Demand for Decent Cryptomeria Stock?

[FromSeed]

You just don't see many nice US specimens.

I'm just wondering if there is any real reason why this is(other than they are a pain in the ass to upkeep). With the many cultivars suitable for bonsai, you'd think they'd be in more collections. Personally, I love the damn things. Any opinions on this subject?

And is there any real demand for good pre-bonsai cryptomeria stock in the US?

Also, if anybody has any decent material, let me know. I'd love to see pics.

 

[FromSeed]

I guess that says it all. lol

 

[Nybonsai12]

The only cryptomeria I have wanted was black dragon. I don't believe I have ever seen one grown for bonsai purposes. And I rarely even see them in nurseries. When I have seen them, they are around 4 feet tall, lots of growth dieing, and still have a $129 price tag.

The pro in my club did a great demo with one two years ago and he brought a finished specimen from his collection. Beautiful.

 

[FromSeed]

You should check into the cultivar "Bandai Sugi" Simply stunning growth pattern. I'm looking into propagating a lot of said material. Just seeing if there is even a market in the US for such pre-bonsai stock before I make any investment.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

A friend of mine has a flat of them from seed. He gave me one for helping him with his watering over the summer, which I coincidentally slipped into a flat just this afternoon.
He said there is a lot of variation from seeds from the same plant, but I think the real reason there is not a ton of material out there is because they grow really slow. I plan on treating mine the way i treat my few junipers in that I mostly leave them alone and occasionally do some branch selection rather than "pinch"

 

[FromSeed]

A friend of mine has a flat of them from seed. He gave me one for helping him with his watering over the summer, which I coincidentally slipped into a flat just this afternoon.
He said there is a lot of variation from seeds from the same plant, but I think the real reason there is not a ton of material out there is because they grow really slow. I plan on treating mine the way i treat my few junipers in that I mostly leave them alone and occasionally do some branch selection rather than "pinch"

The fact they aren't true to seed is the reason why you don't see many propagated this way. vars, "Yoshino" is a very fast growing cultivar with a pretty much predictable growth pattern. I could see someone using "Yoshino" to get a nice large specimen in a relatively short period of time.

And yeah, leaving them to their own devices when growing out seems like the right way to go with these, like juniper. Watching for reverse taper and low branch die off is all you pretty much need to do until you get them into their first training pots.