Orange/brown spots on Prunus Mume

[LeoMame]

Hello Bonsai people, I'm writing to you in order to understand if what I see on the bark of my Prunus Mume is ok or should I be worried.

I purchased the tree one month ago and the bark was exactly like this; I inquired about it, out of curiosity (and ignorance) and the seller told me it was normal and that the mume's bark is like this. It's its character, that's what he said.

Anyhow, I checked online and I couldn't find a correspondence between my mume's orange/brown dots on the bark with any other mume so I started to think it might be something not exactly "normal".

I attached some good pictures, let me know what you think about this.

Thank you very much!

 

[leatherback]

This is normal. They are, as far as I have been able to conlcude, the old stomata

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[leatherback]

Welcome to Crazy!

my bad,

welcome to the nuthouse!

 

[LeoMame]

Thank you guys.

it is great to have a place like this for a newbie like me. I further googled it and yes, should be something called lenticels, so yeah all good.

Thank you for the welcome also, appreciate it!

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Great looking tree

 

[LeoMame]

Update: after researching I bit I understood that those spots might be the lenticels (all good), but I also found that there are several tiny ones on the branches, if you scratch them with your nail they crumble a bit but they don't completely go away. I fear it might be coral spot? That'd be a major pain in the ass...

I attach photos so you can have a look as well, and understand if this is something already seen on your prunus. Thanks as usual!

 

[JoeR]

The orange spots are definitely normal and nothing to worry about, indeed part of the ume character. Thats a hell of a nice tree!!

 

[LeoMame]

The orange spots are definitely normal and nothing to worry about, indeed part of the ume character. Thats a hell of a nice tree!!

Thanks Joe, it's my first Ume so I'm trying to educate myself about it. I've seen incredible trees with very gnarly and complex bark on the internet and on books, but had some hard times matching my photos with anything online.
Your support is much appreciated!

 

[armetisius]

In fact, at this particular time of year, I would be watchful if a Prunus
of any species didn't display those markings. Actually I find the markings
quite lovely with evening sun illuminating the trunk bark.
Welcome to bonsai and enjoy ALL the seasons of your trees. Some of them
are very interesting in what is considered their "off season".

 

[LeoMame]

Do you all repot your ume after flowering? because I've read from sources that sometimes people prefer to repot them in autumn, after it has lost all of its leaves... I'm thinking of waiting for the spring, since the drainage of the soil is still decent, but yeah I'd like to know what do you do with it.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

I'd like to know what do you do with it

You've come to the right place

Use the search function to read everything that @Brian Van Fleet and @Adair M have written about Ume (Prunus Mume). BVF also has some excellent blog posts on Ume: https://nebaribonsai.wordpress.com/?s=prunus+mume

Bonsai Tonight has a dozen good posts on Ume, and Peter Tea has 1 very good one!

Bjorn (Eisei-En) published some great content about Ume on youtube this summer

Combine and follow what these sources recommend, and you're guaranteed to have a healthy Ume

 

[LeoMame]

You've come to the right place

Use the search function to read everything that @Brian Van Fleet and @Adair M have written about Ume (Prunus Mume). BVF also has some excellent blog posts on Ume: https://nebaribonsai.wordpress.com/?s=prunus+mume

Bonsai Tonight has a dozen good posts on Ume, and Peter Tea has 1 very good one!

Bjorn (Eisei-En) published some great content about Ume on youtube this summer

Combine and follow what these sources recommend, and you're guaranteed to have a healthy Ume

Wow, this is a lot of knowledge. Thank you! This is gold for me, I'll make sure to check everything about it (I already follow Bjorn on youtube and saw the beautiful videos on the Ume exhibition and the one about the defioliation, very interesting!)

 

[Trueblackpercula]

First off your tree is amazing and wish you well with it. I just checked my tree and it has the same exact orange spotting here and there. I am very new to the art of bonsai so I can't say if it's good or bad, but I don't think it's a bad thing but more the normality.

Michael

 

[LeoMame]

First off your tree is amazing and wish you well with it. I just checked my tree and it has the same exact orange spotting here and there. I am very new to the art of bonsai so I can't say if it's good or bad, but I don't think it's a bad thing but more the normality.

Michael

Thanks for the compliment! I checked some other Ume from different nurseries/owners and this is a feature of the bark of most rosaceas (also cherry trees, for example). They are called lenticels (easy to google for more infos). Older prunus might not have them, as the bark has a different, darker appearance (my ume is only around 35 years old).

I'm in the process of acquiring a second one, which is 80 years old, and even though the bark is considerably different you can still see couple of these orange spots here and there. I will post some photos of the new one as soon as it arrives, for now I'm enjoying that the buds are getting bigger and bigger and I can't wait for the flowering!

Leo

 

[leatherback]

is 80 years old,

Do share!

 

[Trueblackpercula]

was able to snap a close up of my trees orange spots and included the root structure as well.

hope this helps ya

michael

 

[leatherback]

was able to snap a close up of my trees orange spots and included the root structure as well.

hope this helps ya

michael

View attachment 336631

was there any doubt left that this is perfectly natural then?
\

 

[LeoMame]

Yeah now it's very clear, thanks to all who helped. Being new to bonsai makes it always very exciting to discover something new about our trees every day!

 

[Trueblackpercula]

was there any doubt left that this is perfectly natural then?
\

For me no ! I think this is clear