CHOJUBAI

jeez between that and the mame maybe I do want one

how do they deal with the cold? My challenge is no garage, but I'm thinking of building something up against my house that I think could potentially act like one for the trees. Right now all I can do is put them under a table under a plastic sheet and cover with mulch, so I was strongly advised to not even attempt a trident maple here until I had a better way of overwintering.
 
badatusernames said:
jeez between that and the mame maybe I do want one

how do they deal with the cold? My challenge is no garage, but I'm thinking of building something up against my house that I think could potentially act like one for the trees. Right now all I can do is put them under a table under a plastic sheet and cover with mulch, so I was strongly advised to not even attempt a trident maple here until I had a better way of overwintering.
Click to expand...
Japanese quince are very cold hardy. Zone 6 should be fine for them... and I grew tridents in zone 6 MA back in the day without issue. The biggest issue I had with them is that they would break dormancy mid to late winter with the slightest warm up and lose all their cold hardiness... freeze solid again and that'd be it. You need to mulch them and keep them out of the sun and wind, but they should be ok being frozen all winter.
 
cmeg1 said:
Is this Hadgedorn?
Click to expand...
No! Hagedorn knows what to do with chojubai!

No, Really, @MACH5 , I’m clueless. I bought this a couple years ago at the REBS show in Santa Rosa, from Lone Pine nursery. It is (was) the source for all their cuttings! (Why he sold it is beyond me!).

I’ve had it out at Boon’s. When I got it, I repotted it into this plastic pot, removed the thorns so I could wire it, did a little wiring to correct crossing branches, and I pulled a bunch of low branches down to touch the soil, to make the base broader.

All that was a couple years ago.

Now, I have the tree at my home, I’ve removed the old wire, and such, but I’m at a loss as to what the next step should be. I have a zillion twigs. Tons of “ramification”, in terms of numbers of twigs. But they’re all straight like a porcupine. Shouldn’t they all be wiggly? Yours is, Sergio.

If this were yours, what would you do?
 
Dav4 said:
Japanese quince are very cold hardy. Zone 6 should be fine for them... and I grew tridents in zone 6 MA back in the day without issue. The biggest issue I had with them is that they would break dormancy mid to late winter with the slightest warm up and lose all their cold hardiness... freeze solid again and that'd be it. You need to mulch them and keep them out of the sun and wind, but they should be ok being frozen all winter.
Click to expand...

yeah i think that’s the problem - we get winters now where it’s in the 30s most of the time, then dips to 0 for a week or two, then maybe a few days of 70s in February... then two more months of 30s/40s

michael at bonsai west out here told me he was 90% confident that it’s just a matter of the wrong winter hitting and it’s dead, he advised me to stick to JMs until i had a garage
 
Adair M said:
I bought this a couple years ago at the REBS show in Santa Rosa, from Lone Pine nursery. It is (was) the source for all their cuttings! (Why he sold it is beyond me!).
Click to expand...
Ah,I see.Awesome. Doesn’t Michael have some of the gnarliest chojubai around I seen on his blog once.
I tried to get one of his apprentices to make a trade for like a lot of pine trees but he said it’s impossible. Only retail in person.
I just sewn a lot of chaenomeles seed,you never know maybe a dwarf pop up.Even that is really fun.
 
Adair M said:
No! Hagedorn knows what to do with chojubai!

No, Really, @MACH5 , I’m clueless. I bought this a couple years ago at the REBS show in Santa Rosa, from Lone Pine nursery. It is (was) the source for all their cuttings! (Why he sold it is beyond me!).

I’ve had it out at Boon’s. When I got it, I repotted it into this plastic pot, removed the thorns so I could wire it, did a little wiring to correct crossing branches, and I pulled a bunch of low branches down to touch the soil, to make the base broader.

All that was a couple years ago.

Now, I have the tree at my home, I’ve removed the old wire, and such, but I’m at a loss as to what the next step should be. I have a zillion twigs. Tons of “ramification”, in terms of numbers of twigs. But they’re all straight like a porcupine. Shouldn’t they all be wiggly? Yours is, Sergio.

If this were yours, what would you do?
Click to expand...

