Chojubai in development

[Maiden69]

I received this chojubai as cuttings from @Brian Van Fleet Sept 2021 and they started flowering the next month I got them. I left them in their little 2" pots until March this year, when I bare-rooted them and plant them in Rootpouches.

I have no idea how to proceed with them, should I let them grow till next season to thicken the base, or do they get continuously pruned from this early stage? I was reading Michael Hagedorn blog, but most of the information is for trees way into development when compared with my chojubais. Last picture was taken yesterday.


A few days after receiving them, mid September 2021


Early October 2021


Mid October 2021


Mid April 2022


Early July 2022

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Nice!

This Chojubai thread by @MACH5 has a great write up with references to good quince articles.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[Paradox]

Nice!

This Chojubai thread by @MACH5 has a great write up with references to good quince articles.

cheers
DSD sends

Link to the thread?

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

So sorry! Too much coffee today! Again!

RED CHOJUBAI [Chaenomeles japonica]

Red flowering quince or better known as 'chojubai' are often referred to as the jewels of the bonsai world. This species just about has everything going for them. They are deciduous, have textured bark, tiny leaves, form fine and dense ramification with tight internodes, and in winter it's...

www.bonsainut.com

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Maiden69]

Link to the thread?

There are only 2 threads from Sergio about Chojubai. I read the Red Chojubai but not the other one.

Search results for query: Chojubai

www.bonsainut.com

@Deep Sea Diver thanks

 

[Maiden69]

Update, not really though as I haven't done anything other than watering and feeding them. I did some cutback on the one sitting to the right in the middle in early July. I know they need a trim, some extensions are close to 12" long. The started to get flower buds last week.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

They look healthy!

 

[Paradox]

Agreed, they look very good

 

[Maiden69]

Chojubai yesterday... this things don't stop flowering. I think I'm too late to do a cut back and have the cuttings strike, but I'm going to try with one of the trees in the back. leaving the one in the center to produce as much roots as possible to start exposing it to promote suckers to develop close to the main trunk.

One year difference from Sep 2021 to Sep 2022.

 

[Colorado]

How much sun do you give your chojubai?

 

[Maiden69]

How much sun do you give your chojubai?

They were in full sun, now they are shaded by the big trees next to them around 2-3 pm.

 

[Colorado]

They were in full sun, now they are shaded by the big trees next to them around 2-3 pm.

Thanks! I am still trying to figure out chojubai in my climate. I had them in full sun for awhile but that seemed to be too much for them, wasn’t getting good growth. Now I have them in shade but feel like maybe somewhere in between would be best. Anyway, yours look very healthy!

 

[Maiden69]

They did look slightly "unhealthy" in the heat of the summer... that's when I moved them into the dappled shade from the BC's. I think a 30% shade will be beneficial, but I would experiment for a growing season to see how the internodes behave. In my ficus any shade will create long internodes. I know the chojubai have very short internodes, so this may now affect them.

 

[Maiden69]

Not the best pics... the bags are buried under mulch and placed into a frame to protect them from the wind. They were in flower during the cold spell, and the windchill recorded in my area was -2 degrees. A few leaves browned up and fell, but the flower buds were fine and it has continued to push flowers. This definitely need a haircut soon.

 

[ochong]

How are these doing @Maiden69 ?

I had 2 small chojubai I purchased from Evergreen 2 years, but lost them over the winter. I have another 5 right now from various sources that are doing well, but need up potting. I plan to slip pot them this weekend and then then evaluate a proper repot next year.

 

[Maiden69]

Lost 1 over the winter, and one of them almost died as well but one of the trunks survived and it is thriving. Will try to post pictures later today.

 

[Colorado]

Lost 1 over the winter, and one of them almost died as well but one of the trunks survived and it is thriving. Will try to post pictures later today.

I have found that chojubai are not particularly winter hardy. I lost a few of them in previous years over the winter as well.

This year, I protected them in my garage and didn’t let them get below 25F and they responded very well. No dieback and very vigorous this spring.

It’s interesting because I’ve seen chojubai touted as fairly winter-hardy, but that has not been my experience.

 

[Maiden69]

This year, I protected them in my garage and didn’t let them get below 25F and they responded very well. No dieback and very vigorous this spring.

This is what I plan on doing this winter. They tolerate the heat better than the Japanese quinces I have, but they are definitely not as cold hardy. We also had a freak ice storm in December, then a week of ice and snow in Feb. The one in December probably did the damage.

 

[Colorado]

This is what I plan on doing this winter. They tolerate the heat better than the Japanese quinces I have, but they are definitely not as cold hardy. We also had a freak ice storm in December, then a week of ice and snow in Feb. The one in December probably did the damage.

The other benefit of keeping them in the garage is that it’s more convenient to enjoy the beautiful flowers mine flower all through the winter in the garage!

 

[Maiden69]

Pics today... when do you guys take cuttings of this? They need a haircut badly.




This one had all the trunks die but one little sprout in the center survived. All this growth is from this year alone.