Tamarind Help

Joel Osteen

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Hey everyone! I am new to the tamarind and am not very confident styling one. I have grown mine to about 2 feet and she needs to be re potted. Looking for re potting advice and styling please! 923CAE1D-C8CF-4095-ABDC-A748B5B9516D.jpeg
 

Anthony

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Joel,

please put in your avatar your zone.

How large do you want the trunk ?
Good Day
Anthony
 

Joel Osteen

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Do you mean my hardiness zone? I’m in zone 6 Ohio. And I’m trying to grow a very thick trunk. I’m new to the tamarind and intimidated
 

Joel Osteen

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Joel,

please put in your avatar your zone.

How large do you want the trunk ?
Good Day
Anthony
Thankful for your reply Anthony you’re a legend on here. Hardiness zone 6 thick as possible with the trunk. Sorry still learning
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Ohio, zone 6, Tamarind are a good indoors for winter, outdoors for summer bonsai. Are you able to put this outside, on the patio, or a balcony for the summer? 100% indoor growing will be a long slow process. Quicker if it can get outside part of the year.

Thickening the trunk is a function of the total surface area of all the leaves. The more surface area of leaves a trunk supports, the quicker and larger the diameter of the trunk will develop. 2 styles of doing this, let a sacrifice branche get tall, often 5 to 10 times taller than the final ideal size, or to allow many branches to develop, and "hedge prune" to keep it small enough to go through doorways and fit in where it needs to be wintered. Search threads here on BNut and read Walter Pall's blog about hedge pruning. It is a valid technique. Keep stepping the tree up into larger and larger nursery pots until the desired trunk diameter is obtained. Then radical pruning is done, and the tree will be brought down in size to the desired size for bonsai. Most bonsai are brought down to size. It is very rare that they are grown up to size. I have an Amur maple that will become a shohin, less than 8 inches tall. In year 3 through 6 it was over 5 feet tall. At one point it was over 6 feet tall. That was what was needed to get a trunk greater than one inch in diameter. Now the sacrifice branch has been removed, and it is becoming a small tree.

Since you have to bring it indoors for winter, you will not be able to let it grow very tall. So you should encourage it to make many branches. I recommend "hedge pruning" when it becomes too large to go through doorways easily. To develop a thick trunk you have to let the tree get much larger than your ideal "finished" size. Encourage many branches, you want leaves everywhere. This will thicken your trunk. Once you have the trunk the diameter you need, you reduce the number of branches and shorten the branches.
 

Joel Osteen

Sapling
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9
Ohio, zone 6, Tamarind are a good indoors for winter, outdoors for summer bonsai. Are you able to put this outside, on the patio, or a balcony for the summer? 100% indoor growing will be a long slow process. Quicker if it can get outside part of the year.

Thickening the trunk is a function of the total surface area of all the leaves. The more surface area of leaves a trunk supports, the quicker and larger the diameter of the trunk will develop. 2 styles of doing this, let a sacrifice branche get tall, often 5 to 10 times taller than the final ideal size, or to allow many branches to develop, and "hedge prune" to keep it small enough to go through doorways and fit in where it needs to be wintered. Search threads here on BNut and read Walter Pall's blog about hedge pruning. It is a valid technique. Keep stepping the tree up into larger and larger nursery pots until the desired trunk diameter is obtained. Then radical pruning is done, and the tree will be brought down in size to the desired size for bonsai. Most bonsai are brought down to size. It is very rare that they are grown up to size. I have an Amur maple that will become a shohin, less than 8 inches tall. In year 3 through 6 it was over 5 feet tall. At one point it was over 6 feet tall. That was what was needed to get a trunk greater than one inch in diameter. Now the sacrifice branch has been removed, and it is becoming a small tree.

Since you have to bring it indoors for winter, you will not be able to let it grow very tall. So you should encourage it to make many branches. I recommend "hedge pruning" when it becomes too large to go through doorways easily. To develop a thick trunk you have to let the tree get much larger than your ideal "finished" size. Encourage many branches, you want leaves everywhere. This will thicken your trunk. Once you have the trunk the diameter you need, you reduce the number of branches and shorten the branches.
Dude excellent reply thank you. Yes I can put it outside all summer and I have a green house and grow system for winter. Only 26 inches tall though. I had no idea I had to let it grow so tall! My ficus was able to grow very strong without sacrificing so much. Different trees different rules? Or am I just clueless? I’m very much learning
 

Anthony

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@Joel Osteen ,

the Tamarind is very beautiful at 6 / 12 / 15 inches tall.
For your growing area indoors can you take for example a bowl upside
down say 12 inches wide and see if you have enough space.

Tamarinds need full sun to stay healthy.

Outdoors grow the top leader to 6 feet or more for trunk thickening.

Keep all side branches to 2 o 3 inches, observing how the tree buds.

Tamarinds genetically prefer to grow straight.
Good Day
Anthony
 

Joel Osteen

Sapling
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@Joel Osteen ,

the Tamarind is very beautiful at 6 / 12 / 15 inches tall.
For your growing area indoors can you take for example a bowl upside
down say 12 inches wide and see if you have enough space.

Tamarinds need full sun to stay healthy.

Outdoors grow the top leader to 6 feet or more for trunk thickening.

Keep all side branches to 2 o 3 inches, observing how the tree buds.

Tamarinds genetically prefer to grow straight.
Good Day
Anthony
Ohio is nasty. Frost from November to May sometimes. Why trim side branches so quickly? My understanding is that limits lead growth from the early post that is a way to grow the trunk. Leaf cover that is
 
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