Stewartia

giharding

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Hi all,
I bought this stewartia late last summer and intend to repot this year. Any advice on soil mix would be gratefully received. Should I go with a standard deciduous mix or add some kanuma? It looks to be in 100 percent akadama currently. I live in London, UK. Thanks! 20181117_104734.jpg
 

Potawatomi13

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P. monadelpha here in commercial Bonsai mix + about 40% pumice so about 50-60% inorganic mix. No special fertilizer or PH balance concern. Does fine;). Just growing/not training about 30" high had 9 flowers summer 2018. Huge surprise:eek:!
 

JudyB

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They are easy enough trees, I use regular deciduous mix. Nice taper on that one.
 

giharding

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Thanks both. Judy, I'm glad you say they are easy enough as I have heard they can be a bit temperamental. I had the choice between this and a twin trunk, but chose this for exactly that reason - decent taper. Whereas the twin trunk had no taper at all. Just bought a nice light blue oval yamafusa for it so really looking forward to repotting.
 

JudyB

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Thanks both. Judy, I'm glad you say they are easy enough as I have heard they can be a bit temperamental. I had the choice between this and a twin trunk, but chose this for exactly that reason - decent taper. Whereas the twin trunk had no taper at all. Just bought a nice light blue oval yamafusa for it so really looking forward to repotting.
They are fussy about root work is the only temperamental thing I've noticed about them. They can be a little slow to recover from repotting, so just be patient.
 

0soyoung

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They are fussy about root work is the only temperamental thing I've noticed about them. They can be a little slow to recover from repotting, so just be patient.
Indeed.
They are reasonably easy to root from cuttings, so they've got me confused about why they are seemingly 'fussy' about their roots.
My only thought is that it may be better to repot stewartia after the summer solstice. Spring didn't work out so well for me - lost a nice group of 4 year olds that I had grown from seed.
Am I correct to presume you only repotted in spring too?
 

Potawatomi13

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Unless already happy with trunk size should not rush into bonsai pot. Trunk size stops growing(almost)if rushing this step;). What is around base of tree:confused:?
 

penumbra

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Many years ago everyone wanted Stewartia but they were nearly impossible to find. None of the larger nurseries would grow them because they did not transplant well. I finally bought one about 20 plus years ago. It seems the Oregon nurseries figured out how to do it. Mine was about 7 feet tall and I settled for a fairly large bonsai at about 38 inches. I have always treated the plant tenderly and it has been relatively slow to develop. I have done some branch bending and ramification but never very aggressively. I decided this past winter that it is going to get its first major re-pot in 20 plus years and I am going to seriously further the work on ramification. It had always been enough for me just to have a nice Stewartia, but it is really come time to advance its development as a bonsai.
 

JudyB

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Many years ago everyone wanted Stewartia but they were nearly impossible to find. None of the larger nurseries would grow them because they did not transplant well. I finally bought one about 20 plus years ago. It seems the Oregon nurseries figured out how to do it. Mine was about 7 feet tall and I settled for a fairly large bonsai at about 38 inches. I have always treated the plant tenderly and it has been relatively slow to develop. I have done some branch bending and ramification but never very aggressively. I decided this past winter that it is going to get its first major re-pot in 20 plus years and I am going to seriously further the work on ramification. It had always been enough for me just to have a nice Stewartia, but it is really come time to advance its development as a bonsai.
Funny that mine came from Wee in Oregon... I didn't have any trouble bending branches pretty heavily, but I suppose slow and safe is the best way. And it seems to me like these are growth spurt trees. The shoot up then stop, then have another spurt. They are funny.
 

giharding

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Unless already happy with trunk size should not rush into bonsai pot. Trunk size stops growing(almost)if rushing this step;). What is around base of tree:confused:?

Yes I'm quite happy with trunk size, going for a more feminine feel. I exposed some of the cambium around the base and packed with sphagnum to try to get some more surface roots growing.
 

Potawatomi13

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Funny that mine came from Wee in Oregon... I didn't have any trouble bending branches pretty heavily, but I suppose slow and safe is the best way. And it seems to me like these are growth spurt trees. The shoot up then stop, then have another spurt. They are funny.

Funny. Same place mine came from;). Picked up as $8 markdown tree in 3" pot on way home from Artisans cup.
 
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