Schefflera cutting a couple of years on

[NAHamilton]

I found an old photo of this and realised how far it had come along.

Schefflera June 13.JPG

I took this large cutting in/around February 2013 just after I had started getting interested in bonsai. There were loads growing on the property we were living at the time. I moved it out of the bonsai pot the summer after where it stayed for a year and tried to develop aerial roots. About this time last year I repotted into the pot it is in now. I found some thin rock slabs used for paving at a landscaping store, smashed them and stacked them with some liquid nails in between. The next time I watered a lot of the liquid nails dribbled out so at this stage I'm not sure if they are fixed together or just sitting there. Will find out next time I change the pot I guess.

Schefflera Jan 16.JPG

Root close up.JPG

From here the plan is to continue to grow and thicken aerial roots in an attempt to fill the spaces in the trunk. Then stack on top of more of the same rock maybe two layers in a larger pot, in a similar style as the Vietnamese benjis I like.

Vietnamese .jpg

Cheers,
Nigel

[anthonyW]

Progressing very nicely Nigel,with the trunk filling in,love the flow there,the canopy balanced with the bottom and I don't think you can match the pot any better,which pine do want you Nigel swap you,that's right your in New Zealand I think,well done mate got to be happy with that... cheers Anthony

[mjhc]

Great progress - How did you go about creating these ariel roots?

[NAHamilton]

Thanks Anthony, I might hang onto it until it worth a big pine

Great progress - How did you go about creating these ariel roots?

They come naturally and I used the split straw method to straighten them down. I'm in Northern Rivers NSW and it's fairly humid at this time of year. This summer I've been using a water tray underneath it (but not sitting in), this seems to have encouraged a lot more.

Cheers,
Nigel