What would you do with this Japanese Quince...

[thumblessprimate1]

if it were yours?

It's a Toyo Nishiki grown in a 5 gallon nursery container. It was a gift to me.
Not sure if the trunk and roots are considered attractive for quince bonsai, but they look interesting to me.



A cascading style may work for this?


I would like to try to use all the mature thicker trunks; I'd hate for it to have some large wounds that may never heal. May remove some of the younger ones. I'll be making some chops this year for sure.

 

[fourteener]

It's pretty confusing material. I think the best thing to do is to start eliminating some things that are obvious. Some of the roots that are crossing. Some branches that are crossing. Branches that are too long could be cut back, so that you can see how it buds back.

You need to choose a front and pick a trunk line or several if you go multitrunk. Transplanting it into good bonsai soil in a grow box is one of the best places to starts. Good roots, good shoots.

 

[edprocoat]

It looks as if it was trained in the Neagari style! One nice thing about it is the fact that it has tons of low buds on most if not all the branches. I would start by cutting off each branch to the lowest bud or leave and let it recover and grow out till next year.

ed

 

[Eric Group]

My propagation itch is flaring up here- these guys root super easy! From cutting or root cuttings... If you do get in there and hack it back, you oughta consider making some new trees!

I wouldn't worry too much about the crossing branches and roots. Japanese quince- especially Chojubai- are commonly trained as massive clumps with twisted, gnarly intertwined roots and branches and trunks... That is how I see this one proceeding personally. It has a pretty clear direction to it currently, get brave a whack it back- make a nice little off centered dome when you cut it back with the apex of the dome over the direction the tree is growing, you can encourage a semi cascade if you want, but a cool little exposed root clump is what you have now... Shape it up a bit and get the roots down to fit in a better container, then work on branch ramification for a few years and you could have a nice little tree! Search chojubai bonsai and see if you can find some picks of the really nice ones in Japan. Toyo Nishiki is NOT Chojubai, but it a somewhat dwarfed cultivar with great blooms and they make nice, larger, bonsai!

 

[Eric Group]

Check this one out as an example of what you could try to achieve with this tree! This is a Chojubai, but you could get something very similar from what you have, and you are already well on your way. Yours has a better looking root mass IMO, just need to get the top chopped back, and get some ramification and some wiggle in the branches to match the movement in your roots!

LMAO! I just noticed the screen shot I took shows my Internet tabs that are open... We are potty training my two year old daughter now, that just struck me as a tab some might find a bit odd to be searching the net for! She is a little stubborn about it and I was looking up some tips... So if anybody wants to give advice there I am all ears!

 

[sorce]

My kids would just take their diapers off.
So we left em that way, lotta messes but they were all trained by 1.5.
Leave the light on all the time!
Front to back, Front to back!
Don't yell when they miss, cheer like hell when they get it right!

Sorce

P.s. gamecock is more open to interpretation than pottytraining! Rooster hunting? Swingers? Lol

 

[fredtruck]

You have a great start for a clump. No need to remove crossing roots. I would cut back branches to 1, 2, or 3 nodes and go from there.

 

[Bunjeh]

Cut back anyting that is dead. Plant at an angle. Cut back any branch that is not pointing in your desired direction and then train as a han kengai or fukinagashi.

 

[Don Blackmond]

Unless you already know what it will do and what you can do with it, I'd simply cut it back and stick it in a nursery pot for a season of growth. In the meantime, take a look at some photos in books or on the internet and familiarize yourself with this species' growth habits. Eric's photo gives you a general idea of what you can do with exposed root bonsai. That's not how toyo nishiki grow so don't expect to come close to that.

 

[Dav4]

Any chance there's a bigger single trunk being hidden by all the exposed roots?

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Any chance there's a bigger single trunk being hidden by all the exposed roots?

There are two or three large roots behind the exposed roots but not a great looking trunk.

Unless you already know what it will do and what you can do with it, I'd simply cut it back and stick it in a nursery pot for a season of growth. In the meantime, take a look at some photos in books or on the internet and familiarize yourself with this species' growth habits. Eric's photo gives you a general idea of what you can do with exposed root bonsai. That's not how toyo nishiki grow so don't expect to come close to that.

Very good advice. I'll be cutting it back and repotting as you and others have advised. I'll take more pictures with time. Sleet has been falling out of the sky throughout the day today.

