elm here is on a 3 gal bag, as well as most of my deciduous trees. Plenty big for a chuhin size tree, and the size of the bags that Telperion used for their JBP.



Had a visitor early morning on the Seiju today...