update: summer collected Bald Cypress

[Joe Dupre']

I decided to try and collect a bald cypress in mid-summer due to losing a big one this spring. I collected it on May 17 of this year. It started pushing buds in about 3 weeks. Here it is about 3 months later.

Second pic is the longest shoot, which I snipped an inch off of to slow it down. I'm trying to let the others catch up.

Thanks to johng for the inspiration to try summer collecting. A sweet gum I collected about the same time is doing really well also.

 

[c54fun]

Nice to see its doing well.

 

[just.wing.it]

That fence post is growing branches!?

Lol!, just kidding....

That's a nice one!
I hope mine gets to be that size some day.
That'll be fun to carve the top down!

 

[Giga]

That's more late spring collection, you can get these guys all the way to mid July maybe even later. Nice tree

 

[Joe Dupre']

Giga, mid May IS summer in South Louisiana. Trees start greening up in March so by May, hot weather is in pretty much full force mode.

Just wing it, carving is not bad. I've found a regular hand rip saw works better than a pruning saw on the along- the- grain cuts I make in the top. I mostly go for the old, storm damaged top look of the really old survivor cypresses around here.

 

[Giga]

I get that as our start growing in February, just saying with proper after care they can be collected into july

 

[BillsBayou]

Joe, that's a sweet looking BC. I look forward to updates.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Thanks, Bill. I collected this one to replace the bigger one I killed this spring by repotting it into a new pot for our spring show. Dumb move on my part.

Giga, aftercare seems to be the thing. I'm starting to treat all collected material like rooting a cutting. Keep in shade, keep out of the wind, light watering, no movement to disturb the roots, etc. It's good to know the window of opportunity for collection is bigger than originally thought. I've found oaks have good survival ratios when collected in summer also.

 

[Pachycaul]

Joe- Sorry you lost a BC in repotting. I have one that needs repotting. It came from a nursery in FL, and now lives @ 7600 ft. in NM. How much beyond slip potting did you go in the repot, and when in the spring where you are? After coming from FL in Feb., mine pouted until early Jul., so I'm a little uncertain as to how much I can do at once. It did grow gangbusters once it woke up though.

 

[Joe Dupre']

I repotted it in about April, but it was much more than slip potting. I bought what I thought was a HUGE pot ( 21" x 12" inches inside dimension) but had to cut more critical roots than I was comfortable with. That, along with going back and forth in the vehicle to the show, which probably caused stress on any newly formed roots, probably caused it's downfall. I would be comfortable slip potting a HEALTHY , VIGOROUS bald cypress at almost any time of the year. Check your roots. It appears bald cypress can put out an enormous amount of top growth while putting on very little root growth. I truly would give it a year before I did anything to it. The fact that it pouted for 5 months is evidence that it was badly stressed.

 

[BigBen]

That's a very nice tree you have there, looking forward to the updates as well.

 

[Ev3]

@Joe Dupre' let’s see what it looks like now!! Super interested.

 

[Joe Dupre']

@Joe Dupre' let’s see what it looks like now!! Super interested.

It's been a few years and I'm not sure what happened to that tree. I might have sold it.

 

[Ev3]

It's been a few years and I'm not sure what happened to that tree. I might have sold it.

Any other interesting new collections from the great wilderness?

 

[Joe Dupre']

This is my latest big cypress one year and 4 months from collection. 6" plus right above the root flair. Nebari spread - 15" . Started the carving on the top about 3 weeks ago. 7 gallon Tractor Supply feed tub is about perfect for big cypress trees. I have a couple other bigger trees in these tubs that I painted muted colors. They could almost pass for ceramic at 20 feet. The wired apex is probably going to be temporary. It's mostly to let the transition gain some girth.

 

[Ev3]

This is my latest big cypress one year and 4 months from collection. 6" plus right above the root flair. Nebari spread - 15" . Started the carving on the top about 3 weeks ago. 7 gallon Tractor Supply feed tub is about perfect for big cypress trees. I have a couple other bigger trees in these tubs that I painted muted colors. They could almost pass for ceramic at 20 feet. The wired apex is probably going to be temporary. It's mostly to let the transition gain some girth.



