Texas Shohin Bald Cypress

[AZbonsai]

Man among boys!

 

[markyscott]

Memorial Day weekend begins the dog days of summer here in Houston. But the BC love it.



S

 

[markyscott]

Without the foliage backdrop
S

 

[Cadillactaste]

The pot looks very shallow compared to the girth of that trunk! I notice you don't submerge either. Heck of a specimen!

 

[markyscott]

The pot looks very shallow compared to the girth of that trunk! I notice you don't submerge either. Heck of a specimen!

Normal APL mix with extra akadama and one part kanuma. 1/4” sphagnum on top. The shallow pot makes for higher water saturation. Right now it’s watered 2x per day. In terms of trunk diameter, there’s good evidence that submerging helps build girth faster, but I’m way past that stage with this tree.

S

 

[Cadillactaste]

Normal APL mix with extra akadama and one part kanuma. 1/4” sphagnum on top. The shallow pot makes for higher water saturation. Right now it’s watered 2x per day. In terms of trunk diameter, there’s good evidence that submerging helps build girth faster, but I’m way past that stage with this tree.

S

Extra akadama and One part Kanuma...interesting! Never heard of that. 1/4 sphagnum on top. I can understand that.

Ahhh so the water adds to the girth. Wasn't aware of that. Just assumed they were water loving swamp trees for the most part. So once I am done with ramification I can go to a much shallower pot then. Just assumed not possible. I have a Kifu size one.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Every time I see that tree, I am speechless. It is awesome! How much do you think it weighs? My back hurts just thinking about it.

 

[markyscott]

Every time I see that tree, I am speechless. It is awesome! How much do you think it weighs? My back hurts just thinking about it.

Hi MM. It’s not that much, actually. I can handle it alone on my hydraulic cart, but if I need to lift it, it’s a two-man tree.

S

 

[onlyrey]

It most have been pretty difficult to get all those little men to pose next to your Bonsai. Where did you get them ?

 

[MACH5]

LOL I'm glad to see I'm not the only lunatic!!

 

[markyscott]

LOL I'm glad to see I'm not the only lunatic!!

It’s a disease, no doubt. Just ask my wife.

S

 

[markyscott]

Hmmm. Maybe I need taller teacher....



S

 

[markyscott]

Light thinning and a little bit of wiring.


S

 

[cmeg1]

Awesome Bald Cypress.Nice to see them with developed branching such as this.

 

[Adair M]

Hmmm. Maybe I need taller teacher....

View attachment 200854

S

My teacher is taller than your teacher!

 

[SU2]

Interesting. I hadn't seen that before. He did it in leaf too - I've always done all my BC repotting in early spring before bud break.

That was the first thing I'd thought upon watching it!! I've always taken Adam's word as gospel since starting-out, I'd imagine this was a situation where it's less than optimal but OK, doing the transplant then would certainly 'shock' the foliage but if it's about to drop anyways would it matter? Am genuinely curious as I got mine this past winter, the only thing I've done to them is remove excessive branches (no re-pots, no pruning, etc) and, well, my plan was to let them drop leaves / go-dormant through the winter and, sometime around ~early Feb., was planning to take the dormant BC's and prune + re-pot both....it's no matter to me when the best time is, I just want to figure that out so I can do it then!

It’s been carved, but more work is needed.

You likely already know this, but if you don't read/follow his website is www.adamaskwhy.com

That's the site that got me into bonsai!!! I've met him once IRL, he was doing a demo near my area and was cool enough to let me come (I wasn't able to afford the membership fees of the club), awesome site & great guy!!

Nice Scott! Your tree is almost in my league I have a few in bonsai containers a little larger than yours (not much though)and two others only collected in the last two seasons that will be larger as well. In my experience, the larger the tree the easier it is to develop!!

BTW...I repot nearly all of my BC in midsummer...combined with defoliation.

Re-potting a BC in summer? Would you do this on a BC that was collected that same year while dormant? I have two that I collected in Jan this year, they're both growing like crazy but one was initially planted in an oil-pan and, when growth slowed and I knew it needed more room for its roots, I simply got another oil-pan, filled it a few inches with a rich substrate, and laid the first pan on top of it so the escaped-roots would fill it up- now they have, and the growth has slowed again, and I'm really unsure WTH to do....being that the roots are *escaped* roots through ~1/4" holes, it's a safe bet I'll sever *something* no matter how careful I am in carefully cutting-off the oil-pans to keep the roots intact, in this case would you still go for it or just deal with it and wait til dormancy to prune+re-pot? I notice you make clear you're defoliating (completely?) when you do this, although I was told not to touch my BC's foliage in the first year (I've wired branches and removed extra/unnecessary branches, but no pruning at all! Growth has been insane, both BC's are on-track to give me my two thickest first-year, from-scratch primaries!)

 

[TooCoys]

I’d like to ask a question, but I don’t want to be offensive, so I’m going to preface this with the statement that I do not intend to be offensive. I’m truly curious because I’d like to learn.

With that said, I’d like to know what your plan is for this tree? The reason I ask is because the trunk doesn’t look like a trunk TO ME. It looks like a big triangle, or a cypress knee with branches on it. How are you going to make it look more natural?

 

[markyscott]

View attachment 203557

How are you going to make it look more natural?

It’s just an imperial sized sumo. I’m afraid it will stay a formal upright. I’m just building branches at this point.

Scott

 

[markyscott]

That was the first thing I'd thought upon watching it!! I've always taken Adam's word as gospel since starting-out, I'd imagine this was a situation where it's less than optimal but OK, doing the transplant then would certainly 'shock' the foliage but if it's about to drop anyways would it matter? Am genuinely curious as I got mine this past winter, the only thing I've done to them is remove excessive branches (no re-pots, no pruning, etc) and, well, my plan was to let them drop leaves / go-dormant through the winter and, sometime around ~early Feb., was planning to take the dormant BC's and prune + re-pot both....it's no matter to me when the best time is, I just want to figure that out so I can do it then!

He defoliated it after repotting. I never repot mine in the summer - always dormant season repotting for this sailor - and I don’t believe in defoliating trees in development. But that’s me.

S

 

[markyscott]

Big guy looks funny without his clothes on.