Seiju elm raft?

M.B.

Mame
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And so she continues with sticks in a pot........
I bought this Seiju last year knowing it is a stick in a pot with an interesting top. I love Seijus and thought maybe I could do something with the upper part. The trunk was crap so I figured I'd try to layer off the top or something. I just didn't know what. So while I was staring at this, trying to figure out what to do with it, I tilted it sideways and thought I saw a future raft. Problem is I really don't know if I can do it or not. I haven't seen very many either for sale of in shows. I have read books how to make one, but not having started from the beginning in making one, I'm not sure what/where to start or if this is suitable for a raft style. It would be pretty small if I did make a raft, but that's O.K. with me since I try to find the shohin in almost everything.
Mary B.
 

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M.B.

Mame
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Whoops, forgot the close up of the branching.
 

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buddhamonk

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seijus grow so slowly it would take forever for these branches to develop into trunks. however seiju should back bud significantly just like any elm. If you want a shohin, I would cut back the top growth and let it bud back on the trunk.
 
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seijus grow so slowly it would take forever for these branches to develop into trunks. however seiju should back bud significantly just like any elm. If you want a shohin, I would cut back the top growth and let it bud back on the trunk.

Sorry but you are doing something wrong if your Seiju is growing slowly. These can grow as much as 2 feet during a season (at least in my climate). It's relative the Hokkiado is the slow grower.

A raft I would think would be an excelent choice.
 

M.B.

Mame
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I haven't found Seiju's to grow that slowly. Mine are budding already and just lost thier leaves in Nov/Dec so that's roughly a 9-10 month growing period. I thought slow growth was a good thing for mame/shohin. Less constant maintenance than a more aggressive grower, right?
Mary B.
 

Smoke

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seijus grow so slowly it would take forever for these branches to develop into trunks. however seiju should back bud significantly just like any elm. If you want a shohin, I would cut back the top growth and let it bud back on the trunk.

Seiju elm is fastest of all the elms. In fact they grow so fast they will produce reverse taper if you look at them wrong. Let three or more branches grow at an intersection for more than three months and a hideous knob will form before your eyes.

Really good ones are beautiful, but they are far and few between.

Cheers, Al
 

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TheSteve

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Now hokkaido are slow. If their leaves weren't so small they wouldn't get them grown out before it was time to drop them again.
 

crhabq

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I'd be very interested to see the development of a raft style elm. I hope you keep us updated on the project if you decide to follow through. The only suggestion I would make is that maybe you could thread graft some whips lower on the trunk to fill in that area first. But I've no experince in this species and it sounds like you might get reverse taper higher on the trunk by letting a whip grow out long enough to make a good thread graft. Anyway, I look forward to seeing how you decide to proceed.
 

TheSteve

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I don't think reverse taper would be much of an issue on a raft style. I think thread grafting is a good idea.
 
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