Keep it or Cut it?
- Thread starter Brian Van Fleet
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- bvf japanese maple progression
tmmason10
Omono
Looking good bvf, you have some nice trees one day I hope to have a nice collection such as yours.
Alex DeRuiter
Chumono
I love the contrast of color between the pot and the leaves!
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Leafless now...
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Repotted today. I've had a different approach to the root system of this tree than most others...work it right, and kill it or improve it. Each year for the last 7 years of so, it's been repotted and worked pretty hard. If I could only get a couple more to pop at the trunk in gap at the front. Anyway, I'm convinced it will come if the work is done right, or the base will continue to swell and the gap will go away. So here a few shots of today's repotting.
Starting:
Removed from pot, combed out and initially reduced:
Bare-rooted with a jet from the hose, then combed out and reduced a bit more. Notice how things are combed radially, and roots are tapering and ramifying:
Ride hard on anything growing down:
Comb out again, and prune thick roots, just like you'd prune shoots that are a little too thick:
Starting:
Removed from pot, combed out and initially reduced:
Bare-rooted with a jet from the hose, then combed out and reduced a bit more. Notice how things are combed radially, and roots are tapering and ramifying:
Ride hard on anything growing down:
Comb out again, and prune thick roots, just like you'd prune shoots that are a little too thick:
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Close-ups of the tapering and ramifying roots:
If I learned anything, it's that I wish I would have cut the "primary" roots shorter, closer to the trunk to begin with. I'd LOVE to have that ramification about 1" closer.
Prepare the pot, I use 2:1 Akadama and lava. I also sift it so coarse grains are at the bottom, and each course gets finer as I fill it in and work it in with a chopstick. I think it makes a difference, because it allows more air into the soil, and it's not as soggy.
Secure it in with wires. With no heavy roots to anchor to, I lay bamboo skewers across and tie the wires across them, so they pin down everything:
Work in soil, water well:
If I learned anything, it's that I wish I would have cut the "primary" roots shorter, closer to the trunk to begin with. I'd LOVE to have that ramification about 1" closer.
Prepare the pot, I use 2:1 Akadama and lava. I also sift it so coarse grains are at the bottom, and each course gets finer as I fill it in and work it in with a chopstick. I think it makes a difference, because it allows more air into the soil, and it's not as soggy.
Secure it in with wires. With no heavy roots to anchor to, I lay bamboo skewers across and tie the wires across them, so they pin down everything:
Work in soil, water well:
daygan
Chumono
I ask this question mainly for my own learning: I read once (somewhere) about a guy from Indonesia, I believe, who actually deliberately split surface roots, which later healed, to create ramification. From what I understood, it seemed to be effective, even if unorthodox(?)... Do you think that would be a possibility for moving your ramification closer to the trunk as you mentioned?
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Ive been tempted, but always concerned the callous would look unnatural or create reverse taper. If anything, I'll end up reducing it by pruning it at a long angle to leave a tapering sliver, and hope something pops along the cut. I would have done it today, but in case I show it this year, I decided to wait until maybe next year.
daygan
Chumono
ah. I see. Thanks!
Brian, I love your maple. You have done some very inspiring work with it. I'm always excited to see this thread come back up with what you're doing next.
About the soil...? I have noticed that the trend these days is to stray almost, if not completely away from organic matter (as in your posts above). It makes perfect sense and I really think there are good reasons to do so. But my reservations arise because of my location. You guys have plenty of humidity and rain out there... here in WY though, humidity is virtually non-existent; in south-eastern WY we are considered "high mountain desert." -- I'm still mixing in organic matter for moisture retention (more with deciduous and barely any with pines). Would perlite be a good substitute? What would you recommend?
About the soil...? I have noticed that the trend these days is to stray almost, if not completely away from organic matter (as in your posts above). It makes perfect sense and I really think there are good reasons to do so. But my reservations arise because of my location. You guys have plenty of humidity and rain out there... here in WY though, humidity is virtually non-existent; in south-eastern WY we are considered "high mountain desert." -- I'm still mixing in organic matter for moisture retention (more with deciduous and barely any with pines). Would perlite be a good substitute? What would you recommend?
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Thanks.
Even though my soil is inorganic, it is still very retentive. Lava and perlite are pretty close in retentive properties, and akadama holds a lot of moisture as well. We were out of town a couple years ago in early October and the people house sitting for us forgot to water the trees for 5 days when it was in the upper 80s. Lost the leaves, but everything survived without any problem. I was a wreck, but learned that I'm probably overwatering my pines!
Even though my soil is inorganic, it is still very retentive. Lava and perlite are pretty close in retentive properties, and akadama holds a lot of moisture as well. We were out of town a couple years ago in early October and the people house sitting for us forgot to water the trees for 5 days when it was in the upper 80s. Lost the leaves, but everything survived without any problem. I was a wreck, but learned that I'm probably overwatering my pines!
chansen
Shohin
Dan -
My climate in Salt Lake isn't too different from yours. I have slowly moved away from any organics in my soil mix, and I've seen no ill effects. I have seen some evidence that my roots are growing even faster, but I haven't tried it in enough trees to say for sure.
Best,
Thanks Brian and chansen, I will keep moving that direction then. I'm using mostly turface, but I'll keep looking for a good source of lava.
Pumice is pretty much the same thing... correct? I've heard several people talking about using it.
Akadama is expensive everywhere I've found it. Do you use it on all of your trees? Or mostly on the trees that are further along?
Pumice is pretty much the same thing... correct? I've heard several people talking about using it.
Akadama is expensive everywhere I've found it. Do you use it on all of your trees? Or mostly on the trees that are further along?
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Your trees with thank you. Pumice is different, and depending where it comes from, generically, it could mean different things. Try to find the type you can't crush in your fingers like you can perlite.
On akadama, I use it on all my trees in varying ratios, unless they're in big grow boxes or in the ground. The longer I use it the more convinced I am of the positive impact on roots. You can also recycle it if the trees are healthy, so after this weekends repotting, I have 3 5-gallon buckets of good soil to sift and reuse next year on the trees in development.
painter
Mame
i read a post by cratageous bonsai, michael hagedorn s site, where he stated to put slow release ferts directly at the base of trees to help fuse maples nebari.
http://crataegus.com/2010/11/06/japanese-maple-once-again/
painter
http://crataegus.com/2010/11/06/japanese-maple-once-again/
painter
Painter, I think Brian has a thread about this as well. Either here or on his blog... actually it may be in this thread...I'll check in a moment.
I think this is actually the thread I was talking about:
http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?6890-Fused-Nebari&highlight=fused+nebari
http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?6890-Fused-Nebari&highlight=fused+nebari
treebeard55
Chumono
Actually, no. What is commonly referred to (and sold) as "lava" is called scoria by geologists. "Lava" is molten rock that has emerged from the ground. Both pumice and scoria are formed from cooling lava (as are basalt, granite, and some others.) Because its mineral content is a bit different, the lava that forms scoria is less "frothy" than that which forms pumice.
Upshot: scoria doesn't have quite as many pores as lava, and is a little denser. Pumice floats in water, scoria doesn't.
