Ume question

[GO-OK]

For those of you with a few years experience.....

I have a nice ume, had it now for 3 years and it has bloomed well. This year flower buds began to swell as they normally would....but now the blossoms seem to be "deflating" for lack of a better word.

Winter storage is an unheated garage which maintains around 37f.

Planted in akadama mix, grew heathy all year, no signs/symptoms of bugs or fungus. My best guess is we had a cold sap that caused the garage tempt to drop to 28 or 30f which cause most everything to freeze up.

I am not worried if there are no blooms for one season, only that this could be a sign of bad things to come when the tree begins to leaf out.

Thoughts??

 

[CHUCHIN]

Any pics of it?

James

 

[GrimLore]

My "thoughts" not seeing the specimen or the location in the garage. First off a night of 28f or even a few days if the pot was on the ground in the garage would be at ground temperature not air temperature making no difference. If the plant was elevated on a stand/shelf and it was for a few day period it "could" have frozen but honest cannot make that call without a bit more detail. I really think Winter has been nasty to many this year and many are just "seeing/noticing" more then they bothered to look for in previous years and that could be the case. Again, the garage is ok depending on the location in the garage and I cannot comment without more information or pictures. On a serious note I doubt it is a problem but hey give us something to "play" with

Grimmy

 

[twisted trees]

The flower buds can be delicate and sensitive. Cold or dryness or draft, sudden changes in temps could have caused the bud decay. Are the stems still full and supple and the leaf buds still full?

 

[GO-OK]

Twisted trees,
Yes, shoots are still looking fine, leaf buds also appear to be healthy. It appears that the blossoms most affected are the ones which were a little closer to blooming. Makes good sense, I guess I was not considering the sensitivity of the new buds.

Anyway, here's a pic or two. Including the damaged buds. Ugly stump stage....but is a Hindi variety and the pink is amazing.

I allowed it to grow wild last year after repotting, this year I will cut it back to the 2nd leaf bud and maybe do a little wiring....sorry for the lack of background. Pics were on the fly.

 

[CHUCHIN]

Great tree! Impressive material...the cold should not have affected flowering...if anything the flowers will just open up more slowly or simply suspend further growth until the temperature is optimal. I have a few umes and the slight discoloration in the bark is something I've seen but has never impacted my trees in anyway. I'd keep an eye out...check your soil and water not too over water.

Amount of Flowering can differ year to year and for me not an indicator of health. I have years where I get little to no flowering and yet robust growth in the spring throughout summer.

I'm eager to hear from others...I may be leaving something out...

James

 

[Don Blackmond]

sorry, but its tough to tell anything due to the low quality of the photos. that said, it looks fine.

take photos in natural lighting, or use a dark background, put some light on it, back up and zoom in. your photos should be better that way.

 

[Poink88]

I have nothing to share but posting to say that I hope it is okay. You've got a fantastic tree there and would hate to lose it. A little deadwood treatment/carving and that will be much better still.

BTW, I remember BVF told me that as long as the branches stay turgid (which looks to be the case here), it should be fine. Hope he weighs in.

Good luck!

 

[bonsaibp]

Like Don said -hard to tell from these photos but it looks ok to me. Better pics will help but I would not worry too much.

 

[GO-OK]

Like Don said -hard to tell from these photos but it looks ok to me. Better pics will help but I would not worry too much.

Thanks guys...like I said, pics were on the fly. But appreciate the input.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Likely caused by drying out or freezing. When they're headed into bloom, they can be pretty thirsty. When mine gets dry, the blooms show it pretty quickly. Mine has frozen slightly while in bloom with no ill effects. I suspect if it gets cold enough, the buds would blast, just don't know that 28 is cold enough. Either way, it doesn't look unhealthy.

 

[BonsaiEngineer1493]

That is a really nice ume. I wish I could help, but unfortunately I do not have an ume or experience; therefore, I would like to ask where you acquired it from -if you don't mind -because I'm trying to find myself one.

Nick

 

[GO-OK]

That is a really nice ume. I wish I could help, but unfortunately I do not have an ume or experience; therefore, I would like to ask where you acquired it from -if you don't mind -because I'm trying to find myself one.

Nick

The guy I got this one from was near Atlanta, GA. He reportedly bought this one from miniature plant kingdom through the monastery...or something along those lines. I believe mini plant kingdom had a bunch of rough old ume stock. I got a bunch of trees from MPK as well over the course of a few years. I wish I'd bought more before they went out of business for the final time.