Seedlings bent and twisted

[Bonsaiforest]

Ordered 50 or so Trident seedlings (2-3mm thick) from Shibui last week... Was surprised as to how fast they arrived, got them on Thursday. Plan was to wire some with dramatic bends and turns and the others slightly more elegant with gentle curves. Although I Seriously need to practice my wiring... You'd be surprised as to the difficulty in getting the wire to sit evenly on such a small seedling.. Unfortunately the first 12 snapped while trying to introduce bends, was a little too heavy handed, so needed to slow down and take my time. Trimmed the roots on each one after wiring and then planted ( in some little peat pots that I had in the shed) with general bonsai potting mix. Will leave them in their little pots for a season and will just use a light mix of Charlie Carp (other fertelizer suggestions welcome)
Then the next season thread them through hard Perspex discs with suitable sized washers glued in place (this method I have not previously tried...Hmmm)
When the trunks thicken will new roots just form and spread over the top of disc...? or do I need to leave a few of the horizontal roots on top of disc and the rest of root mass below. Any way won't hurt in trying and fingers crossed that I'll get some really nice stock out of these in the next few years. Any more advice to help a novice at my new venture would be great. Tips on solid technique for this process would be greatly appreciated. Or even any links that you could suggest for further reading.

Here are a few happy snaps

[Bonsaiforest]

Sorry me again ... How long should I leave the wire on.... Is it better to let it cut in so that they hold their shape or is this a big No No...?

[JaseH]

At that age, once it starts showing signs of cutting in they are generally set and the wire can be removed.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[shibui]

They should be set well before the wire bites. I have been surprised at how short the time to set a bend in young stems, often 4-6 weeks (of growing). Try taking wire off one in November and see if the stem holds the bends.

When the trunks thicken will new roots just form and spread over the top of disc...? or do I need to leave a few of the horizontal roots on top of disc and the rest of root mass below

New roots will form above the constriction. I find it best not to have any roots above the disc because those existing roots grow faster and end up dominating so that new ones don't always start.

Here are a couple of photos of the start of this technique;

tridents through plate 2.JPG

Unless you want a formal upright bonsai make sure the trunk goes through the plate at an angle.

Threading a number of stems through a single plate can give other options: multi trunk bonsai or; after the trunks and roots have fused properly prune excess trunks right off to leave a single trunk with extra wide nebari

tridents through plate 5.JPG

Here's a link to a recent post on my blog http://shibuibonsai.com.au/create-show-stopping-nebari/ which shows the later stages of this technique.


Peat pots are not designed to last very long. I think they might start to fall apart well before next winter but you can always just slip pot into another longer lasting pot as they deteriorate.

[Bonsaiforest]

Never fail Shibui's Here...!!! Thanks for the advice & yes its always well received...!!! The pics & blog post are great and I'll definitely be giving the multi-trunk ago

Thanks again