What should I do with my willows?

[Loumon]

These are two willow bonsai that I propagated from cuttings they have good root systems and leaves. What do you think I should do with them now? The bottom branch on each is a sacrifice branch to make the trunk thicker, by the way.

 

[Loumon]

This is the second one. I accidentally deleted it in the original post.^_^

 

[jk_lewis]

There's not much you can do with them right now. I'd simply grow it for a year or two until there are a few more branches.

 

[Loumon]

@jkl Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. Thanks.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

When spring finally arrives put then outside in full sun. Keep them moist, stand them in shallow trays of water if you are not home enough to keep on top of watering. let them grow without pruning for 2 or more years. Let them get big. You want trunks thicker than 2 fingers (2 or more inches thick) before pruning again. Let willows grow out to 3, 4 or more, even 8 or 9 feet to fatten up the trunks, them cut them down to 4 inches. Them grow out again and repeat.

 

[jk_lewis]

Exactly!

 

[Loumon]

Well I guess I should update on them...The one in the plastic pot? Quite dead. The one in the ceramic? Overgrown. I think black pot was underwatered.

 

[edprocoat]

Good thing with these is they will grow like a weed, I would let them get tall and root each section I chopped and make a forest. I don't think I have ever seen a willow forest and they practically root themselves so it should be doable.

ed

 

[jeremy_norbury]

Willows are easy to start and hard to finish...but it makes no sense to start with a tiny cutting like this. You can root a "cutting" as thick as your leg, easily.

All of this needs to be happening outside and not on a windowsill indoors..

 

[twigwig]

I've had really great growth on these guys in full sun with them sitting in an inch of water that has full strength fertilizer. I found they like to be really wet and from experimenting have killed many cuttings by letting them slightly dry like most other trees. Their leaves literally wick out water on a hot day.