Ginkgo from seed

[Brian Van Fleet]

Brian, you showed / said you put in the pot and worked in soil. Maybe this is a "known" for everyone else but since I did not see in the picture, did you put a layer of soil in the bottom? Just asking if there is a time that it one would not have a bottom layer.

I do have a layer on the bottom of the pot, but it’s mostly to adjust the planting height. It’s optional if you have food draining soil. Usually the roots run out to the edges and start circling the bottom anyway, so they get under the drainage layer pretty quickly.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I do have a layer on the bottom of the pot, but it’s mostly to adjust the planting height. It’s optional if you have food draining soil. Usually the roots run out to the edges and start circling the bottom anyway, so they get under the drainage layer pretty quickly.

*good draining soil..

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Growing right along...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Fall color in a moment of sunshine yesterday.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

...and leafless.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

This is an incredible tree. Beautiful color, beautiful character. It's a shame it's a male and not a female that would also set seeds.

I would remove somehow one of the four Chichis up front. The number 4 looks too symmetrical and, I think, distracts from the trunk line. I think I would remove the third from the left, personally.

I think it looks incredible otherwise and your styling of it and branch selection is spot on. There is an old one in someone's yard here in town with an incredible trunk and it looks very much like this one.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

This is an incredible tree. Beautiful color, beautiful character. It's a shame it's a male and not a female that would also set seeds.

I would remove somehow one of the four Chichis up front. The number 4 looks too symmetrical and, I think, distracts from the trunk line. I think I would remove the third from the left, personally.

I think it looks incredible otherwise and your styling of it and branch selection is spot on. There is an old one in someone's yard here in town with an incredible trunk and it looks very much like this one.

Thanks for the comments. How do you know it is a male tree?
As to the chichis, they are a bit symmetrical, but I’m going to leave them alone and just see what happens over time.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

I had read that female trees and male trees have different leaves somewhere. It said that male trees have the deep lobes while females are straight. Have you have ever seen flowers or cones?

 

[Cadillactaste]

Thanks for the comments. How do you know it is a male tree?
As to the chichis, they are a bit symmetrical, but I’m going to leave them alone and just see what happens over time.

Scott Lee told me that Chi-Chi were male trees.

When researching them, they are mentioned being a male clone.

Ginkgo biloba 'Chi-Chi' - Plant Finder

I would never remove a chichi. That's the characteristics of the tree everyone wants!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I had read that female trees and male trees have different leaves somewhere. It said that male trees have the deep lobes while females are straight. Have you have ever seen flowers or cones?

No, it hasn’t flowered or fruited yet, so I don’t know if it’s male or female. In ginkgo terms, it’s relatively young. 20-40 years is about how long it takes before they’re mature. With a little luck, I may find out in my lifetime.

Scott Lee told me that Chi-Chi were male trees.

When researching them, they are mentioned being a male clone.

Ginkgo biloba 'Chi-Chi' - Plant Finder

I would never remove a chichi. That's the characteristics of the tree everyone wants!

Chi-Chi must be a cultivar as you describe it. Mine (so far) is an unsexed seedling.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@Brian Van Fleet - I too love your ginkgo. Especially that we have been able to follow a progression over the years. Nice.

Female ginkgo trees are planted deliberately in areas of Asia, where the nuts are prized as a food crop. Even when growing freely in the ground, with as much fertilizer as possible, it will take around 30 years for a seedling Ginkgo to flower for the first time. In a bonsai pot, flowering may be delayed for several decades beyond the 30 year time. There may be the odd seedling that flowers sooner, but it won't be a common event.

For this reason, grafted trees are used for nut production. Usually a female scion is grafted to understock. Then a couple years later, after the tree has sized up some, one or two male scions are bud grafted on, to create a male branch in an otherwise female tree.

Grafted and cutting grown trees from mature flowering age trees will produce flowers sooner than the 30 years, but it may still take more than a decade for a cutting produced tree to be large enough to flower. It would be attractive to have stinky fruit hanging in your Ginkgo, but unfortunately it is not a common sight.

I do like the flavor of ginkgo nuts, they are tasty when cleaned and cooked.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I had read that female trees and male trees have different leaves somewhere. It said that male trees have the deep lobes while females are straight. Have you have ever seen flowers or cones?

My understanding is leaf shape is not a reliable way to distinguish between male and female. Back in the 50's and 60's when ginkgo were first becoming popular as landscape trees, leaf shape was thought to be a way to separate the sexes. This resulted in many ginkgos having to be cut down from landscape plantings, because what were assumed to be male trees turned out to be female. For landscape uses, most available these days are grafted male trees. Some of the dwarf cultivars that are propagated by grafting really have not been around long enough to flower. Some of the witches brooms may turn out to be females, but they simply have not been in cultivation long enough. The slow growth of dwarfs, means that it may take more than 30 years to find out if a cultivar is male or female.

Yes, 'Chi-Chi' or 'Chi Chi' also spelled 'Tschi-Tschi' or 'Tschi Tschi' and 'Tschi-Tschi Icho' are all variants of the recognized cultivar name for a single cultivar. All these names refer to the same cultivar, or clone. It is a male, tends to be dwarf, and usually forms the nipple like structures once the cutting or graft is over about ten years of age. Sometimes they don't form until 20 or more, but usually begin by 10 years of age.

Most seedling ginkgo, with time will form the nipple like structures with time. It is not a feature unique to a single cultivar. The difference is that 'Chi-Chi' will form the nipple structures earlier than most.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Taking some photos today for fun. This one turned out pretty nice. Look how much the root growth has pushed up the soil this year.

 

[whfarro]

Very nice indeed!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Tested a few different pots when repotting the ginkgo today...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Actually liked the unglazed rectangle for a change of scenery. Let’s see if the slightly larger pot will contain the roots this year!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

A little spring growth starting to appear. It was 48f outside this morning, supposed to be in the 80s mid-week, so I expect some good growth pretty soon. Accent is a small Chojubai, turned around to show a flower bud.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

That left side is getting a little Randy...we’ll see how this plays out. I’ve been committed to growing this tree 100% clip & grow and no wire from the beginning, just to see how it develops on its own in a pot.

 

[barrosinc]

In 1996 I collected 11 ginkgo fruits (incredibly foul-smelling), and seven of them grew; 4 are still living. This one has been in the ground in Iowa, chopped back annually for the last 14 years, and was dug this spring. My buddy brought it down this weekend, thought I'd share. It's about 18" tall, and developing some chi-chis that may become problematic for taper, or if they continue extending, can make for a powerful trunk.

Haven't decided what I'll do with it yet, but will enjoy turning it around for a while.

Hi Brian.
Just wondering, does the anual cutback mean chopping it to 10 to 20 inches every year or leaving a sacrifice branch some years or never?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Hi Brian.
Just wondering, does the anual cutback mean chopping it to 10 to 20 inches every year or leaving a sacrifice branch some years or never?

Not specifically, just cut back to 1-2 nodes per branch in the early summer. This tree no longer has sacrifice branches.