Ngidm
Sapling
Hi fellow bonsai fans,
I have this Portulacaria. It was grown from a pencil-sized cutting a little over a decade ago. Been only in a pot over that time. Sorta bonsai phases and sorta houseplant phases throughout that time. Now is a committed bonsai. I had it in a shallowish pot for three years, which helped with the nebari. I put it into this huge pot (where it currently is -- see pictures) 13 months ago to get strong growth. It has done that in spades, and I've done may trims in the interim. It spends 5 months in the hot summer outside and the rest of the year in a cushy, warm, humid greenhouse.
A week ago I did a pretty substantial prune, clean out, and some wiring. Pinched every growing tip also. By no means a hack-back, but I've probably taken out at least a third and maybe a half of the leaf mass, as well as a couple of substantial branches (borderline trunks).
I've had pretty substantial experience demonstrating how bulletproof this species is. I've tried my best to kill them with trunk chops, large cuttings, all kinds of different soils, etc. I know they'll survive almost anything. But, now that I'm really dedicated to focusing on making this thing a bonsai, I'm interested if any of you folks have thoughts/experience on the optimal techniques for leaf/internode reduction and ramification.
My two questions for the group are thus:
1) how long should I wait until I do a report into a significantly shallower pot? It is now in a huge pot, and the one it will go into is an oval pot that is less than half of the depth, as well as a bit smaller in surface area. So perhaps 1/3 of the soil volume. I'm thinking that doing that once I see buds all over is probably optimal, as it will allow time for this thing to feel strong and bounce back strongly/ubiquitously, yet it will slow the growth once commenced and minimize internode lengths.
2) is there a utility in defoliating at this time? Or soon? Or should I do it later in the summer? Seems like a bad idea to do it in fall/winter, sonit seems like either an August or a Spring move would be best.
Thanks for letting me know your thoughts. Pics coming.
I appreciate you!
--Nick
I have this Portulacaria. It was grown from a pencil-sized cutting a little over a decade ago. Been only in a pot over that time. Sorta bonsai phases and sorta houseplant phases throughout that time. Now is a committed bonsai. I had it in a shallowish pot for three years, which helped with the nebari. I put it into this huge pot (where it currently is -- see pictures) 13 months ago to get strong growth. It has done that in spades, and I've done may trims in the interim. It spends 5 months in the hot summer outside and the rest of the year in a cushy, warm, humid greenhouse.
A week ago I did a pretty substantial prune, clean out, and some wiring. Pinched every growing tip also. By no means a hack-back, but I've probably taken out at least a third and maybe a half of the leaf mass, as well as a couple of substantial branches (borderline trunks).
I've had pretty substantial experience demonstrating how bulletproof this species is. I've tried my best to kill them with trunk chops, large cuttings, all kinds of different soils, etc. I know they'll survive almost anything. But, now that I'm really dedicated to focusing on making this thing a bonsai, I'm interested if any of you folks have thoughts/experience on the optimal techniques for leaf/internode reduction and ramification.
My two questions for the group are thus:
1) how long should I wait until I do a report into a significantly shallower pot? It is now in a huge pot, and the one it will go into is an oval pot that is less than half of the depth, as well as a bit smaller in surface area. So perhaps 1/3 of the soil volume. I'm thinking that doing that once I see buds all over is probably optimal, as it will allow time for this thing to feel strong and bounce back strongly/ubiquitously, yet it will slow the growth once commenced and minimize internode lengths.
2) is there a utility in defoliating at this time? Or soon? Or should I do it later in the summer? Seems like a bad idea to do it in fall/winter, sonit seems like either an August or a Spring move would be best.
Thanks for letting me know your thoughts. Pics coming.
I appreciate you!
--Nick
