my first attempt

[Greenhorn]

hey everybody this is my first attempt at shohin/mame, its a little fig that i found selfsown in my parent's backyard roughly about a year ago. So i decided i would pop him in this little pot to train/develop him to see how i go. I thought i would train him "clip and grow" style clipping only once a year. So a few weeks ago i decided that it was time so i gave him his first snip, also at that time there were plenty of roots coming out the bottom of his pot so i also gave a little root prune and a change of moss. Since then he has just powered on again at the moment he measure's 30cm from bottom of the pot to the tip of the top shoot, i'm quite happy with the way he's growing and hope to have a nice little tree in the coming years. I also have a couple of cutting that i took around the same time a couple weeks back that have taken off nicely but as you can see i ran out of light this afternoon so will get those pics up within the next couple of days. Anyway thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy my tree

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[kcpoole]

I assume its a Fig of some kind?

As for clipping once a year I would be looking at clipping once every 2 weeks at the most in summer and I would start by clipping the main trunk off at the first branch.
this should generate back budding and would be looking at a first branch and inch or so above the pot.

ken

[Trent McKenzie]

Hi, you might want to pull those weeds out as they will be stealing the trees nutrients, also I agree with ken in cutting at the first branch. it may seem daunting and will add time to developing the tree, but the end result will be a much better tree in the long run.
Also slant the tree or wire the new leader

[Greenhorn]

haha ken yes as i said in the first line thanks for your advice trent and ken but i was kind of thinking about making like a little formal upright? or do you think that cutting it down will make for a far better tree? i really like the idea of a formal upright i know its not much but i will deffinately think long and hard about cutting it at the first branch. as for pruning once a year i am just thinking that because the thickness of the branches at the moment is after only one year so think that would make a good thickness all round?

[Trent McKenzie]

The idea behind the cut at first branch theory is to improve the taper of the trunk, it can be hard to squeeze on those pruners sometimes and you need to look forward in time, but is usually the right decision, but it is ultimately your decision.

[kcpoole]

t has been said that a formal upright is one of the hardest styles to achieve in Bonsai.

The biggest issue with your tree as a formal upright is the roots. they also would need to be formal in their Placement and balance.

If you want to make it as one tho, Cut it below the first branch and regrow the top so you get taper.
check out the wiki pages for Style info On formal uprights, https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... ight_style

Ken

[Greenhorn]

thanks ken and trent its good to know i have some help on my desicion. I would really like to try for a formal ken so how would i position the roots correctly to achieve this design? i really wanna give it a go but if it doesnt work out then there is always something else that can be done

[Greenhorn]

so here are those other couple of cuttings i took that i would also like to make shohin so any advice on these two would be great aswell thanks

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[shibui]

Formal upright fig
You are the one who enjoys looking at your figs so you can produce anything you like but I believe part of the beauty of bonsai is that our mind will believe that the tree is possible/natural. My experiences with natural figs is large spreading trees with huge buttress trunks and large spreading branches producing a full canopy of leaves.

Please feel free to go ahead and produce an outstanding formal uprigt fig to prove me wrong though, especially as you have some other nice figs started

[Greenhorn]

yeah thats what ill be tryin for with a couple i have in growboxes shibui i just wanna try and make figs that are in all different styles. so if you can tell me how to arange the roots for a formal upright i would greatly appreciate it?

[TheNumber13]

I am not sure if the existing roots could really become uniformed enough in size, shape, and positioning for a formal upright style. Perhaps there are some roots hiding at dirt level which would be useful, since the ones we can see at the moment seem quite uneven in height, size, and spread.
My guess is you will need to employ some techniques to get new roots in the right places. Have a search for the 'toothpick method' on here.
Aim for "Strong, radiating root display at the soil line." (https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... ight_style ) A search around online should give you a fair idea of what the roots/base flare look like on traditional formal uprights.

[The Ficus Guy]

You may want to plan on trees a little larger than shohin, as I've found benjamina leaves don't tend to reduce too much.

[Greenhorn]

thanks everyone so much for your helpfull suggestions i really appreciate it so much.13 i have read about the toothpick method on here before but i think i'll just let it keep goin and we'll see what happens after all being a fig up here i can just whack it in a growbox if i stuff it up or dont like it haha i have plenty of time to try so i'll see how it all goes thanks again everyone for you help and advice