Japanese maple raft project

[cmeg1]

Great!I really get into raft bonsai.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Repotted today. This one really likes to grow roots! Looking forward to getting this into a shallower pot to show off the nebari, but it's back into the deep training pot for another 3 or 5 years.View attachment 137724View attachment 137725

Cool, man! Have you thought of graft trunks to the other side of the callous?

 

[JudyB]

Such a cool project, rarely seen but always mind blowing when done well.

 

[watchndsky]

If I say @Roy Minarai enough times, maybe one of these slick puppies could find it's way under your "Yule Log" this holiday season?!?!

your animated avatar photo cracks me up everytime i see it. one of my fav skits

 

[Dav4]

Cool, man! Have you thought of graft trunks to the other side of the callous?

Do you mean at the bottom edge of the shari? If so, no, I can't say that I have.

 

[Dav4]

If I say @Roy Minarai enough times, maybe one of these slick puppies could find it's way under your "Yule Log" this holiday season?!?!
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That's something to really think about. Roy's long pots really do have a lot of Wabi Sabi going on with the subtle irregularities in the body and the glaze... I guess my daughter WILL be taking loans out for school next fall!

 

[BobbyLane]

Looking good, going to be really nice when it fills out.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Do you mean at the bottom edge of the shari? If so, no, I can't say that I have.

Yes, a picture better describes my thought.

 

[0soyoung]

Yes, a picture better describes my thought.
View attachment 180412

Use threads or rooted cuttings from this tree and I think no one could tell in the end.

Thread grafts in either case: one as branches still on the tree, the other as branches cut from the tree, then rooted, then thread grafted. Point is tissue of this tree, not some random seedlings.

 

[Dav4]

Use threads or rooted cuttings from this tree and I think no one could tell in the end.

Thread grafts in either case: one as branches still on the tree, the other as branches cut from the tree, then rooted, then thread grafted. Point is tissue of this tree, not some random seedlings.

Fwiw, the two main trunks on the left were all started as approach grafts from existing branches. At this point, I think I'll stick with what secondary trunks are present and develop them going forward.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I imagine you could put in a dropped branch somewhere in the future. ? I'm serious.

 

[jriddell88]

Where’s that picture of that arch pot, this needs an arch pot !!!

 

[0soyoung]

Fwiw, the two main trunks on the left were all started as approach grafts from existing branches. At this point, I think I'll stick with what secondary trunks are present and develop them going forward.

So that is why it looks so damn good!
I was wondering ....

 

[Dav4]

6 weeks of growing later and this one was in need of a hack back and wiring. I brought it in to our club meeting with Kathy Shaner who really liked it. We tweaked the branches a bit and talked about the future pot/planting for it. She mentioned a stone as a possibility... hmmmm.

 

[Martin Sweeney]

6 weeks of growing later and this one was in need of a hack back and wiring. I brought it in to our club meeting with Kathy Shaner who really liked it. We tweaked the branches a bit and talked about the future pot/planting for it. She mentioned a stone as a possibility... hmmmm.
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I don't know, I kind of like the upside down mica pot and wooden box combo

 

[Dav4]

I don't know, I kind of like the upside down mica pot and wooden box combo

You've been living in S.C. for tooooooooooooo longggggggggggg, Martin!

 

[Martin Sweeney]

You've been living in S.C. for tooooooooooooo longggggggggggg, Martin!

Go Sox

 

[JoeR]

6 weeks of growing later and this one was in need of a hack back and wiring. I brought it in to our club meeting with Kathy Shaner who really liked it. We tweaked the branches a bit and talked about the future pot/planting for it. She mentioned a stone as a possibility... hmmmm.
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Something that has always confused me; how do you know when to cutback? I’ve always heard when the shoots lignify but I can’t tell if yours had done that first, looks like the tips were still growing?

 

[Dav4]

Something that has always confused me; how do you know when to cutback? I’ve always heard when the shoots lignify but I can’t tell if yours had done that first, looks like the tips were still growing?

So, my understanding of the process is to wire out the new growth once the leaves on the lower portion of the shoot have hardened off but before the branch has lignified... this allows the wire to produce sharper curves lower in the branch that will typically set in 4-6 weeks. At that point, you unwire, cut back appropriately and hopefully repeat the process over again once or twice more before dormancy arrives. I started doing this on my maples last year and it seems to work well.

 

[JoeR]

So, my understanding of the process is to wire out the new growth once the leaves on the lower portion of the shoot have hardened off but before the branch has lignified... this allows the wire to produce sharper curves lower in the branch that will typically set in 4-6 weeks. At that point, you unwire, cut back appropriately and hopefully repeat the process over again once or twice more before dormancy arrives. I started doing this on my maples last year and it seems to work well.

That makes sense. You say “at that point”-referring to 4-6 weeks after the wiring, right? What if you don’t wire branches- still the same time roughly?