rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Nope full sun. Heat at the roots will push the tree to grow...
Just bought a huge bald cypress!!! Cpl Q’s
- Thread starter Daniel son STL
- Start date
Daniel son STL
Shohin
Thanks for the advise.
Bottom of cut is 8” from soil line and top of cut is 12”
The only grafting technique I’m familiar with is drilling a hole through designated spot and carefully push a long branch or whip in a pot through until hole closes. Think I could pull that off when the time comes
Daniel son STL
Shohin
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
That's a thread graft.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
I'd give it a bit of shade as the heat increases into summer, but I've got repotted maples, BC and other stuff in as much sun as possible now.
Zach’s advice to cut the root pad.
Daniel son STL
Shohin
I’m a tad nervous bc I’ve killed a lot of trees root pruning for repot. Just killed a really nice collected sweetgum repotting. But I’m gonna go ahead and cut some roots back and get her in some better soil w/ a shallower and wider container
You probably won’t have to do any grafting. Bald cypress back bud on old wood.
And just so you know, the generally accepted method when doing a “chop” is to cut it straight across, and wait to see where the buds pop. You can always do the diagonal cut cut later once you see what you get.
And just so you know, the generally accepted method when doing a “chop” is to cut it straight across, and wait to see where the buds pop. You can always do the diagonal cut cut later once you see what you get.
It’s got to be done sooner or later. If you were to kill it doing a repot, wouldn’t you rather kill it now, before you have invested years into development?
Not that you want to kill anything.
Comparing the roots of a collected tree to the roots of a nursery grown tree is apples to oranges.
Zach Smith
Omono
One thing to bear in mind on trees that have been in nursery containers a long time: they eventually run out of soil. It's for this reason, along with the fact that sooner or later youve got to get that root pad flat, that I would cut now were it my tree. BC grow foliage first and then roots when they get chopped, so your timing would be just right. BTW, I did almost the same thing last year with a BC I bought from a fellow collector. The roots were a coiled mass in a deep nursery pot. I removed the pot and literally sawed all but three or four inches off the bottom. And trimmed the coiling roots back. Boy, did that tree grow!
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Wasn't talking about backbudding on old wood. BC are extremely reluctant to bud on rolling scar callus. Since mostly the entire back of this stump will be callus, thread grafts might well be part of getting any back branches on it...
Joe Dupre'
Omono
I would maybe suggest you review your repotting procedure. If you are killing "a lot of trees" with a repot, something is not quite right. We've all killed trees, but if you've killed as many as you say, you may want to do some more research. I'm thinking you may be repotting at the wrong time of year???? Normally, a healthy tree brushes off a repotting as a fairly minor event at the right time of year.
Good luck with the BC. It is a really nice specimen.
Good luck with the BC. It is a really nice specimen.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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I'm not going to give you any advice, you have the most experienced experts on the forum already weighing in.
Here is a photo of a bald cypress that is happily growing only 150 miles Southeast of you in the Cache River unit of the Shawnee National Forest. This tree is somewhere between 500 and 800 years old. You can only get close via canoe. Perhaps it might become a model for a future design.
Here is a photo of a bald cypress that is happily growing only 150 miles Southeast of you in the Cache River unit of the Shawnee National Forest. This tree is somewhere between 500 and 800 years old. You can only get close via canoe. Perhaps it might become a model for a future design.
Daniel son STL
Shohin
Thanks for all the advise, and the tree porn. That’s a hell of a cypress there!
Yes I’ve killed a few trees every repotting season. All so far have survived this year. Although one shohin juniper appears to be losing a significant branch. Sucks but the rest of the tree looks healthy. I’ve got a Japanese maple that hasnt come back yet. It’s been in my warm tropical room now for a few weeks, might just be a late bloomer, it’s still green underneath, but I’m not very confident it’ll make it. Think I repotted a tad early. It’s hard to learn from mistakes when you can’t always figure out what went wrong! Hell I just planted my 3rd cypress forest. First two died from well... I don’t know. Possibly under watered but I thought the soil was always wet so not really sure. They were in a very shallow pot. Think I’ll try a bigger pot.
Thanks again
Yes I’ve killed a few trees every repotting season. All so far have survived this year. Although one shohin juniper appears to be losing a significant branch. Sucks but the rest of the tree looks healthy. I’ve got a Japanese maple that hasnt come back yet. It’s been in my warm tropical room now for a few weeks, might just be a late bloomer, it’s still green underneath, but I’m not very confident it’ll make it. Think I repotted a tad early. It’s hard to learn from mistakes when you can’t always figure out what went wrong! Hell I just planted my 3rd cypress forest. First two died from well... I don’t know. Possibly under watered but I thought the soil was always wet so not really sure. They were in a very shallow pot. Think I’ll try a bigger pot.
Thanks again
Daniel son STL
Shohin
Cypress update-
Went ahead and repotted the tree. Sawed off about 40% of the root ball. Some will probably say I should have taken more of the roots but I’m in no hurry for a finished bonsai!
Threw the tree in a semi shaded area. tree appears to be happy with buds popping up all over!
Went ahead and repotted the tree. Sawed off about 40% of the root ball. Some will probably say I should have taken more of the roots but I’m in no hurry for a finished bonsai!
Threw the tree in a semi shaded area. tree appears to be happy with buds popping up all over!
RobertB
Chumono
if buds are popping, put the tree literally in as much sun as you can and rotate once a week or so! not sure why you keep talking about shade. You are not doing a mid summer repot. maybe you kill trees since you dont listen to good advice being given from people who actually know what they are talking about. listen to them! if you dont trust at first, research them. Zach has a website and has been doing this for longer than ive been alive.
RobertB
Chumono
i read all of Zachs blogs over the coarse of a year then went out last yr and collected 6 bald cypress thinking some wouldnt make it, completely followed his advice on where to find them and how to collect and every one lived. They also just came out of there first full winter under my care since collection.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
I would be one to say you were still too timid with the roots. And no, this has NOTHING TO DO with "a finished bonsai" It has to do with working effectively towards a decent BC bonsai.
BC can be root pruned like hell with no problems in the early spring. A typical collection from the ground of a mid-large BC involves sawing off just about ALL of its roots, as it 99.89999 percent.
The recovery period takes care of that with constantly wet soil mix and BOTTOM HEAT, as in FULL SUN...
Daniel son STL
Shohin
Thought I read a cpl posts up to stick in direct sun seeing how I had not yet root pruned, just chopped. Root prune meant shade, maybe I read wrong. My fault.
I been given so much conflicting advise about certain species, seeing how there’s more than one way to grow a tree. There’s conflicting information in this thread about cypresses! Don’t be mad.
And when I say I’ve killed trees, what I really mean is seedlings/starters/sticks in a pot. None of which were actually bonsai yet. most were sweetgum pulled from my backyard.
I been given so much conflicting advise about certain species, seeing how there’s more than one way to grow a tree. There’s conflicting information in this thread about cypresses! Don’t be mad.
And when I say I’ve killed trees, what I really mean is seedlings/starters/sticks in a pot. None of which were actually bonsai yet. most were sweetgum pulled from my backyard.
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