Thought on BRT propagation for a newbie

MandrakeRoot

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Hello Folks,

A newbie to Bonsai, just stepping in to the practice and absolutely enamored with it. Started with a Juniper in a Bonsai Class and now looking to move on to other trees. Acquired a mallsai Ficus that I rescued/repotted yesterday and now turning my attention to a young Brazilian Rain Tree that I bought as pre-bonsai material, some pictures below (just fyi, he is droopy because there are evening shots, he is perfectly perky though the day). Just wanted to see if y'all had any pointers on next steps, specifically:

1. Keep him in this planter pot and let him grow through this season or repot to a wide Bonsai training pot?
2. Is any shaping or pruning warranted at this early juncture or just let him grow? If shaping or pruning should be done, any pointers on how to approach it at this point? And how often should such pruning be done?
3. His trunk is very thin and I surmised that the best way to get it to grow bigger is to keep those lower branches. Any other thoughts on that?

Would appreciate any guidance and apologize for any rookie mistakes. Greatly appreciate this community.

V
Zone 7B

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MandrakeRoot

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Thank you for your advice. I will repot come Spring then. Should I be pruning the top\height growth as it comes in though? I imagine otherwise this plant will grow quite large no?
 

sorce

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Welcome to Crazy!

@LanceMac10 recently dropped some knowledge on another BRT thread, I like the way he observes them and shares good thoughts.

You can search his name and recent posts, maybe find it there.

Sorce
 

LanceMac10

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Look at that swank NYC honey-hole......
SEXY PARTY.gif

..I'd worry about planning sexy parties, not growing a juniper in your apartment...💃😮😁😁😁😁😁




...good thing is BRT'S grow just fine with "janky" lighting..... @MandrakeRoot

don't bother repotting just yet...learn how to water it first. that way, if it dies, you know that it wasn't cuz yu repotted. When your just starting, take it at a measured pace, do too much, you won't know what killed it.
 

Paradox

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Thank you for your advice. I will repot come Spring then. Should I be pruning the top\height growth as it comes in though? I imagine otherwise this plant will grow quite large no?

Where in NY are you?
You should wait until late June/early July to repot BRT in NY.

If you want to grow a thinker trunk, you will need to let it grow.
These are fast growers compared to other trees.
But, if you trim it too much, it wont get bigger very fast.

The question you need to answer for yourself is how big and what you want the tree to be?
Then work toward that.

I have 4 BRT that I grow in NY so it can be done.
When it gets warm enough, my trees go outside with my temperate zone trees. Usually June.
I bring them back inside in October when it gets too cold.
In the winter they stay in my basement under full spectrum shop lights and they will grow for me most of the winter.
So much so that I have to trim them a couple of times.

Here are some older pictures of 3 of mine. I have had them all for several years.
I havent taken any recent ones unfortunately, but they are all still alive.

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MandrakeRoot

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@LanceMac10 Haha thanks. And I am trying my best with what I've got. I know that Juniper is probably not going to survive indoors but it's what they gave us in class and she is my first and I've got a grow light pointed at her 15 hours a day. And I'll be damned if I don't try my best to keep her alive! Appreciate all the guidance on the BRT.

@Paradox Sandy, thank you very much for the advice. I am in downtown Brooklyn, in an apartment so taking them out won't be an option for me but will follow all the other advice. Your trees look gorgeous! Definitely what I would aspire to, but I get that I am years away.

Do you think when June or July roll around, it might be a good idea to repot to a Bonsai training pot such as this one:


And is it ok to prune the ends a little as it grows or just let it grow?

I appreciate all of y'all's guidance a lot, just getting started and clearly need to learn a lot. Just did a major pruning and wiring on the Ficus that I had rescued from the Mallsai, don't know that I did it many favors. Just tried to expose some branch structure mostly. If you have any thoughts on this, would be happy to hear.

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Thanks again!
 

Paradox

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@LanceMac10 Haha thanks. And I am trying my best with what I've got. I know that Juniper is probably not going to survive indoors but it's what they gave us in class and she is my first and I've got a grow light pointed at her 15 hours a day. And I'll be damned if I don't try my best to keep her alive! Appreciate all the guidance on the BRT.

@Paradox Sandy, thank you very much for the advice. I am in downtown Brooklyn, in an apartment so taking them out won't be an option for me but will follow all the other advice. Your trees look gorgeous! Definitely what I would aspire to, but I get that I am years away.

Do you think when June or July roll around, it might be a good idea to repot to a Bonsai training pot such as this one:


And is it ok to prune the ends a little as it grows or just let it grow?

I appreciate all of y'all's guidance a lot, just getting started and clearly need to learn a lot. Just did a major pruning and wiring on the Ficus that I had rescued from the Mallsai, don't know that I did it many favors. Just tried to expose some branch structure mostly. If you have any thoughts on this, would be happy to hear.

View attachment 289370 View attachment 289371 View attachment 289372 View attachment 289373

Thanks again!


Yes you can repot it into that pot if you like. Keep in mind though that if you want to grow it much bigger than it is you should put it into a bigger pot.
Not that it wont get any bigger or thicker in the pot you pictured, i t just might take a long time. I would recommend that since you are in an apartment, that you try to keep the tree on the smaller size. There are some very nice smaller BRT, the second one I posted is only about 12-14 inches tall.

I do strongly recommend getting some full spectrum lights to put it under. Set up a table in your apartment for the BRT and the ficus. That will help them grow in a big way.
I had one summer I couldnt put my BRT and Ficus outside and they stayed in my house for 18 months under their full spectrum shop lights. They continued to grow for me under those condtions and were very healthy.
 
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