AusBonsai

Gidday all. Today bundyfisher and I worked on two of his trees. One of the trees was a Qld small leaf fig. We decided to turn it into a clump style. We selectively removed branches and wired the tree. Tony is going to plant it into a more shallow container to develop the nebari. He will also let the trunks grow to a more substantial size to develop the foliage. These are a series of photos which show the stages of the work done on the tree, together with a couple of virts. One of the virts is more spread out and the other is more compact. Obviously they will better when the trunks grow and are more in proportion.

cheers

Rod

looking good boys i think the virts are good but i feel they are a little high in the foliage department? i think if the foliage was a little closer to the clump it would have a better feel to it. JMO

it will definately get there.

good workshop guys


jamie


edit- i agree with ken, the second virt, but i think the foliage still needs to come down a bit lower! cheers guys!

Nice
I like the second virt better

Ken

just modified ya virt a bit rod, hope ya dont mind. get some airial roots happening and bingo! nice big tray like pot

jamie

Thanks heaps Rod the tree looks great now and can see the long term potential ,It was a very good day today indeed .Thanks Jamie mate don't be disturbed by the extra foilage as the tree will be going into a foam box for the next 5yrs and the trunks will thicken considerably .I am patient enough to wait ,Ron was very helpful with his knowledge especially as I planning to do a few 5/6/9/yr projects (that is before pot stage). I am starting to realise that I need to hurry and put trees into the ground if I want to get the trees of size and quality that I am aiming for.Anyway ,back to the tree it is approx 8yr old was a cutting of approx pen size 2ys later put into the ground for 4yrs trunk chop bought to Bundy was very healthy (fert 2/3 times a week) I will just grow those trunks out to acheive varying degrees of thickness creating taper along the way and then start planning the pads
Cheers
Tony

(fert 2/3 times a week)

that sounds heavy not that i can talk but what were/are you using on it that many times a week?

jamie

Mate that`s a serious fert program , mate I think you can go too heavy, I think a little regularly is a good policy .

Because it was in a bucket for the last 2 yrs , I fertalised often once a week with miracle grow and during the week 1cup of dl/seasol/root hormone tea mix to a watering can ,but never fertilise when rain around

Hi Bundyfisher,

Love your fig, but was wondering if you would give me more details on your dl/seasol/root hormone/tea mix fertilizer? I am really into figs and have a few I want to grow to thicken the trunks. Looks like yours has done well with your regime of fertilizer.

Hi Glenda The tea mix I have used on my garden for years was always straight dl ,has been modified for bonsai .Before I start ,my soil has always been free draining that is once the soil is wet water will flow out the pot ,so watering is done at least one a day for some species and for others twice a day.I have a large 25lt bucket with sealable lid into that I put a few good handfuls of dynamic lifter ,couple of healthy dashes of seasol and a few good squirts of multicrop plant starter (thinking of changing this with auxinone)fill bucket with water and done ,I use one cup per watering can and plants are watered before I apply .Works out fairly cheap over the long run as once the bucket is half empty it gets refilled with water the first time and then only little bits for top up ,this would work well for you up there .Just to finish I would say if your mix is free draining the plants are wet before you fertilise you shouldn't have any dramas ,oh one other thing I never fert. with rain around .Hope this helps.
Cheers
Tony

I am gradually repotting most things into diatomite, so fee draining isn't an issue. Not sure I have time to hand water every plant every day, though. Might pick a couple for special treatment

G`day Glenda I was wondering how long you have been involved in the club up there ? In 2003 a mate of mine and I did some workshops in Mackay, we stayed with the Stewarts who I know have since moved from the area. We had a great time the hospitality of the club was fantastic , I remember that one of the trees I helped with was a clump style fig similar to Tony's though it had thicker trunks. I do have a couple of pics from the weekend I could share . CHEERS ROD.....

Just an update on the clump ,with the rain and warmth around I thought it to be a good time for root work . First pics are of the clump from a repot in november last year so you can see the growth from then to Rod's styling to now . Basically i just tidied up the roots with zip ties first of all cutting a few small channels and securing the roots and then a repot .Enjoy
Cheers
tony

Sorry about that ,pictures loaded in reverse order

looking good tony

you can fix the order by using the place inline option and you will get a file attachment BBcode in the text area, just sort the order out from there, it also allows for stuff to be written in between.


jamie