SU2
Omono
I do a lot of cuttings (semi- and hard-wood, treated with IBA then planted) and most of the trees I get are yamadori (more often than not they're hard-chopped to the point of no foliage)
In both cases I tend to get quick & strong shoot growth, but am finding that, at least with these species (bougies and crepe myrtles), they have a tendency to growing shoots they cannot support (shoots that are too soft + long to remain upright on their own, and when such shoots take 'the fall' and bend they're usually lost, at that point I either remove them or use a zip-tie to re-upright them which seems to work a good amount of the time)
Any tips for this? I've been having some success with partial defoliations of such shoots, removing their lower leaves (removing the weight that's making them tip), I used to pinch in this case but found it was just a temporary fix (as the resulting extra shoots that grow end up making it weigh far more!)
I guess I'm just wondering if it makes more sense to defoliate their bottoms or remove them entirely (of course I'd only do removals if there were plenty of shoots, like right now I have a crepe yamadori that's got >20 shoots and its longest is ~6" and starting to get floppy, and is in a spot I can't use a zip-tie to brace it - am tempted to just remove it once it tips which I'm sure it will in the next 24hrs, just for a change as defoliating the bottom 80% is my go-to.
Any thoughts on helping soft, supple growths like these would be greatly appreciated!
In both cases I tend to get quick & strong shoot growth, but am finding that, at least with these species (bougies and crepe myrtles), they have a tendency to growing shoots they cannot support (shoots that are too soft + long to remain upright on their own, and when such shoots take 'the fall' and bend they're usually lost, at that point I either remove them or use a zip-tie to re-upright them which seems to work a good amount of the time)
Any tips for this? I've been having some success with partial defoliations of such shoots, removing their lower leaves (removing the weight that's making them tip), I used to pinch in this case but found it was just a temporary fix (as the resulting extra shoots that grow end up making it weigh far more!)
I guess I'm just wondering if it makes more sense to defoliate their bottoms or remove them entirely (of course I'd only do removals if there were plenty of shoots, like right now I have a crepe yamadori that's got >20 shoots and its longest is ~6" and starting to get floppy, and is in a spot I can't use a zip-tie to brace it - am tempted to just remove it once it tips which I'm sure it will in the next 24hrs, just for a change as defoliating the bottom 80% is my go-to.
Any thoughts on helping soft, supple growths like these would be greatly appreciated!