Trunk chop advice for Callistemon Purple Splendour??

[NAHamilton]

Hi everyone,

I'm a fairly recent bonsai enthusiast and since joining this forum a couple of months ago I've spent endless hours reading through posts (I was until yesterday enjoying 6 glorious months of unemployment ). I think I'm starting to understand more about which stock has potential and what to look for when buying. Please correct me if I'm wrong though as with a long road ahead I'd hate to take the wrong road this early on!

Rambling aside, I picked up this Callistemon today and am hoping for some advice. I'm beginning to understand the ideas behind trunk chopping and am wondering where this tree is at. In my mind it has a reasonable amount of taper so I'm looking at choosing one of the middle two trunks/branches and cutting back to a low shoot on one of those. I would really appreciate hearing other peoples opinions. Thanks Nigel

[shibui]

Hi Nigel,
Best of luck with the new job
Where to cut your tree depends on what style of tree you are after. As you say there is already some reasonable taper so it would be ok to style a taller, thinner tree - maybe sparse and whispy like many wild callistemon.
Or you could try for thick and stocky, in which case you cut lower and allow it to grow up again to thicken a bit more.
Lots of wild callistemon also have contorted and twisted trunks so you can cut to leave the branches that give strong angles and change of direction, maybe leave some stubs for jin...

At this stage the choice is entirely yours and you have all the choices to make. At this stage all choices are valid so don't fret too much over which to take, just do it.

[kcpoole]

Pick your front based on the best nebari, then pick a nice line down thru the trunk that has nice movement.

cut just above where you think you would like the next section of trunk to start from and regrow a new shoot from there to use as the apex, or keep it shorter and just select the branching and apex to grow and fill in.

Ken

[NAHamilton]

Thanks guys, I just read in the wiki that Spring is the best time so will leave it be until then

[time8theuniverse]

With Callistemon species they don't have such a defined seasonal pattern like a pine does. Look for growth at the tips of the branches to let you know when the tree is going through a growth spurt and you can do some work on the tree then. The more of the long leggy growth you take off now the more chances you can have at back budding (but back budding is a bit of a gamble). If you can find a nice warm full sun spot and keep it watered you can get a bit more out of them a little bit quicker, but keep them watered. One of mine is pushing new growth now, when it has been really cold here and I have been walking some of my other plants inside at night , so I am still pinching the tips out after a few cm of growth now to have more branching later.

You could always get another one to practice on. A good choice on stock anyway.

[NAHamilton]

Thanks time8theuniverse. It's not that healthy which is part of why I wanted to leave it, but is this an issue if I'm cutting it right back?

I've got about a dozen of them I'm playing with so I'm definitely not short of things to learn with

[shibui]

I have not tried 'purple Splendour' but other callistemons I am working with back bud readily whenever I cut them back - does not seem to matter if there is new buds or fresh growth or not. I'd agree with late spring cutting and repotting. In the meantime give it some regular feed to get some energy into the system so it will be ready to grow when you work on it.

[time8theuniverse]

it will get healthier quicker with more leaves on it than with out them. And feeding will help too.

I don't always do it that way. I still tip prune the stumps that I have to get more choices but its a slower way of doing things.

Some of my unspecified bargain bin Calli don't seem to back bud unless they get trimmed fairly hard. The possum eating the young shoots hasn't made my experiences very clear.

[MattA]

Nigel, I would slip pot removing any thick matted roots & opening up the rest of the rootball a bit, this will speed up growth & help recover health. Callistemon are agressive rooters & like lots of water & fert. From memory Purple Splendour is a C.citrinus selection & as such probably not the best for smaller bonsai, get it healthy then grow it large

I am about to repot a Callistemon 'Little John' layer & will be agressive with the roots, if your interested I will post pics when I do. I slip potted its mother last june & it exploded with new growth all over viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8213

[NAHamilton]

Thanks for all the feedback. I went ahead and slip potted it and cut it back to the two centre branches. I won't keep both but I'm sure by the time I play with it again in Spring I'll be more confident/knowledgable in which one to choose.

Shibui I see where you're coming from as all the others I have seem to be constantly budding. What put me off was I trunk chopped an unknown one about a month ago and it's done nothing as yet..... The same day I accidentally snapped the branch on a Little John, stuck it in the closest pot and it's got new shoots on it.

Matt I'd appreciate it if you did have time to add those pics.

Nigel