View attachment 487076

Nice looking tree man, I actually was inspired to go look for some large BC myself after seeing the summer collection you posted about. So I went out and found one. I collected it in the span of two days cause I didn’t bring a hefty enough shovel, other than that. I scratched some bark off of it on accident loading it into the bed of the truck but other than that the collection went smoothly.

I’ve got it in a pretty deep plastic pot for the time being cause it’s all I could find at Home Depot. (Not too beneficial for the bonsai aspect) I did the trunk chop and hopefully I did everything else correctly and it comes out looking like one of yours. (Living in south west Florida) Any recommendations or suggestions?

 

[Cajunrider]

Nice looking tree man, I actually was inspired to go look for some large BC myself after seeing the summer collection you posted about. So I went out and found one. I collected it in the span of two days cause I didn’t bring a hefty enough shovel, other than that. I scratched some bark off of it on accident loading it into the bed of the truck but other than that the collection went smoothly.

I’ve got it in a pretty deep plastic pot for the time being cause it’s all I could find at Home Depot. (Not too beneficial for the bonsai aspect) I did the trunk chop and hopefully I did everything else correctly and it comes out looking like one of yours. (Living in south west Florida) Any recommendations or suggestions?

Put it in the cement mixing tub you can find at Home Depot!

 

[Joe Dupre']

Nice looking tree man, I actually was inspired to go look for some large BC myself after seeing the summer collection you posted about. So I went out and found one. I collected it in the span of two days cause I didn’t bring a hefty enough shovel, other than that. I scratched some bark off of it on accident loading it into the bed of the truck but other than that the collection went smoothly.

I’ve got it in a pretty deep plastic pot for the time being cause it’s all I could find at Home Depot. (Not too beneficial for the bonsai aspect) I did the trunk chop and hopefully I did everything else correctly and it comes out looking like one of yours. (Living in south west Florida) Any recommendations or suggestions?

You can use a deep pot if you only fill it up partially. If it's wide enough, you can just plant the tree in less soil. I do that all the time. I'll cut the pot down to just above the new soil line to make the tree look a little better while it grows out. I almost never use a shovel for bald cypress. A good, long pruning saw or a battery Sawzall works much better. The cement mixing tub is another excellent container. Scratched and healed bark makes good "patina" for that old, weathered look.

 

[Ev3]

Funny you say that, I actually bought a pruning saw that I ended up using more than the shovel, came to realize it did indeed work more efficiently. Got the tree loose quicker, with cleaner and less stressful injuries the root system. I was able to really clean it up and bare-root it quite easily, got all the old dirt off and the roots pruned back. I was a bit conservative with the roots cause it’s my first time actually collecting from the wild.

I was thinking the same thing about the bark, wasn’t too bummed about it cause I knew it would add character. Keeping in a spot where it will only receive morning sun. I also decided to just put it in full organic soil. Any recommendations with watering? Here’s a couple pictures.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Funny you say that, I actually bought a pruning saw that I ended up using more than the shovel, came to realize it did indeed work more efficiently. Got the tree loose quicker, with cleaner and less stressful injuries the root system. I was able to really clean it up and bare-root it quite easily, got all the old dirt off and the roots pruned back. I was a bit conservative with the roots cause it’s my first time actually collecting from the wild.

I was thinking the same thing about the bark, wasn’t too bummed about it cause I knew it would add character. Keeping in a spot where it will only receive morning sun. I also decided to just put it in full organic soil. Any recommendations with watering? Here’s a couple pictures.

Morning sun for just a couple of weeks would be the cautious way to go. Once you get a bunch of sprouts, full sun is recommended. Water a bit more than regular bonsai until you get 3-4" shoots all over, then DROWN it every day until the end of summer. If the wounds are too bright for you, grind up some charcoal from a fire , mix with water and paint it on. It's surprising the number of flaws that will cover up.