That's a great piece of raw stock you got! Clearly not much attention was placed in developing its ramification as why it was left to grow out straight. Chojubai can grow quite a bit of long extensions. They are vigorous. You pretty much treat them like many other deciduous species. Once the new growth has hardened off in late spring, cut the extensions back to one or two nodes except of course where you need them to thicken. You can repeat this again once the new summer shoots have elongated back to one or two nodes. I would find any opportunity to cut back for better taper and change of direction to start creating the classic little intricate and tight twists and turns that this species can develop. So essentially it needs to be rebuilt as you probably already know. You can cut them back hard with no problem. I would probably do now a combo of wiring and pruning and then ease up on wiring as it develops and resort to the old clip and grow method. They are absolutely beautiful!!
 
cmeg1 said:
Ah,I see.Awesome. Doesn’t Michael have some of the gnarliest chojubai around I seen on his blog once.
I tried to get one of his apprentices to make a trade for like a lot of pine trees but he said it’s impossible. Only retail in person.
I just sewn a lot of chaenomeles seed,you never know maybe a dwarf pop up.Even that is really fun.
Click to expand...

Without question Michael has the best chojubais in the US. The only other that I can think of is the one Bjorn has in his nursery which is pretty outstanding as well. It was imported from Japan. He was selling it a few years back and the price was quite steep!! :eek::eek:I think Michael is largely credited for popularizing chojubai in the US.
 
MACH5 said:
Without question Michael has the best chojubais in the US. The only other that I can think of is the one Bjorn has in his nursery which is pretty outstanding as well. It was imported from Japan. He was selling it a few years back and the price was quite steep!! :eek::eek:I think Michael is largely credited for popularizing chojubai in the US.
Click to expand...
Kinji Murata has some nice ones, too.

So, Sergio, since my chojubai needs cutting back, I ought to stick all those twigs and make cuttings, don’t you think?

If I were to cut this one back the way it needs, I could get 100 cuttings!
 
SeanS said:
@MACH5 i guess we should move this current string of posts to your current active chojubai thread, but while we’re all here: when do you repot chojubai? Spring or fall?
Click to expand...

Michael Hagedorn recommends autumn. Nematodes is chojubai's nemesis so autumn, as I understand it, is best to avoid such thing. However, I have also spoken to Andrew Robson who was his apprentice and I believe he repots them in spring. In have repotted in spring thus far with no problems and have been careful to use sterilized tools. Andrew also recommends to treat the roots with ZeroTol thereafter.

Make sure chojubai is not kept in very shallow pots and don't ever be too aggressive with their roots. I would avoid at all costs bare rooting them.

 
Adair M said:
Kinji Murata has some nice ones, too.

So, Sergio, since my chojubai needs cutting back, I ought to stick all those twigs and make cuttings, don’t you think?

If I were to cut this one back the way it needs, I could get 100 cuttings!
Click to expand...

Yes! Absolutely!! 👍
 
MACH5 said:
Yes! Absolutely!! 👍
Click to expand...

Do you recommend cutting off the flowers? It's pretty, but it sure sounds like I should.

I just got this one. As much as I'd like it in a nice pot, I think it should probably stay here at least until fall if not considerably longer. My plan seems to be to pluck the buds as flowers emerge, as well as to wire the branches to shape. Then let it ride.

I suppose I should mention that I love the idea of a clump style chojubai, though there's already some pretty interesting motion here - if this material is better used for something else, I can pivot. Sounds like continued chopping may be the path to a clump.

Does that sound about right to you?

I was also told that because it was in a greenhouse that never went below freezing, I should keep it inside by a window until the nights are at least in the 40s, and that it was OK to do so since it had already started leafing out. I figured I'd mention that here as well to see if there were opinions to the contrary. It's about 68-70 in here, but the room I am keeping it in probably gets to the low 60s at night.

plYYmH2.jpg
 
Last edited:
here’s another angle and what may be a potential pot. i think it’s too big, but i’ve heard shallow pots are no bueno.


nEQtlD0.jpg


something like this would be my inclination if it would be ok in something this shallow

Kx0NuJn.jpg


or perhaps

kxbc05c.jpg


anyways, i’m pretty sure that’s a ways off. I really don't think these other angles are fronts but figured it'd give you a better idea as to what I'm working with.
 
Last edited:
@badatusernames Yes cut off the flowers before they expire on the tree and well before they make fruit. This is so that you give priority to vegetative growth. This is specially important if your tree needs thickening and branch development.

They grow best in deeper pots. This is true for all fruiting bonsai. The trick is to find something deep enough but still being aesthetically pleasing and in proportion with the tree.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

markyscott
Red chojubai
Replies
3
Views
309
markyscott
markyscott
Maiden69
WTB Red Chojubai
Replies
5
Views
347
JEads
JEads
stewarjm192
Late summer/Early Fall Chojubai Cuttings
Replies
1
Views
176
Wires_Guy_wires
W
SgtPilko
SgtPilko's Chojubai(s)
Replies
3
Views
226
NeedlesAndLeaves
NeedlesAndLeaves
NeedlesAndLeaves
Chojubai cuttings
Replies
9
Views
393
Shibui
S
Back
Top Bottom