Seiju elm no.1

Maloghurst

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This is a little seiju elm. It’s 11” tall at the tallest branch. Trunk is 5.5” tall. Bought in April 2019 from a nursery as a shrub. Thought about hedging this because of the growth habit but decided I did not want a chia pet on my bench. Potentially be a shohin but I’m less concerned about size then creating a natural looking tree. Final height should be under 10”. Inspiration from National Aboretum.
Best practice for getting rid of that moss would be appreciated. I’ve just been picking it off.
April 2019
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June 2019
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August 2019
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Did some branch selection in October but didn’t apply wire until last night.
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Stan Kengai

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Looking good. You will definitely want to get that moss off the trunk and try to keep it off, especially since this is a cork bark variety. Put some cloth on the soil surface and spray the trunk with vinegar. Best to do this before leafing out.
 

Maloghurst

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Looking good. You will definitely want to get that moss off the trunk and try to keep it off, especially since this is a cork bark variety. Put some cloth on the soil surface and spray the trunk with vinegar. Best to do this before leafing out.
Thanks I’ve heard vinegar. Do you dilute and does it matter what type? I have apple cider vinegar handy? I was also going to do dormant oil spray this week on all my deciduous. And lime sulfur spray for fungus before bud break about 5-6 weeks from now. Just found some white distilled.
 

0soyoung

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The big trouble with seiju is that it will root anywhere it is kept damp/wet - the rootlets push the bark off. They can be layered without girdling - simply wrapping something like sphagnum around the barky stem and keeping it damp.
 

Maloghurst

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The big trouble with seiju is that it will root anywhere it is kept damp/wet - the rootlets push the bark off. They can be layered without girdling - simply wrapping something like sphagnum around the barky stem and keeping it damp.
I’ll move this out of the rain then. Thanks for the advice.
 

W3rk

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The big trouble with seiju is that it will root anywhere it is kept damp/wet - the rootlets push the bark off. They can be layered without girdling - simply wrapping something like sphagnum around the barky stem and keeping it damp.
Thanks 0soyoung, that is great to know. I have one Seiju, it's pretty much a straight stick. I had thought about layering the top off to make two trees but it's a bit on the small side. Knowing that you can get them to root without ringing the bark will make this much easier if I decide to try.
 

Acer palNATEum

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The big trouble with seiju is that it will root anywhere it is kept damp/wet - the rootlets push the bark off. They can be layered without girdling - simply wrapping something like sphagnum around the barky stem and keeping it damp.

I am not sure if this is troublesome or not...depends on your climate I guess.

@0soyoung, what will the root spread look like from just using sphagnum? Will it be radial? I thought part of the purpose of the tourniquet or girdle was to define the lower bounds of where roots will emerge, leading to more of a "single plane" of roots.
 

0soyoung

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I am not sure if this is troublesome or not...depends on your climate I guess.

@0soyoung, what will the root spread look like from just using sphagnum? Will it be radial? I thought part of the purpose of the tourniquet or girdle was to define the lower bounds of where roots will emerge, leading to more of a "single plane" of roots.
A tourniquet or girdle will give you a much better defined root collar for your layer. But you will still get roots above the girdle where it stays damp. Rooting will also happen quicker with either 'apparatus' (girdle or tournquet) than without. IMHO one will inherently need to do a bit of root removal to get a nice nebari.

Sphagnum roots are always fragile fleshy things on every species I've layered. Pot the works in substrate for 4 weeks or so and they turn into normal roots that one can work.
 

LCD35

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Very cool. So much progress for just a year. Gotta love elms.
I picked up a seiju at farwest this week. EXTREMELY rootbound. Repotted, got three root cuttings and planted the sawn off rootball so we'll see what happens.
 
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