What to do? What to do?

[Chris Johnston]

Your base is not swelling as much because your wire is not constricting it there. I had the same problem with this tree and with other seedlings I treated this way. I think the key is wiring the seedling before planting, so you can make the coils go clear down, or rewiring just the base with the coils a bit more closely spaced.
The problem with using a knife now is that the scarring will heal differently than what you have already.
Chris

 

[mcpesq817]

Hey Chris,

That's going to be a nice twisted little pine. I think Jason is spot on as usual with his comments, and his picture shows you a pretty good example.

If you're not going to plant this tree in the ground, have you thought about putting the tree into a pond basket? I've gotten great growth out of the JBP seedlings I planted in pond baskets earlier this year, not only top growth but also in the base. You probably already know this, but there are a few articles in old issues of Bonsai Today about using mesh-type pots where you can move the tree, pot and all, into a bigger mesh pot so that you don't disturb the roots and lose growth momentum.

Either way, I think if you feed heavily and grow out lots of sacrifice branches to thicken this one up, you'll have a nice tree down the road. Thanks again for reposting your pics.

 

[Chris Johnston]

I'm beginning to think that pond baskets are overrated. Boon gets incredible growth in regular pots, terra cotta and otherwise. As it is, this one is growing very strongly at the tips so I have cut it back somewhat hard to push growth in.

My ultimate plan is to graft some buds close in to where I want them.

 

[bonhe]

Your base is not swelling as much because your wire is not constricting it there. I had the same problem with this tree and with other seedlings I treated this way. I think the key is wiring the seedling before planting, so you can make the coils go clear down, or rewiring just the base with the coils a bit more closely spaced.
The problem with using a knife now is that the scarring will heal differently than what you have already.
Chris

When the bark grows, it will completely cover the scars, so, one can't see the difference any more.

 

[Chris Johnston]

When the bark grows, it will completely cover the scars, so, one can't see the difference any more.

I think you might be surprised at how different the two might look. Plates of bark will form with boundaries at the scar tissue. Straight lines at the base will appear different from the lines formed by spiral wiring.

Chris

 

[bonhe]

I think you might be surprised at how different the two might look. Plates of bark will form with boundaries at the scar tissue. Straight lines at the base will appear different from the lines formed by spiral wiring.

Chris

I will see. Bonhe