My first Elm
- Thread starter maroun.c
- Start date
Shhhh I'm trying to jinx myself for 6 years time and it'll be great.. Don't ruin it!
maroun.c
Omono
Thanks for all the replies.
Spent the last few days reading a bit and looking at pics of completed trees... mine is definitely not there and indeed needs some work which is sad cause I kind of likes having a longer tree in my collection.
So plan is as follows:
Wait for early spring.
cut below red line (still have to decide where)
I'm tempted to air layer as I have not done it yet but that will cost me a few more months
Will still try to save the upper cut by planting in Coco peat and keeping humid (any advice on how to maximize its chances?)
then hopefully the bottom part won't take long to recover from the cut and will start growing and I'll be able to give it a nice shape as it does.
Thanks for the help
Spent the last few days reading a bit and looking at pics of completed trees... mine is definitely not there and indeed needs some work which is sad cause I kind of likes having a longer tree in my collection.
So plan is as follows:
Wait for early spring.
cut below red line (still have to decide where)
I'm tempted to air layer as I have not done it yet but that will cost me a few more months
Will still try to save the upper cut by planting in Coco peat and keeping humid (any advice on how to maximize its chances?)
then hopefully the bottom part won't take long to recover from the cut and will start growing and I'll be able to give it a nice shape as it does.
Thanks for the help
Do bear in mind, costing yourself a year or 2 by doing something (for example, thats not how long an air layer would take for you) is a relatively short time period in the grand scheme of things, so don't worry too much about it
.So costing a few months, is really not gonna be a big deal + it gives you a second tree to work on and get experience with.
maroun.c
Omono
Makes sense.Do bear in mind, costing yourself a year or 2 by doing something (for example, thats not how long an air layer would take for you) is a relatively short time period in the grand scheme of things, so don't worry too much about it
So costing a few months, is really not gonna be a big deal + it gives you a second tree to work on and get experience with.
When is the best time of year to Air layer ? Is it best to do it in summer ? Would a couple of months be enough ?
Will try ringing some rooting hormone and guess I'll go that way as indeed it makes sense to have 2 trees to experiment with.
Its just my opinion on an avenue to go down, others may disagree. Some might say the top/bottom half is not worth keeping and instead of giving yourself 2 trees, you have simply halved the problem and now have 2. Its up to you
.I have seen most say they dont use hormone, I personally did. But there are many differing opinions on its usefulness. Personally, I have it, Ill use it, no harm doing so.
There are a lot of factors as to how long an air layer would take on trees, like species, trunk size, weather, conditions etc.
Mine is smaller than yours, but very close trunk diameter, my climate is more slightly colder, not much warmth. Mine has taken 6 weeks and is now showing real good signs.
I'd personally say, 2-3 months would be plenty of time to have it ready by, but this is just my opinion, inexperienced
. However, its ideal to start an air layer at the beginning of the growing season, because it needs to become established before winter comes and it may not be strong enough to survive... However I dont know the latest point you can do it at.See if you get a few other experienced guys giving you their expertise.
But in general, spring/summer, good times for air layer.
Last edited:
Some resources if you do go ahead with air layer.
https://bonsaipenjing.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/17/ - I dont know why it took 5 months, I think it could be seperated before then but longer you leave it, it cant harm it.
https://adamaskwhy.com/2013/06/18/air-layering-success-and-failure/ - Good pics of different trees and explainations
https://bonsaipenjing.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/17/ - I dont know why it took 5 months, I think it could be seperated before then but longer you leave it, it cant harm it.
https://adamaskwhy.com/2013/06/18/air-layering-success-and-failure/ - Good pics of different trees and explainations
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
Spring. Elms don't really need hormone.
Also it should push buds out of the top of the bottom cut on your layer if you do it in the spring. You should have plenty of roots in about 6 weeks after performing the layer to separate the 2.
maroun.c
Omono
Thanks for the replies and Links. just what I needed.
maroun.c
Omono
maroun.c
Omono
I've had this tree for few weeks and its on stand by till next spring for a repot and a cut as suggested. So far I've fertilized minimally twice with 20-20-20 fertilizer and pruned twice to keep the shape as it was growing very fast. I have noticed that the new leaves growth I'm getting is much larger than initial leave size it had as in pics below. Believe this is a bad thing for Bonsai, any idea how to minimize it or if I need to do anything? could it be I'm fertilizing too much?
New leaves size
New Vs old leave size
The old leaves did brown out a bit probably due to less water initially I guess but have been looking better lately.
Thanks for any suggestion.
New leaves size
New Vs old leave size
The old leaves did brown out a bit probably due to less water initially I guess but have been looking better lately.
Thanks for any suggestion.
aml1014
Masterpiece
Leaves are solar panels, the bigger the leaves the more energy they can make for the tree, basically, its building up its health. Looks to be doing very well! Worry about leaf size down the road.
Aaron
