Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
I want to share with y'all my care regime for collected BCs.
PS: In a lot of cases, within 6 months, my trees already get bonsai treatment such as trunk carving at the chop site etc. anyway. In a few cases, they may even get their bottom split
- Once the tree is home, I cut the root base to 4-5" thick with a saw and use a chopping knife to cut the perimeter to fit the bus tub. Of course, you don't have to be crazy like me and use that huge chopper. A sharp pruner is probably better anyway. I also prune away most of the branches up top unless I see one that suitable for bonsai. Note that they seldom are, those low branches are difficult to wire in place; they return to their previous shapes once the wire is removed.
- I pick out the big chunks of clay or mud that cling to the root ball then rinse the root ball off. Then I gently pick off any weeds or other vegetation growing on top of the root ball. I took care to disturb that shallow layer of roots as little as possible. There will be plenty of time to remove the rest of the mud/clay during repot.
- I put down a 2" layer of potting soil at the bottom of the bus tub and gently fit the tree in. Then I pour potting soil on top, and chop stick it in tight.
- I set the tree in a shaded area. For me it is my back covered porch facing North. The porch gets 1/2-1 hour of very early morning sun and 1/2-1 hour of very late setting sun. Other than that, it is all indirect sunlight.
- I drill a hole on the side of the bus tub right below the soil level then fill the tub with water. I refill the tub every day.
- Budding should begin in 2-6 weeks. About 10% of them will be stubborn and won't bud until 6-12 weeks. Under indirect sunlight, the buds grow fast and will be very deep green.
- When the tree is full of new shoots that are 8" long or more, I transition the tree to a spot on the east side of my house that gets 3-4 hours of morning sun. If I am out of space, I put the tree at the west side of the house. The tree then gets 3-4 hours of afternoon sun.
- Once the trees are out in the sun, I fertilize them once every two weeks with Osmocotes plus. Every now and then I give it some fish fertilizer.
- The trees will stay in their 3-4 hours sun place for 3 months before I move them out to full sun and most likely into my swamp box
PS: In a lot of cases, within 6 months, my trees already get bonsai treatment such as trunk carving at the chop site etc. anyway. In a few cases, they may even get their bottom split
