Japanese elm... Me likey

[leatherback]

Be carefull with brushed on delicate bark. Even is it does not come off outright, it still erodes.

 

[Clorgan]

Be carefull with brushed on delicate bark. Even is it does not come off outright, it still erodes.

Is there a remedy to lost bark?

 

[TomB]

Ohhh! Of course...I just presumed it's over watering, phew if not!

Am struggling to keep the bark intact though? On this one and it's a lot worse on my little elm broom, lots coming off

Chinese elms do drop bark as it ages. You just have to live with it.
If you’ve got a show coming up, some people keep the dropped bark and glue it back on.

 

[Clorgan]

Chinese elms do drop bark as it ages. You just have to live with it.
If you’ve got a show coming up, some people keep the dropped bark and glue it back on.

Funnily enough no shows in the diary... Logical solution!

 

[BobbyLane]

Very reassuring to hear! The ones I have in the grow bed and open pots look to be still alive, but developing much slower. It'll be an interesting low risk experiment.

What's the thickest you've managed to root? From what I've been told and read it seems like a lot of pot luck? The trough idea sounds like a good one though

this was the trident cutting i took from the top of a tree, this was actually an apex. the field maple cuttings ive recently taken are slightly thicker and already broke bud.

Trident maple raft

this is a field growing project, started in spring, the cutting was taken from a small trident, both tree and cutting are in the ground here is the cutting after spending a few months growing in this pot, luckily it struck and grew well 20161024_171134 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr 20161024_171036...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Clorgan]

this was the trident cutting i took from the top of a tree, this was actually an apex. the field maple cuttings ive recently taken are slightly thicker and already broke bud.

Trident maple raft

this is a field growing project, started in spring, the cutting was taken from a small trident, both tree and cutting are in the ground here is the cutting after spending a few months growing in this pot, luckily it struck and grew well 20161024_171134 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr 20161024_171036...

www.bonsainut.com

Nice! Shame the trident didn't make it though

 

[Clorgan]

Cuttings update - mould forming on the soil, I'm guessing too wet... And probably should have used better soil but hey ho. Just remove the mould for now?

They're still going and there's one small root coming from the bottom of the pot Hoping the warm weather keeps up so they can really get going and I can repot.

 

[Clorgan]

Slow to get going in comparison to other species I have, but doing well. Rubbed a few buds yesterday as there were so many, four coming from one area in some places.

 

[leatherback]

instead of removing the mould, improve your care so the mould has no chance .

 

[Clorgan]

Tree and cuttings doing well. Need to do some shoot selection, have been rubbing some of the buds but left too many I think. The bark isn't enjoying this wet weather though! Possibly need to fashion some sort of cover for these really wet patches.

The cuttings - there's a few root tips coming from the drainage holes, safe to pot them up? Very aware that the soil they're in isn't great...

 

[BobbyLane]

looking good. remember to rub out clusters you only need one shoot emerging from any point on the trunk but two from each branch tip. i use a scalpel

 

[Clorgan]

looking good. remember to rub out clusters you only need one shoot emerging from any point on the trunk but two from each branch tip. i use a scalpel

Cheers! Yeah just had a little go at this, better?

Edit - going to get started on that bulge on right trunk at some point soon

 

[Hartinez]

Looks good! I would also suggest Keeping an eye on bar branching and bud select to fix that sooner than later. Youd hate to chop back all that knoby material only to build back up more knobs and reverse taper.

edit. You posted as i was typing! Looks good!

 

[BobbyLane]

looks ok yeh

 

[Clorgan]

Looks good! I would also suggest Keeping an eye on bar branching and bud select to fix that sooner than later. Youd hate to chop back all that knoby material only to build back up more knobs and reverse taper.

edit. You posted as i was typing! Looks good!

Haha thanks! Yes definitely, possibly one or two more I could remove, I'll re-look at it later today.

What do you think about the cuttings - ready to pot on?

 

[Hartinez]

Haha thanks! Yes definitely, possibly one or two more I could remove, I'll re-look at it later today.

What do you think about the cuttings - ready to pot on?

I wouldn’t be able to advise on the cuttings, but I may be inclined to wait a bit longer to repot individually, if at all this year? Again, other guys like @Shibui could give better advice on that. In terms of the main tree though, I’d def leave those shoots to extend for a while before cutting back.

 

[Clorgan]

I wouldn’t be able to advise on the cuttings, but I may be inclined to wait a bit longer to repot individually, if at all this year? Again, other guys like @Shibui could give better advice on that. In terms of the main tree though, I’d def leave those shoots to extend for a while before cutting back.

Good point, hopefully @Shibui will see and chip in - I suspect the answer will be to wait!

Yeah I agree about the shoots, planning on letting them grow a fair bit to thicken

 

[Shibui]

I wait until I can see roots out the drain holes before potting cuttings. Most will grow new leaves well before any roots so best to avoid disappointment and wait. Very new roots are also extremely brittle. Sometimes just shaking the soil off is enough to snap the roots off at the junction with the stem. Leaving them until they are long enough to see at the bottom of the pot will give them a chance to toughen up and get a better grip on the stem.

Rooted cuttings can be bare rooted and potted on any time of year so don't be worried that summer is coming for you and the cuttings.

 

[Clorgan]

I wait until I can see roots out the drain holes before potting cuttings. Most will grow new leaves well before any roots so best to avoid disappointment and wait. Very new roots are also extremely brittle. Sometimes just shaking the soil off is enough to snap the roots off at the junction with the stem. Leaving them until they are long enough to see at the bottom of the pot will give them a chance to toughen up and get a better grip on the stem.

Rooted cuttings can be bare rooted and potted on any time of year so don't be worried that summer is coming for you and the cuttings.

Cheers for this! Will wait. I was aware that it's fine to pot cuttings at any time (read it somewhere on the forum, can't remember where) - I was mainly worried about the state of the soil they're in...but I guess they've done OK so far so a bit longer shouldn't hurt.

 

[Clorgan]

Some loose wiring... Not perfect but I'm hoping will do a good initial job

A couple of shoots still to wire