Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
Only the females produce fruit. The tree has to be around 30yrs old before they bear fruit. This is why most Gingkos are grafted so as to avoid the stinky fruit problem.
Ginkgophiles of the world unite!
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MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
Bri, are there any specific techniques to promote ramification? In many cases the buds do not extend (or only a few millimeters) and only produce a whorl of leaves. Only a few actually turn to branches. It doesn't seem to be predictable?
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
I’m still trying to figure out what it takes to get shoots vs. spurs. I have always pruned mine pretty hard just after leaf drop, back to 1-2 nodes. 2 nodes if the internodes are short, and 1 if the internode is long. It sort of works out that thick shoots are cut shorter, and thin shoots are left a little longer. I have had to repot it annually, and prune the roots back very hard. During the growing season, I trim the long shoots back pretty hard, and leave the spurs alone. It has actually led to some interesting structure and decent density.
AlainK
Imperial Masterpiece
I encounter the same difficulty with mine : if the shoot is cut when thin, nothing much happens, no backbudding, as Sergio said, just a whorl of leaves but no ramification.
On thicer branches, there can be some ramification, but not so spectacular.
But I hardly fertilize my trees (3, 4 times a season), which is a mistake I think.
MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
I understand that they won't ramify as finely or readily as maples for example. But ginkgo goes a bit the other extreme. I did get some on the new growth even without any encouragement. But if I can get a bit more or figure a way to induce it more predictably I'd be very happy!
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
You figure it out let us know.
Minnesota Madman
Yamadori
I bought this from the Minnesota Bonsai Society auction this fall. Info given is: Appx 18 years old. Field grown. Dug out and put into cedar grow box Summer 2019. Appx 38" tall with pot.
Right away, I got members telling me I should air layer the top because that's where the value is in this tree. I can see the appeal in that, but I'm really liking it as is. Also, what's left of this tree after the top is air layered off doesn't seem like anything that speaks to me. I see more in the tree as a whole vs 2 separate trees. There is a bit of an inverse taper where the trunk begins to branch out and bend around. It has been growing vigorously in the ground, and as expected, it has some over-coarse branching up high and very little ramification. All previous scars are callousing over nicely. I will drop a few photos in the post. Any stylistic views from you folks are quite welcome.
I'm quite pleased with this tree, and I look forward to it's progression.
Right away, I got members telling me I should air layer the top because that's where the value is in this tree. I can see the appeal in that, but I'm really liking it as is. Also, what's left of this tree after the top is air layered off doesn't seem like anything that speaks to me. I see more in the tree as a whole vs 2 separate trees. There is a bit of an inverse taper where the trunk begins to branch out and bend around. It has been growing vigorously in the ground, and as expected, it has some over-coarse branching up high and very little ramification. All previous scars are callousing over nicely. I will drop a few photos in the post. Any stylistic views from you folks are quite welcome.
I'm quite pleased with this tree, and I look forward to it's progression.
Shibui
Imperial Masterpiece
End of the season here. Ginkgo is one of the first to show color and is now just past prime but still looking good.
The little Japanese maple seedlings in there are cool too!
I like how this is not the typical flame style ginkgo. Not that there is anything wrong with the flame style ones, this is different and you should embrace that. I wouldnt airlayer it. Its cool.
Is the branch coming up from the bottom a sacrifice branch?
And don't worry about the coarse branching either, its just a characteristic of the species.
I pulled these from underneath a large female in my neighbor's yard, there were hundreds of them but I only grabbed 4. 1 or 2 look like the were hit by a lawnmower. 
Another neighbor has a huge male that Ive started the initials on for an air layer. From what I have read and been told, females are undesirable due to the foul smelling flowers and fruit. I'm guessing they are pollinated by flys.
Another neighbor has a huge male that Ive started the initials on for an air layer. From what I have read and been told, females are undesirable due to the foul smelling flowers and fruit. I'm guessing they are pollinated by flys.
