Pyracantha and Trunk Dev.

[fore]

I took a Pyracantha air layer a yr or two ago. Never had any prior experience with these, but have since learned what a slow grower it is. Wondering if I should just put it in the ground for a couple yrs. to grow out a new apex? It's in a small, 1/2g, green nursery pot now and is very healthy.

 

[coh]

What is it that seems slow? I dug up a pyracantha clump a couple of years ago, got almost no roots with it...but it put out a tremendous amount of growth (both root and top) in the first season. Maybe a layer would be a little slower to establish.

The aspect that seems slow to me is trunk thickening, this was a plant that I put in the ground about 10 years ago and in that amount of time the trunks only reached about 1-1.5 inches in size.

Chris

 

[fore]

I should've been more specific Chris, it's put on growth well, but no thickening of future apex branch. At this rate, I'll be dead before I get the apex to grow out lol

 

[coh]

Yeah, that's the aspect that seems slow, thickening of trunks/branches. How much thickening do you need?

 

[jk_lewis]

Putting in the ground does little good. These need a LONG succession of trunk (and branch) chops to get ANY taper at all in them. Pyracantha -- good ones, at least -- have a long (years), hard, and often painful, road to bonsaihood.

 

[fore]

Aargh! Jkl, not what I wanted to hear, but also, am not surprised. This just might be one to hand down to the next generation lol

Chris, I cut off at about 1" thick w. at most, a 1/4" leader. So it's going to be a long time coming...

Thanks guys for the help
Chris

 

[Eric Group]

I don't know... I hear that all the time, maybe it varies among species, but I have had one about 18 months now.. And even after Two big prunings last year, I let it grow the second half of the growing season... And WOW! It grew FAST! The trunk has expanded at a normal rate comparable to Maples or Elms I have owned in the past but The main first branch grew about 3-4 feet in just a couple months!!.. thickening from a tiny little whip to a branch I am now thinking may be too thick to use.., the trunk expanded from maybe an inch to an inch and a half... Seems to be growing, widening and increasing girth at a normal rate to me... And this is a potted plant... In about a one gallon short nursery can with a peat based potting soil...

My newest Pyracantha is more of a dwarfed variety I believe, but I plan on pretty small trees with both, so a massive trunk is not necessary.

Also, they seem to root quite easy and FAST from cuttings, which is something I love about them! I repotted a couple cuttings from the fast growing one today actually, and the roots grow as fast as the branches! The pot was slam full of roots wrapping around the bottom of the pot- and these cuttings were taken... Maybe June of last year. Pretty late in the season for cuttings to have overgrown a pot with roots!

Again, it may just vary a lot depending on the variety of Pyracantha... Some seem to grow much larger than others.

 

[Eric Group]

Putting in the ground does little good. These need a LONG succession of trunk (and branch) chops to get ANY taper at all in them. Pyracantha -- good ones, at least -- have a long (years), hard, and often painful, road to bonsaihood.

Painful is true- FIRE THORN is not a nickname someone just made up out of the blue for them!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

My pyracantha is probably the slowest-thickening tree on my benches. I just removed copper wire from branches that was applied in early 2012, and after 3 full growing seasons, it was still not cutting in, even though it grew very strong each of those years. I don't have another tree on my benches that can remain wired for three years.

I just pruned it back very hard in preparation for the season, and every branch you see on the trunks was grown over the last 9 years. The new leaders grown are around 1.25" thick.

 

[jk_lewis]

Brian, that's one of the better, less stick-in-the-pot Pyracantha bonsai I've seen. Nice job. Eric, there well may be differences in cultivars. the one I have used is a tiny-leafed (3/4 inch), orange-berried cultivar that grows everywhere a $%$#$%$# bird drops a seed on my farm.

 

[Kimberley82h]

Well I never thought of getting one, but I just arrived home from the garden centre they had some, I got an orange one, for £2.99, its not a bad size, now I must read up as I know nothing about them, but at that price what the hell, worth a go right

 

[fore]

Good Luck Kimberly, they sure are pretty trees.

Brian, my god, that's abysmal growth for 9 yrs. Thanks for sharing!

Had I known beforehand, I would've been happier with a smaller trunked tree but with taper...so take the air layer off the top. Live and learn.

 

[GrimLore]

Good Luck Kimberly, they sure are pretty trees.

Brian, my god, that's abysmal growth for 9 yrs. Thanks for sharing!

Had I known beforehand, I would've been happier with a smaller trunked tree but with taper...so take the air layer off the top. Live and learn.

Any successful air layer adds to your experience so it was not a waste of time...

Grimmy