My propagation itch is flaring up here- these guys root super easy! From cutting or root cuttings... If you do get in there and hack it back, you oughta consider making some new trees!

Definitely will use branches that I cut off for cuttings. They're thick, and I'd hate to just toss away those years that it took them to grow.

 

[Don Blackmond]

I forgot to mention. I would not be too quick to cut off the younger shoots because later you may wish you had them.

 

[Eric Group]

My kids would just take their diapers off.
So we left em that way, lotta messes but they were all trained by 1.5.
Leave the light on all the time!
Front to back, Front to back!
Don't yell when they miss, cheer like hell when they get it right!

Sorce

P.s. gamecock is more open to interpretation than pottytraining! Rooster hunting? Swingers? Lol

Lol @ "swingers"... Sometimes they do swing things! We call them the "yardcocks"!

 

[sorce]

Lol @ "swingers"... Sometimes they do swing things! We call them the "yardcocks"!

Hell yeah! I totally thought it was a site with kids games! Cuz mine are always on that type of site !
That's awesome!

Love it. My kid, The Big one w i th a second place yard contest trophy.

 

[Eric Group]

Hell yeah! I totally thought it was a site with kids games! Cuz mine are always on that type of site !
That's awesome!

Love it. My kid, The Big one w i th a second place yard contest trophy. View attachment 68074

He looks a lot bigger than the others! Got some little league rule bending going on there? Make him shave real close in the mornings so they still think he is 7 years old? LOL. JK.

Tell him if he keeps winning trophies he might get recruited to come play for SC one day... They are one of the perennial powers of NCAA baseball- three consecutive trips to the championship round of the college World Series starting in 2010 with back to back National Chmpaionships in 2010 and 2011... Add to it our mild local climate and one of the most beautiful/ largest college baseball stadiums in the Nation (WAY better than most minor league parks)... And there is a lot of incentive for him to want to come here!

I am as big a fan of The Gamecocks as I am of Bonsai... So I could go on, but I think we jacked this thread enough!

 

[sorce]

Yes,
Apologies thumbless!

I love this material.
I don't know if you can take those all back to stubs,
But that's what I would do if possible.

Once that root mass ages a little, it's gonna provide a nice base for your flower show!

Sorce

 

[thumblessprimate1]

When things thaw out I'll cut them back. Take a bunch of pictures from different angles. If I get snow or ice again, I could still look at the tree. This quince seems to back bud well. I noticed this year on another one that it would have 2 or 3 buds pop out where a branch was removed the previous year.

I forgot to mention. I would not be too quick to cut off the younger shoots because later you may wish you had them.

Yes, sir. I'll keep all the younger shoots for now. I think I'll draw up a bunch of sketches and see which ones I like most. Will share those when I have them available.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Sorry, didn't take a lot of pics like I like I said I would. I was actually a little afraid that the quince would die like some others have in my past. They get some leaves that look like they've had blight and just croaked. If this had died, maybe the less images I took the less painful it would be for me.

Here it is now. I think that perhaps the first young leaves had turned partially brown from the snow and ice. I've sprayed it weeks ago to kill aphids. I've been spraying a little every few weeks to prevent fungus. Still inspecting each day for pests and disease.

You could probably tell that the quince is a lot shorter. I've cut it down quite a bit. It's been planted higher up in the container and filled repotted using perlite. I want to encourage the roots to ramify and grow longer/taller.

I threw in some time release Osmocote 14-14-14 from the start and use miracle grow about every few weeks. It's put out a lot of growth; many new branches are 12 to 16 inches. There's even a white flower that you could see a bit on the right side of the photo. I took a close up of it but didn't turn out well; I blame that on poor lighting today. Its petals are completely white. Interestingly, the flower appears to be on new growth.

 

[Eric Group]

Get a good systemic to keep the aphids off... They just KEEP COMING BACK if you don't get the tree to fight them for you!

I had crazy problems with them last year until I switched to systemics, they ALL disappeared the DAY AFTER I put it on the soil, and I haven't seen any since!

 

[Paradox]

Get a good systemic to keep the aphids off... They just KEEP COMING BACK if you don't get the tree to fight them for you!

I had crazy problems with them last year until I switched to systemics, they ALL disappeared the DAY AFTER I put it on the soil, and I haven't seen any since!

All systemics have been banned for homeowner use where I live. We cant even buy them any more.
I just douse my trees with sevin when I get aphids. They are gone in 24 hours and I usually don't see them again until the next year if at all.