Techniques on Developing small Bonsai Stock

[Njyamadori]

So I’ve been starting to buy rooted cuttings , whips , and other starter material. I really want to grow them into something I can use for bonsai in 10-20+ years. Online many people have different techniques. I would like to see people's favorite Conifer and Deciduous techniques at growing their starter material for shohin and smaller sizes. Any suggestions is welcomed !

Right now i have Kishu whips and more coming , a bunch of Japanese beautyberry cuttings , and will be propergating and buying many more.

 

[sorce]

There is a spectrum of reactions to actions, from an old elm budding from the cut ring, to a hinoki cypress that "won't backbud on old wood", that should be considered.

With this you develop each tree differently, by keeping potential problems at bay, each with it's different problems, or reactions.

Within this spectrum, there is a range of techniques applicable to each species, which will allow for differing designs within the species.

Utilize each piece of material for what it is showing it's potential for. As soon as you spend 5 years learning how to "work" a tree in such extreme ways to turn that round peg square, you will find a peg that was square from the beginning and realize you wasted your time.

By understanding this information, we see that there is always one best way to create a tree, of a thousand techniques, all specific to the one tree you should be intimate with at the time.

Resorce.

Sorce

 

[SeanS]

I like to water and fertilize the material I’m growing, and give them as much sun as they need.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I love shallow containers for one or two years to establish a base and taper.
No, or very little apical growth is what the plants give in return; low buds, low branching, compact internodes. But below the soil there's a radial system developing that's hard to mimic later on.

I don't use bonsai soil either for the first couple of years. My juniper whips and cuttings have a higher output in organic soils.

Wire them young, make use of branch formation; in pines I leave three branches on the apex, then at the second half of summer I reduce them to two or one. Those acute bends and angles can't be done with wire. Leaving cheap iron wire on the base of a tree can cause scarring that swells like crazy. It overgrows in a single season. People say you'll always be able to see that scarring, but I believe that if a plant is young enough, it should be invisible in less than three years.

Weak growth doesn't exist. It's future strong growth, a new apex, a new trunk.. So I try to keep as much foliage as I can, just to keep the options available.

 

[Pitoon]

So I’ve been starting to buy rooted cuttings , whips , and other starter material. I really want to grow them into something I can use for bonsai in 10-20+ years. Online many people have different techniques. I would like to see people's favorite Conifer and Deciduous techniques at growing their starter material for shohin and smaller sizes. Any suggestions is welcomed !

Only way to get good growth is to plant them in the ground as nature intended and dig them back up when they reach your desired size.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Tridents, J. Maples, Ume, hornbeam and junipers I put in the ground over a tile. I try to find a section of roots that emerge radially, spread them out best I can and place directly on a tile and then plant in the ground. Try to wire some initial shape before planting If they are flexible., otherwise feed, let it grow and chop/cutback only as needed to continue getting trunk movement.

 

[Shibui]

Definitely wire and bend the junipers while they are still flexible.The smaller the tree you plan the more extreme the bends should be to look good.
For larger size bonsai ground growing is effective but fast growth can quickly make a tree unsuitable for shohin or small size. I prefer to develop smaller bonsai in larger pots on the benches where I can keep an eye on what is happening and intervene when necessary. Plenty of large sacrifice branches will not only increase trunk thickening but also gives something to covert to jin later when the trunk is thicker.

I do not find tiles or shallow pots necessary. Roots do not move in the ground. If you arrange the roots radially and horizontal when you plant they will still be in the same position years later. Any new ones that grow down will contribute to growth but can be cut off at transplant.

Never grown beauty berry so cannot offer any useful advice on developing that species.

 

[Forestcat]

I have used Earth Boxes (TM) with some success. I planted two juniper seedlings over tiles in normal potting soil (with a little pumice thrown in) in these containers. The continuous moisture seems to help their growth quite a bit. The advantage of using the Earth Box is that it is raised up on a stand at table height so I don't have to bend over when wiring the branches, which is a lot more comfortable than kneeling next to a plant in the ground.

After a year, trees which were in 3" pots with very thin trunks have thickened nicely and have lots of vigorous shoots. I am very pleased with the results.

Maryann

 

[penumbra]

Right now i have Kishu whips and more coming , a bunch of Japanese beautyberry cuttings , and will be propergating and buying many more.

Don't make the mistake of starting a bunch of cuttings now. Without a proper greenhouse, the timing for many of these plants is not good. Cuttings rooted now have to be kept actively growing through the winter. I usually do hardwood cuttings in March, sometimes February and sometimes as late as April .... when all are still dormant.

 

[Njyamadori]

Don't make the mistake of starting a bunch of cuttings now. Without a proper greenhouse, the timing for many of these plants is not good. Cuttings rooted now have to be kept actively growing through the winter. I usually do hardwood cuttings in March, sometimes February and sometimes as late as April .... when all are still dormant.

Actually the beautyberry cuttings are all rooted and definitely gonna survive. For the junipers I only have about 50 cuttings that was left overs . So it’s no problem and everything should go well

 

[penumbra]

I have not rooted junipers but understand they are best rooted in winter outside with bottom heat, as in a cold frame. Glad to here the calicarpa already have roots.