Toyo Nishiki Survivor

[thumblessprimate1]

I brought home a 'toyo nishiki' Japanese quince in February. It was late winter for me. I had others but this is the one that is heading in the direction that I want and has survived disease. I thought I'd give an update. The first pic is from Feb of this year. The others are from today. The leaves don't look so good. I'm wondering if I should defoliate or just go ahead and spray for fungus.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Some more angles.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Last image.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I really like what you discovered under the soil!

 

[edprocoat]

Not much room for the roots to grow in that colander, do you think that will stress it and slow development much ?

ed

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Picture below is from July. I'm not sure if the colander will stress it out. I'll probably be able to tell you next year. This year it had all that growth while in the colander. It looked pretty aggressive, would you agree? I had it in full sun August through mid October, and the quince did suffer some aphid attacks.

 

[Stan Kengai]

Good find. The colander size looks fine to me, so long as you can keep in sufficiently watered in that TX heat. Looks like you've done a good job with that this summer.

Most rose family plants are susceptible to leaf disease that way: Japanese quince, Chinese quince, apple, crabapple, rose. Try to keep an eye on it (and even better, records) so that you'll know when to spray preemptively for both fungus and insects.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I've been looking back to my trees as I observe and study images of the fine bonsai of others. I've been wondering what direction I want to take this quince. I'm considering moving this tree in the direction of exposed root. I'd like to get it up in the air for a more dramatic effect in the future. What might some of your thoughts be?

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Quince is leafed out. Tilted it a little. Primarily just going to let the branches thicken some more this year. I have a different Toyo Nishiki that I may try exposed root on instead of this one.

Trying to figure out how to post the picture on Bnut 2.0...

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I'm most satisfied with this as the front now. There are some areas that I'm not happy with that may need to be fixed or removed this year. Feel free to comment on anything you see.

 

[JoeR]

What kind of soil mix is it in? Looks like mostly sphagnum moss.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I have the top sprinkled with some sphagnum moss to help it stay moist a little while longer near the surface. It's in a mix of akadama, pumice, and lava rock.

 

[fredtruck]

I think you have a good start. I think you need to begin developing branches. The trunks give you a great base. Toyo Nishiki tend towards long internodes making for a very sloppy bonsai. After it flowers this year, cut back most branches to 2 or 3 nodes.

The style of your tree will develop over time because the primary purpose of flowering bonsai is to show the flowers. Try to develop ramification. Read Colin Lewis's Bonsai Survival Manual, which has a great section on flowering quince. Read Brent at Evergreen Gardenworks essays on quince for bonsai.

In spite of their reputation for quick and easy bonsai, you'll quickly find to get those beautiful flowers, you as developer have a lot of work ahead.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Fredtruck, thanks. Don't you think I should let the branches grow out another year or two? I'd like for them to be double or triple their current thickness. I imagine the final size of the quince to be about where the image is cropped at the top.

 

[fredtruck]

Yes, you could do that. Remember quince are slow to thicken, so it could tke longger. Also,seal all cuts to prevent dieback.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

So the quince partially defoliated itself when it got hot around here for a week or two, about 110 degrees F. It's starting to grow branches. I've fertilized it some. Water twice daily. It's been in a shady area that gets some morning sun all summer. In the Spring of this year I slipped it into this larger bling colander. No roots pruned, but I did adjust the arrangement of a few roots.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

It's grown more and still going.
I exposed the trunk a little by scraping some of the surface soil and added akadama. It's been a few days now. I think it'll be happier from it next year.

I'm going to cut back some branches once I can ID the flower buds.

 

[GrimLore]

I'm going to cut back some branches once I can ID the flower buds.

Nice - will be fun to discover the variety!

Grimmy

 

[thumblessprimate1]

What I meant by ID the buds is to get a visual on them. I ony see leaf buds so far.

 

[fredtruck]

Flowering quince only flower on last year's wood. If you want to look for flower buds, I suggest looking in closer to the trunk.