Ruddigger
Omono
I’ve got a few raft projects going on in the garden, but I’ll start with this new acquisition. This is an old Kishu raft that I acquired at auction at the Huntington Library Bonsai-a-thon last month. It was donated by Kathy Boehme, but I’m unsure on the history of the tree. I do know that is in one of her pots
As purchased:
It was potted in pure potting soil, which is probably why it was suffering. It had a spider mite infestation and the lower and inner branching was dying. It had 9 trunks, but 2 were already dead, leaving7 trunks left. I repotted into 1:1 akadama lava, and treated for mites.
I decided to change the front. With the dead trunks the original front no longer made the most sense, but that meant this small trunk needed a big bend.
After thinning and wiring. Every trunk was slightly repositioned with guy wires. A few major branches were removed that crowded the composition, and I’m hoping I got to it in time to save some of the weak low branching. That super yellow low branch on the right was almost gone, but thinning the top and spraying the mites might have saved it. There is some green starting to show on the tips.
As seen from the right side:
And the back:
As purchased:
It was potted in pure potting soil, which is probably why it was suffering. It had a spider mite infestation and the lower and inner branching was dying. It had 9 trunks, but 2 were already dead, leaving7 trunks left. I repotted into 1:1 akadama lava, and treated for mites.
I decided to change the front. With the dead trunks the original front no longer made the most sense, but that meant this small trunk needed a big bend.
After thinning and wiring. Every trunk was slightly repositioned with guy wires. A few major branches were removed that crowded the composition, and I’m hoping I got to it in time to save some of the weak low branching. That super yellow low branch on the right was almost gone, but thinning the top and spraying the mites might have saved it. There is some green starting to show on the tips.
As seen from the right side:
And the back:
