Wisteria sinensis

[moriel]

Got a grafted wisteria sinensis (nursery stock) that has been sitting on that pot for about 2 years.



I'd love to do something like the picture below (taken from W. Valavanis website https://valavanisbonsaiblog.com/2024/05/24/wisteria-bonsai-2/ ):



Any experiences with tall wisteria cascade trees? I'm working on my tree right now!

 

[rockm]

Got a grafted wisteria sinensis (nursery stock) that has been sitting on that pot for about 2 years.

View attachment 561228

I'd love to do something like the picture below (taken from W. Valavanis website https://valavanisbonsaiblog.com/2024/05/24/wisteria-bonsai-2/ ):

View attachment 561227

Any experiences with tall wisteria cascade trees? I'm working on my tree right now!

To get to where the Valavanis wisteria is will require a substanial amount of growth and hard pruning. The tree you've pictured likely started out in the ground and was collected with a substantial trunk and pruned back hard. WIring is useless mostly with wisteria. The Valavanis tree is not a cascade, BTW. It's top just leans over.

Yours is too thin and doesn't have enough heft to develop yet, really. As bonsai, it won't be able to support the weight of leaves and (hopefully) blossoms by itself. It will fall over easily.

Wisteria require large robust trunks and branches to support their heavy blooms and rampant foliage. Smaller wisteria bonsai are possible, but require know how to manage. Managing wisteria is not all that easy. IT grows like a weed (although maybe not as much in California as in more temperate zones). If you really want to develop it. Plant it in a larger container with a 50/50 mix of topsoil and bonsai soil, put it in a place where it gets eight hours or so of sun--preferably morning sun. Shade the pot/roots. KEEP IT AWAY FROM YOUR HOUSE/STRUCTURES--Wisteria can be extremely aggressive with its growth. New shoots can pull siding off, etc. DON'T ALLOW THE POT TO CONTACT THE GROUND DIRECTLY. Wisteria will root through the drain holes and "escape" into your yard. It can send runners out on the ground to 20 feet away and begin growing all over the place. A purpose built pergola for it to climb on could help it out...To the point of rampant growth, the photo below is of a single wisteria growing on the sound wall of the D.C. beltway near me. It's freaking huge. For scale, You can just see the roof of a passing car at the bottom. This one isn't all that old, but has been allowed free rein.

Be prepared to prune it when it gets unruly with growth. It will likely send off a lot of tendrils, new growth etc. Grow until the trunk is about three inches in diameter. Don't worry about flowering at this point. Growth in the trunk is what you're after.



A few years from now, you'll begin topping it and working on branching. That's a ways off though.

 

[moriel]

Thank you for your reply @rockm ! I'm very aware of how invasive Wisteria can be, even here in 9b with temperatures above 100F for a month. This wisteria has been sitting in that pot for 2 years and at some point the irrigation that kept the plant alive stopped working. The wisteria managed to stay alive by sending root shoots from the drain holes This plant is the lazy gardener's dream: no water and no fertilizer if planted directly on the ground.

Mr. Valavanis said that he planted all of his wisterias 30 years ago from seedlings. I know it'll take a lot of time for the trunk to be able to support the weight like in the picture. But since my tree is grafted , at least it will look like a pretty flowering stick every growing season I'm providing support in a way that the top leans over. What is this style called, semi-cascade?

So in a pot I'd need a fertilizer that's low in nitrogen, 3-18-18 NPK sounds right?

 

[rockm]

Thank you for your reply @rockm ! I'm very aware of how invasive Wisteria can be, even here in 9b with temperatures above 100F for a month. This wisteria has been sitting in that pot for 2 years in that and at some point the irrigation that kept the plant alive stopped working. The wisteria managed to stay alive by sending root shoots from the drain holes This plant is the lazy gardener's dream: no water and no fertilizer if planted directly on the ground.

Mr. Valavanis said that he planted all of his wisterias 30 years ago from seedlings. I know it'll take a lot of time for the trunk to be able to support the weight like in the picture. But since my tree is grafted , at least it will look like a pretty flowering stick every growing season I'm providing support in a way that the top leans over. What is this style called, semi-cascade?

So in a pot I'd need a fertilizer that's low in nitrogen, 3-18-18 NPK sounds right?

I would not use low nitrogen. At this point you're looking to bulk up growth. N provides that fuel. The fert you're mentioning is for blooming. If you want a decent trunk, put this into a container twice that size with topsoil (from a garden center) and regular bonsai mix in a 50/50 ration. Wisteria like rich soil and moisture. Make sure roots are spread out and untangled a bit so they will move out into the new mix. If you can provide something for the vine to grow up and over it will appreciate it. Also some people provide a constant water source in summertime, like a shallow 2-3" deep saucer under the pot--shouldn't come more than 1/3 of the way up the pot the plant is in. The saucer doesn't drain and is filled up to the top with water. That keep the soil wet on the bottom and drier up towards the top. Wisteria will send roots down to slurp up the water over the summer. Make sure the pot is shaded.

 

[moriel]

Thank you @rockm for taking the time to offer your advice and feedback. Very much appreciated!

 

[moriel]

Repotted and with good irrigation this time!

 

[Newish in Oregon]

To get to where the Valavanis wisteria is will require a substanial amount of growth and hard pruning. The tree you've pictured likely started out in the ground and was collected with a substantial trunk and pruned back hard. WIring is useless mostly with wisteria. The Valavanis tree is not a cascade, BTW. It's top just leans over.

Yours is too thin and doesn't have enough heft to develop yet, really. As bonsai, it won't be able to support the weight of leaves and (hopefully) blossoms by itself. It will fall over easily.

Wisteria require large robust trunks and branches to support their heavy blooms and rampant foliage. Smaller wisteria bonsai are possible, but require know how to manage. Managing wisteria is not all that easy. IT grows like a weed (although maybe not as much in California as in more temperate zones). If you really want to develop it. Plant it in a larger container with a 50/50 mix of topsoil and bonsai soil, put it in a place where it gets eight hours or so of sun--preferably morning sun. Shade the pot/roots. KEEP IT AWAY FROM YOUR HOUSE/STRUCTURES--Wisteria can be extremely aggressive with its growth. New shoots can pull siding off, etc. DON'T ALLOW THE POT TO CONTACT THE GROUND DIRECTLY. Wisteria will root through the drain holes and "escape" into your yard. It can send runners out on the ground to 20 feet away and begin growing all over the place. A purpose built pergola for it to climb on could help it out...To the point of rampant growth, the photo below is of a single wisteria growing on the sound wall of the D.C. beltway near me. It's freaking huge. For scale, You can just see the roof of a passing car at the bottom. This one isn't all that old, but has been allowed free rein.

Be prepared to prune it when it gets unruly with growth. It will likely send off a lot of tendrils, new growth etc. Grow until the trunk is about three inches in diameter. Don't worry about flowering at this point. Growth in the trunk is what you're after.



A few years from now, you'll begin topping it and working on branching. That's a ways off though.

Not meaning to hijack this thread [I'll start my own when I get a chance to take some pics] but...I had a wisteria growing in my yard that never flowered with branches/trunk probably 15 - 20'. I cut it down to ~3' this summer, pulled it out of the ground and stuck it in a box. It's been quite happy throwing out a ton of tendrils. Any guidance on pruning and how to get tendrils to be branches?

 

[rockm]

Not meaning to hijack this thread [I'll start my own when I get a chance to take some pics] but...I had a wisteria growing in my yard that never flowered with branches/trunk probably 15 - 20'. I cut it down to ~3' this summer, pulled it out of the ground and stuck it in a box. It's been quite happy throwing out a ton of tendrils. Any guidance on pruning and how to get tendrils to be branches?

Let them grow wild until they thicken enough to support themselves (which can take a few years to lignify) cut them back to an inch from the trunk, repeat until you have a branch with secondary branchlets.

 

[Newish in Oregon]

Let them grow wild until they thicken enough to support themselves (which can take a few years to lignify) cut them back to an inch from the trunk, repeat until you have a branch with secondary branchlets.

Thanks!

 

[actionflies]

Feed it with miracle gro and put it in a bigger pot with potting soil. Don't need special bonsai soil or fertilizer, you want max growth!!!