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Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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The flowers of ginkgo are wind pollinated. If there is a male tree within a quarter mile of a female tree, there will be fruit. The foul smelling fruit probably attracts some long extinct mega-fauna from the Triassic. The fruit is eaten and transported in the gut of what ever ate it, the seeds being dispersed in the dung dropped far and wide. The ginkgo almost went extinct, except for a small area in China. Luckily the Chinese enjoy eating the ginkgo nuts, so they made sure they kept some around. Mostly near old monasteries.
I have eaten ginkgo nuts, they are delicious. First you gather the stinky fruit. Wash in a bucket, scrub off the foul smelling flesh. Rinse with clear water. Check for odor, if still foul, scrub and rinse again. Once clean and free of odor you have a taste delight. Usually prepared by boiling nuts some 20 minutes, let cool, then removing the hulls. Used frequently in Chinese style soups. Or the nuts can be roasted, much in the same way we roast chestnuts. Flavor is very mild. More mild than chestnuts. Japanese grocery store in Elmhurst IL carries "snack packs" of boiled then pickled ginkgo nuts.
Mitsuwa - has stores in New Jersey, Arlington Heights (chicago), Plano Tx, and several in California and Hawaii. Get your already prepared ginkgo snacks there.
My photo
A formerly 15 to 20 foot tall seedling, chopped to 8 inches, now growing out about 7 years.
I have eaten ginkgo nuts, they are delicious. First you gather the stinky fruit. Wash in a bucket, scrub off the foul smelling flesh. Rinse with clear water. Check for odor, if still foul, scrub and rinse again. Once clean and free of odor you have a taste delight. Usually prepared by boiling nuts some 20 minutes, let cool, then removing the hulls. Used frequently in Chinese style soups. Or the nuts can be roasted, much in the same way we roast chestnuts. Flavor is very mild. More mild than chestnuts. Japanese grocery store in Elmhurst IL carries "snack packs" of boiled then pickled ginkgo nuts.
Mitsuwa - has stores in New Jersey, Arlington Heights (chicago), Plano Tx, and several in California and Hawaii. Get your already prepared ginkgo snacks there.
My photo
A formerly 15 to 20 foot tall seedling, chopped to 8 inches, now growing out about 7 years.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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Air layer of ChiChi Icho, About 24 months after being separated from parent plant.
jaco94
Chumono
Hello , cool thread here !
Love Ginkgo !
Before , my first one , i found them not really attractive :
- Huge leaves
- Straight branches
-Strange trunks full of bumps
But now , my Quasimodo tree is one of my favorite !
I think these characteristics makes them so special , maybe , it 's better not to try to change them to much , just let them be Ginkgo !
Love Ginkgo !
Before , my first one , i found them not really attractive :
- Huge leaves
- Straight branches
-Strange trunks full of bumps
But now , my Quasimodo tree is one of my favorite !
I think these characteristics makes them so special , maybe , it 's better not to try to change them to much , just let them be Ginkgo !
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
Interesting pot that goes perfectly with the image of the tree.
erich_raudebaugh
Shohin
My ginkgo in 2018. I bought it in 2017 from Bonsai Northwest, and cut about 18-24" off the top. It sent out a few new shoots in 2018.
Last year (2019) it stalled out, even though I had repotted it in spring 2018. No new shoots, just leaf whorls. At least the trunk thickened a little.
This year it's producing new shoots. I fertilized as soon as the buds swelled a little and put it in full sun. This tree will take awhile to look great. It has a sucker too, I might let that grow into a trunk.
Shima
Omono
She didn't mind?
Shima
Omono
Pot by local club member Edith Sakamoto. Edith has "the touch".erich_raudebaugh
Shohin
Some nice gingko from the Bonsai Society of Portland show last fall.
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
Great thread. Gingkos are a unique tree and must be approached on their own terms. They look like nothing else.
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