Young Goshiki Kotohime

[Kanorin]

Picked up this seedling this spring and it's been growing super well. A few weeks ago I put it in the ground with about 1/2" - 1" of soil on top of a large flat rock in the hopes that it'll help make nicer surface roots) in a spot with some afternoon shade. I'm thinking this would make a nice smaller sized bonsai down the road after I thicken the trunk up - 15"-18" total height or so.

The leaves are growing super dense, almost right on top of each other (especialy in certain spots like on the left-below), as I assume this variety is apt to do. Today I pruned a few leaves to let in a little more light and give space for new shoots emerging.



Should I defoliate some more?
Any other tips people have on this variety?

 

[JuniperMasterRace]

I

Picked up this seedling this spring and it's been growing super well. A few weeks ago I put it in the ground with about 1/2" - 1" of soil on top of a large flat rock in the hopes that it'll help make nicer surface roots) in a spot with some afternoon shade. I'm thinking this would make a nice smaller sized bonsai down the road after I thicken the trunk up - 15"-18" total height or so.

The leaves are growing super dense, almost right on top of each other (especialy in certain spots like on the left-below), as I assume this variety is apt to do. Today I pruned a few leaves to let in a little more light and give space for new shoots emerging.
View attachment 306908

View attachment 306909
Should I defoliate some more?
Any other tips people have on this variety?

just picked up two seedlings. Not sure if they need a special soil type. I’m just using hard Akadama

 

[Kanorin]

I

just picked up two seedlings. Not sure if they need a special soil type. I’m just using hard Akadama

I know several people in my area grow JM in straight akadama and it works well.

(almost) Leafless update: This young maple has put on some good growth this year. I put some wire on two of the main branches to give them some movement and I'm pretty happy so far with the gently curving trunk line. I'm loving the 0.25 - 1.0 inch internodes. At some point I may airlayer this to make two trees from it (far left and far right trunk line).



I'm wondering if people here would recommend digging it up to do some root work this spring? It's only 2-3 years old and about 15" tall. I'm thinking yes.

 

[johng]

I would not dig it up for root work yet... If it were a trident it would be different. If I read correctly you just put in the ground at the beginning of summer and you used a flat rock underneath...good move! I have grown quite a few koto hime. My reasoning is that trimming the roots will slow down the growth next season. The first year in the ground the tree usually doesn't do much...the 2nd and 3rd years you will get much more growth. Give it one more year to grow...it will likely grow twice as much next season. The nice thing about kotos are that they are very easy to airlayer...so even if the roots are not perfect after you have the trunk the size you desire you can put on a ground layer and have very nice radial roots in a short time. I would not remove any leaves during the growing season...you are trying to maximize growth and the leaves make the energy the tree needs. This variety is an amazing back budder so there is no need to worry about inside growth being shaded out until you start to develop the branches.

 

[Kanorin]

I would not dig it up for root work yet... If it were a trident it would be different. If I read correctly you just put in the ground at the beginning of summer and you used a flat rock underneath...good move! I have grown quite a few koto hime. My reasoning is that trimming the roots will slow down the growth next season. The first year in the ground the tree usually doesn't do much...the 2nd and 3rd years you will get much more growth. Give it one more year to grow...it will likely grow twice as much next season. The nice thing about kotos are that they are very easy to airlayer...so even if the roots are not perfect after you have the trunk the size you desire you can put on a ground layer and have very nice radial roots in a short time. I would not remove any leaves during the growing season...you are trying to maximize growth and the leaves make the energy the tree needs. This variety is an amazing back budder so there is no need to worry about inside growth being shaded out until you start to develop the branches.

That's correct, I just put it into the ground in May 2020. Thanks for the detailed response!

 

[Kanorin]

Left this in the ground for another year, but I've got a question about some die-back at a few of the terminal branch ends. While most of the tree is leafing out, the last 2-3 buds on a few branches are black (and the stem is black at those spots) and not opening. If I had to guess, it might be from the week of super cold weather we had at the end of february - a couple nights in a row with lows around 0 degrees F.

In any case, should I prune those couple blackened nodes off in case it is an infection?

 

[Kanorin]

Dug this one out for rootwork and got a nice surprise. That rock did some work! This little tree is off to a great start!


The rock did it's job


Going to grow this one in a wooden box for the next year or two. (Don't judge my box-making skills, this was one of my first ones made)


Done

 

[Kanorin]

Cut this way way way back. Going for a shohin tree.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Wow, looks like the trunk really fattened up.

 

[Kanorin]

Wow, looks like the trunk really fattened up.

Yes, the two years in the ground definitely helped speed that up! With some species/cultivars you'd have to worry about super long internodes during ground growing, but it's not really an issue with kotohime because they go from ~0.4 cm to a max of maybe 1.5 cm. (Still quite small)