himmelich
Seedling
I have been raising this Fukien stick in a pot for about a year now. It came to me with a very ugly and narrow, angular trunk with a giant scar on it like a chicken knee. I repotted it 1:1:1 in a net pot/pond basket whatever and it has thickened up a bit, survived the northeastern US winter — even in the summer it really seems to prefer the indoors, in a spot between my adjacent grow lights and NW/SW windows. Photos show progress from fall and spring ‘24 and now in 2025.
I am in no hurry to repot it as it seems relatively happy and has flowered at least 3 or more times since I have gotten it (if that is a good thing?). I know most bonsai enthusiasts will say to “pick a front side”and stick with it, but I like to prioritize the penjing/sculptural aesthetic from all angles over adherence to traditional bonsai forms in my
Basically I don’t want the tree to look like sideshow bob bending over to tie his shoe from the side but I also put a lot of love into keeping this tree alive and I want to put that growth to good use. So is my best option to air layer branches off (and when)? Prune/pinch back to encourage backbudding? Is it possible to turn this species into a raft-style planting? How can I think about reorienting the tree when I repot it to make it less of an eyesore? Or is there a way to cut and seal, file or scarify the ugly graft scar to make it look more natural? Thank you for your help also I have no idea what I’m doing.
