Jumpin' on the Bald Cypress Bandwagon

[Vin]

So, I collected this little BC in March or April 2014 (CRS). It's the one circled in red in the first photo. The other one died. Anyway, at first I potted it in a pretty big Rubbermaid container. Well, the container was a little too big in fact so I had to repot it a few days later into a shallower container. The first container was just too heavy to move around.

I let it grow all last year undisturbed and it responded very well. This Spring I chopped it a little lower and angled the cut sharply. As you can see it is very happy. In the spring I'll start selecting branches and repot it. The biggest problem I'm having is finding a suitable pot in my price range. The container is 20" across ID.

Oh and yes, there is a knee forming as seen in photo 2 and three.

 

[Waldo Street Pottery]

I think you have a nice base there and it looks very healthy. My opinion on lots of collected BCs, this one included, is that they are chopped far too short. They grow so tall and telephone pole- like, with little taper above the flair. I see alot of trunk in the OP that I would have kept. I like the flat-top style best, and for those I have collected, I chopped at a ratio far past the normal 3:1. Again, my observation and opinion, no offense intended. A few years growing out a leader and you have yourself a winner.

 

[Vin]

I have not ruled out flat-top. Once it loses its leaves I'll be in a position to decide on where to take it. I live in a Meca for BC. On the way to my club meetings I pass thousands so I have a lot of inspiration. The stump is three feet tall. The only branches I've removed are the multiples. Thanks for the input.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Nice one, Vin. And I feel your pain on extra large pot prices. Have you look on Facebook at .99 cent Bonsai Auctions and Bonsai Auctions, I have gotten a few decent sized mica pots from there. While not made of clay, they look nice and make a good hold over until something better comes along.

I'm gonna have to go collecting one day.

John

 

[Vin]

Nice one, Vin. And I feel your pain on extra large pot prices. Have you look on Facebook at .99 cent Bonsai Auctions and Bonsai Auctions, I have gotten a few decent sized mica pots from there. While not made of clay, they look nice and make a good hold over until something better comes along.

I'm gonna have to go collecting one day.

John

Thanks John! I keep a lookout there and the other auctions but the ones that are in the 18" - 19" range have not been deep enough. I may move to mica for a couple years anyway. BTW, I've got two trips planned in Feb/Mar and you're more than welcome to come along. One is not really to much of a trip because I have already been given permission to collect as much as I want. The owner has about ten or so BC on his property and he said I can take as many as I want. They're nothing fantastic though (but then again their bases haven't been unearthed ). Cheers!

 

[Vin]

For those that care or don't see these often, this one was in a soggy field not a swamp. It was planted as a seedling by the owner and left to grow untouched. It, like all the others nearby was not a flat-top. Anyway, the red line represents about where the soil/grass line started.

Also, from what I have observed locally, the flat-top form is more prevalent when BC grow in groves and are competing with other trees. Of course there are ancient flat-tops in the rivers and swamps standing all alone. However, who's to say they weren't in a grove long long ago. Food for thought..

 

[ColinFraser]

Also, from what I have observed locally, the flat-top form is more prevalent when BC grow in groves and are competing with other trees. Of course there are ancient flat-tops in the rivers and swamps standing all alone. However, who's to say they weren't in a grove long long ago. Food for thought.

I often thought along the same lines and wondered if a solitary flat-top is the last surviving representative of its grove . . .

 

[Ken Duncan]

I think flat tops are caused by storms taking the top out and it grows back with many branches at the top.
I saw this on trees where the tops were twisted off from hurricane Hugo and years later many trunks formed at the bare top of the trunk.