PRUNUS IN DEVLOPEMENT

[anttal63]

This is an old prunus (angelina plum) i got from my father 4 yrs ago. it originally self seeded in the garden then and then moved to a pot. it was grown in a pot for the next 3 -4 yrs and never repotted until i got it. the basal movement and the forming bark was what caught my eye. other than, it is a blossom fruit tree, i knew nothing about bonsai plums but i did know or thought i knew how to wire the branches, chop the roots and jam it in a bonsai pot. i knew fruit trees were bare rooted in winter so none of it scared me i just went for it. sure enough all went fine and the tree leafed out beautiful in the spring of 2005. by the the start of summer it fell in a heap the leaves all dryed up and fell off. small pot hot dry weather and so the lessons started. it never shot again that year so the next winter, 2006 i repotted into a 8 inch plastic pot again. styled it , worked the roots and grew on again. come summer it again caved in. winter 2007 slip potted up to a 12 inch pot. no styling or pruning and grew on. responded much better this time and started to finally bud back and grow a couple more branches. again summer it caved again. i was starting to believe this is just the norm. no it is just that plums when in a pot, can be as delicate as maples in the hot weather. i had taken it for granted that the fruit trees in the ground were never protected. winter 2008 left it alone and finally yes some blossoms. yesterday i gave it a light prune and got rid of shoots that were not part of the design. last night i took it to a club work shop and got lele to wire it up for me while i worked on a white pine. thanks lele good job. when i got it back home i finishedd off a couple of branches that we had run out of time and commenced the placement and tweaking. i am very happy with where its at and much clearer on how to deal with fruitng trees and where this one is going. here is a photo progression in order of the years above. still a long way to go but i think i will keep this one now.

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[daiviet_nguyen]

I like the final shape of this tree. I understand what you wrote about the heat.

I have one for more than 10 years. It is an ugly one though, but it flowers profusely.
Its leaves always burnt off during the summers. But last summer, I made real efforts
to shelter it from the heat. It lost most of leaves during the heat wave, but it put
out a second crop.

I think the real challenge in keeping a healthy crab apple (or prunus) is dealing with
the heat.

In my observations, the summer heat can cut short the growing period by 4 to 6 weeks.

Best regards.

[anttal63]

thanks for the comments viet, i too got a 2nd flush this last time.

[Elias]

That's coming along very nicely Ant, looking forward to how this one develops.

Elias

[Bretts]

I've never had that much trouble with heat and prunus and I think it is alot hotter here. I have lost a good size crab apple but I think that was due to not enough sun as it was planted out in the grow area and, for styling reasons and a rampant dog it got lost underneath everything else. The care sheets I have viewed state full sun -part shade wich usually means under light shade cloth in my area once we get over 35deg. Mine have been out in the ground for a couple of years and are growing well. I do remember some leaf burn years ago but nothing drastic. I will take note of the ones that I put back in a pot this year. I hate it when the main concern is keeping a tree healthy.

[anttal63]

thanks EL
bretts as far as bonsai goes sydney is blessed with higher humidity, so i think that would make alot of difference. hot and dry is the concern especially those dirty fithy north winds.

[kcpoole]

thanks EL
bretts as far as bonsai goes sydney is blessed with higher humidity, so i think that would make alot of difference. hot and dry is the concern especially those dirty fithy north winds.

Soltan is not in Sydney but Parkes which I think is Drier and Hotter than Hades sometime
Would think that if you get a hot day in Melb it is usually from the hot norwesters, and they come from Parkes

I and others have had no dramas with Crabs in Sydney and they always grow thru summer. If we get a hot one and leaves burn, we will get a second flush when it cools off

Ken

[anttal63]

interesting guys that makes brett responsible for those nw's. well brett a shade house is a must in the future.

[Jarrod]

I like this tree alot. Though i do agree with the ideas that were given the other night. I would suggest removing the branch that goes straight up on the secondary trunk i think thats what you called it. and training a new branch up to be the leader.

Great to see it flowering and having nice little flowers.

Jarrod

[anttal63]

thanks jezz. yeah it was great to hear different opinons on the tree. fundamentally there not far from my own. the thing with workshops is people want to see instant bonsai. this tree needs every branch it has now to farther develope and grow on. in the years to come as the right options appear, choices will be made. me and this tree have lots to go through yet.