Help please - juniper partially progressed

[AndyLo]

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I've shaped this stock to the best of my beginner ability. I don't think it looks to be shaping up as well as other first wiring pics on here. Can't put my finger on what I'm missing...

Was planning on potting this in July.

All advice very welcome!!! Thanks in advance!



Andy


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[Guy]

If you want to thicken the trunk you should leave as much foliage and low branches as possible and feed heavily for a couple of years--the trunk as is, is more suited to literati style but will need more ,less even movement and twists and turns .but the base will still need to be thickened and literati style can be difficult

[AndyLo]

Thanks Guy. Do you think I should hold off potting it? My preference is to get it into a large bonsai style pot so it will hopefully start resembling bonsai over the next couple of years...


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[Guy]

before doing anything else I would take it out of the pot and see if it's pot bound-and check around the base of the plant to see what the roots are doing. if not pot bound I would remove the bottom third soil and repot with fresh soil until late winter--if pot bound I would remove the outer one inch from all of the soil then repot with fresh soil until next spring- feed well even over winter

[Guy]

the pot looks big enough to generate some good growth--probably shouldn't try it in a bonsai pot until your pretty happy with the stature and design--hasten slowly

[AndyLo]

Sounds like a plan. I don't think it is pot bound, but will take a closer look tomorrow. If this is the case are you saying I can pot it in late winter?

Also for my understanding, why am I replacing the bottom third of soil?

The current soil mix has osmocote with trace elements in it. You think this is suffice for heavy feeding?

Thanks for taking the time, this is really helpful! I'm joining a club, but no workshops for a couple months...



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[shibui]

The osmocote in the current soil mix is probably not enough to really feed your tree. Osmocote is added to commercial potting mix but because it is expensive they put the minimum in to keep the cost down.
Osmocote has a limited nutrient availability. If you look at any controlled release fert packets you will see they are rated in months - that's how long the nutrients are available before they are all used up. release times vary from 3 month to 18 month but most commonly 6-9 month so if your tree has been in its container for more than 6 months chances are the osmocote is already exhausted or starting to run out.
Many tests have shown that even using slow release fertilisers at the recommended rates we can get increased growth by supplementary feeding with other ferts as well. This becomes even more important as the nutrients in the slow release start to run out.

Controlled release ferts are a great supplement for our trees but do have limitations so all our trees need extra feeding as well.

[AndyLo]

Thanks Shibui. I purchased from Baloc's who fertilises well and mentioned he recently fertilised with a six month version.

I water the veggie patch with soluble thrive every so often. I will give a sip to my bonsai stock from now on. Might pick up some powerfeed as that is what many seem to be using on here. Must be good!

Thanks again

Andy


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[kcpoole]

Look at the angle of the branching in pic 1. The lower ones should slan down away from the tree and then get less an agle toward the top.

the sparseness of the tree required the Apex to be quite sparse too. I woud cut it back to remove the longish straght section there and reduce the foliage there too. To me the apex is too heavy for the amount of branching and the density of them.

Think literati type foliage mass.

Ken

[AndyLo]

Thanks for that Ken, i will play around with the branch angles to hopefully get it looking a bit nicer while I grow this one further.

I think the straight bit that you are referring to might be the end of the trunk at the top. I'm hesitant to shorten this at this stage as I was told by Baloc that the trunk will not thicken as fast if I was to cut it.

Agree with the top heavy comment. Should I keep this foliage for now to help the tree grow in general (per Guys comment)?

I'm not too familiar with Literati style, but gather it is longer skinnier type. Given the Trunk is a few fairly repetitive S bends it would probably be difficult to make Literati look any good. Probably need to thicken it up a fair bit. what do you think?


Thanks

Andy

[rodm]

Hi Andy,
I think you could shorten the height by compacting the tree like a spring, make bends more pronounced that's if the trunk is flexible enough. You would be advised to find someone with some experience to help you can be abit tricky.
For ferts I use a combo of Seasol/Powerfeed for my liquid and use dynamic lifter in fert cages, works wonders for me.
Cheers Rod

[Gerard]

If you reduce foliage you also reduce the time it will take to thicken.
The same goes for pot size.
If you put it into a bonsai pot at this stage you might expect it to double in thickness in 10 years.
Removing the bottom third of the soil will be a good move because eventually you will choose a shallow pot but there will be no point replacing the soil in the bottom third, just use a slightly more shallow pot.

[rodm]

Andy just had another look at the front, yep that would be a good option. This is how I do mine:
* get a good solid stick and slide it down between the bends , the middle
* tie the top firmly, not too tight, so that it can slide.
* gently sweeze curve together, you can use wire, rubber bands , flex whatever is best for you
* MOST IMPORTANTLY protect the bark at all contact point and do it slowly and a little bit at a time. Be very cautious if you hear too much cracking STOP.
* Don't do this straight after water wait two to three days so as the plant isn't turgid ( full of water)
Cheers Rod

[AndyLo]

If you reduce foliage you also reduce the time it will take to thicken.
The same goes for pot size.
If you put it into a bonsai pot at this stage you might expect it to double in thickness in 10 years.
Removing the bottom third of the soil will be a good move because eventually you will choose a shallow pot but there will be no point replacing the soil in the bottom third, just use a slightly more shallow pot.

Thanks Gerard,

So i'm guessing that the reduced foliage takes up less growing energy which is put into the trunk/branches. How does reducing the pot size achieve reducing the thickening time? I thought in the ground was the quickest thickening then followed by large pot... :confused

removing the bottom third sooner rather than later seems like a wise idea. How long would you suggest leaving it in this pot for, before putting into a bonsai pot?

thanks

Andy

[bodhidharma]

I would not be putting it in another pot for a year or so as this species suffers dieback when you work them as hard as you have. Leave it for a year and just keep feeding it a LOT.