Ebihara maples

[pweifan]

I have a question.
When spreading the roots and pegging them in place ate they laid flat or is something put under them in various places to give them an undulating look?
I saw it somewhere. Maybe @Smoke blog? Pieces of chopstick were placed under the root in various places to put a lump in them.
Maybe I dreamt it up but I don't think so.

I saw this recently as well. I couldn't find the article but here's an example of what you're talking about.

 

[markyscott]

You must be thinking about the thread when I put the potato in my pants to look more manly. I thought things were looking good until a gal told me the potato goes in the front, not the back!

You've made my day, Al.

 

[LanceMac10]

Use your "tools" properly! Even if their beyond your "pay grade"......

 

[M. Frary]

You must be thinking about the thread when I put the potato in my pants to look more manly. I thought things were looking good until a gal told me the potato goes in the front, not the back!

You're a crazy fu#/er!
And very,very funny!

 

[M. Frary]

You've made my day, Al.

He has that way about him.
Like he's said before ,he's a people person.

 

[Adair M]

I did that with my zelkova.

 

[markyscott]

I did that with my zelkova.

Seems like sticking a zelkova in your pants would be scratchy. Probably better to stick with a potato.

 

[Dav4]

I'll never look at that zelkova the same way ever again.

 

[ml_work]

Thank you for such Great documentation Scott!

 

[markyscott]

Thank you for such Great documentation Scott!

Thank you Michael. I'll keep it going as long as folks find it interesting. We still have some wiring and graft work to do this growing season. Then the fall cut back and the great reveal - we'll repot a couple of the maples to see how the roots have developed in the two growing seasons since we started this thread. I'm glad you've gotten something out of it. I certainly have.

 

[Smoke]

Can't wait.....I'm always ready for a big reveal!

 

[markyscott]

Can't wait.....I'm always ready for a big reveal!

Perhaps we'll find a potato growing there.

 

[Smoke]

No way. I love to see the fruits of yearly labor. Keeps me enthused. I look around my backyard sometimes and think, "gee, I could sell fifty trees and not make a dent"...but then I would never see them to some kind of fruition. "One more year will do it".......yea right....more like ten..

 

[w0nderland]

I hardcore follow this thread, along with many others, in the hope of knowing what to do with my maple when it comes to it!

 

[markyscott]

Scott it is the May-June issue from 2008 #115. I have been fascinated by this technique for many years now. I knew that Mr. Urushibata practiced it so when I went to visit him, I took that same BF issue and had him sign it for me.

Thanks again for the reference, Mach5. A couple of statements struck me when I was reading the article:

1. If the tree is asleep the graft will not heal, if there is a lot of sap moving callousing will take place quickly. Timing is of great importance.
2. All grafts are weaker than a normal branch in terms of structural integrity and sap flow. Extra care must be taken when wiring, pruning and watering. A grafted branch will always be the first to die on a tree.
3. Some grafts will take within a month, others a year.

 

[markyscott]

Here's the first thread graft -



Here's the second -


We're good here. The wire has girdled the shoot, it's well-calloused and the diameter of the grafted shoot is almost double the thickness of the original branch. Time to cut the cord -

 

[markyscott]

Here's how we're coming along. Branch structure is slowly coming together, but we'll need a couple of seasons still to get it all in place, I think

 

[Lars Grimm]

Informative as always Scott. Is there an upper limit of diameter when selecting the grafts? It seems like usually they are pretty small in the <5 mm thickness.

 

[markyscott]

Informative as always Scott. Is there an upper limit of diameter when selecting the grafts? It seems like usually they are pretty small in the <5 mm thickness.

Hi Lars - I'm not sure what the upper limit is, but it's best to use a pretty young shoot. First it has to be thin enough to to bend into place. That is often a pretty big bend (these were 180 degrees) - I wire it into place when it's green the season before I graft. If you wait until it's lignified you can risk breaking the branch - then it's no good. So we're talking about a shoot from the previous growing season. Second, we have to drill a hole through the trunk - that leaves a wound on the opposite side we need to heal. I like that wound to be as small as possible. Third, on the second season, shoots will develop side branches at some of the nodes - that will make it more difficult to thread. Finally, we want a shoot that swells and callouses rapidly.

So I always use shoots from the previous growing season. This is a great time to select them and bend them into place. You don't want to do any pinching or pruning on the shoot you intend to use as a graft. You want it to be a single shoot with an apical growing tip. You can go ahead and wire it now and bend it into position for grafting before it lignifies in the fall.

If you're using older shoots that can be moved into position, you might consider approach grafting as an alternative. But even for those I tend to use young branches. These thicken rapidly and fuse really quickly.

 

[bilbocannon]

So i attempted this on 2 of my tridents today(only 1 pictured).

I found it hard at this stage because o how the roots where growing. As you can see the majority of he roots here on 1 side and going directly down. Admittedly i bought these as pre bonsai and it is the 1st time i have even looked at the roots.

Either way i carried ahead, my assumption is that when i dig them up next it will be a lot easier to work the roots.

Thoughts?