AusBonsai

Hi everyone,

I bought this Chinese Corky Bark Elm ?? 4 months ago from Byron Bay with optimisim and faith in my learning capabilities. I have read(briefly) through this forum and the information booklet that came with my little baby and am starting to worry for the little fella's future. Or at least its beauty.

Im after some feedback and would really appreciate some C.C. I know the bonsai process is a learning curve and slow one at that and dont expect too much too soon.

Details of the tree is its 4 years old, gets the require 4-6 hours a day of good direct sunlight and gets watered everyday. So... 2 nights ago it was starting to look a little "shrubby" and any definition of any sought of tree was difficult, I subsequently attempted to hack some type of definition and structure for furture growth. The result can be seen below and i believe I might need some direction.

Im also wondering whats happening with the trunk at the very base of the tree how it is splitting and breaks the surface then returns back through then once again to two trunks?

Also I think i might of gone a little hay wire(excuse the pun) with the wire as basically every limb, branch and trunk is wrapped with some form of wire. Is it possible to use too much??

Please excuse my poor knowledge of ALL things Bonsai and I greatly appreciate your time!!

Bonsai Amateur

G'day Ben, the tree looks okay. once you learn how to wire better it will look neater. It looks like it gets enough water but you might want to feed it more. Try to feed your tree with pellets every three weeks or water in a liquid fertilizer daily. just mix it in a watering can and pour over the top. that will stop your leaves yellowing. Also start cutting your leaves on your branches back to two sets to start your branches growing. Hope this helps.

After an agressive prune I like to wire everything. You could have pruned a little harder, you could have wired a little more.
But when you are learning to wire it tends to get in the way of itself what you have achieved is a good effort for the present time.
Twin trunks tend to work better if one of them is more dominant, I would shorten one of them.

Thanks for your reply's.

I will start to leave 2 branches per branch. This is getting confusing but you do mean once the initial branch has grown off the stalk, only one branch should be left to grow of this branch?
Also I have been using Maxicrop "Seaweed Plant Food Concentrate" which I was a little weary of though the Bunnings people advised it was good stuff,
Diluted with water I spray the plant weekly so maybe it isnt the correct food?

And would you recommend to shorten the angled though thicker stem or the taller, straighter stem. Im guessing the the angled one? And I simply just cut the selected stem at a sig. lower point than other? Should I really use the cutting gel stuff for a cut such as this?

Thanks again for your time and patience!

Hi Ben
As Gerard mentioned, a twin trunk should have one trunk much smaller than the other in boith height and "weight" of the trunk
they are called "Mother and Daughter" and think Mum and 6 year old girl this is the ration of size difference I think of and expect to see in a twin:-)

Yours wold be quite easy to achileve by cutting back the left trunk in the second pick to the first branch ( the one going left) and shortening it as well ( 1/2 way back to the current trunk junction.

The Right trunk I would shorten a little and start to trim back the foliage to start developing the branching structure

with my elms, I let the new growth extend to about 6 - 8 leaves then cut them back to only 2 or 4 leaves. This will promote back budding, and start to develop ramification in your tree

With an elm you can cut back hard with no worries and they will back shoot well.

Ken

Perhaps shorten a little more in the future, but something like this for now.
With less foliage the 'daughter" will not thicken as fast as the "mother"

Hey Gerard, You reading the same script as me

Ben
the virt of Gerards is exactly what I was describing thanks



Ken

I can't clearly see the size of wire you have used on the thinner branches, but my immediate thoughts are you could almost times the gauge by 3x.
Thicker gauge often = less wire.

looking good so far, keep us posted!

Thanks for all the helpful advise, I have pondered and potted and gave it a real good trim. Ive placed the branches where I hope they WILL grow. Please give C.C.

Also im extremely happy to have got a new Bonsai last w.e.... an 18 yr old Juniper even more weary for its future I took this bday present with a forced smiled whilst shitting myself how im going to maintain this beautiful Bonsai!!

So today I gave them some real attention. As I unwired the Juniper because of cuts the wire was leaving in the trunk, I noticed a white tinge to the leaves. Im thinking this is some sickness thats def. not good?? It was hard to get a pic of so best way to describe is theres a white tinge to the leaves almost like someone has lightly sprayed the leaves with white spray paint. Any ideas would be great???

Photos below with my future plan for me' corky bark

I'll give you some advice on this hideous piece of crap ...










Please don't ever post this on a serious bonsai site ever again.

Hi Ben,
Firstly, I think Ozzy is on the cans tonight, secondly, I think Ozzy does not like all of your merchandise in the pot with your tree, I seem to agree. You seem to be grasping the concept, I think the tree needs a bit of a clean, remove all the dead bits out and to open up your pads a bit to get some light in, you may also need to do a bit of pinching.
Mick

I think that Ozzy has had his say, and as usual very blunt. I am not at all happy at his way of saying it, but I do understand it.

One of the biggest mistakes made on the sites, is the minute, a plant is in a Bonsai shaped pot it is called a Bonsai. Which is not true, there are plenty of Penjing and these trees are Penjing. When you put any ornament on a pot it is not Bonsai.

One of the strong Canons of Japanese Bonsai is no ornaments on the Bonsai.
It is allowed with Penjing and Saikei, but not on Bonsai. You can if it is an exceptional Bonsai use a very good sculpture, in a Tokonoma setting even in an exhibition. Never on the tree or in the pot.

That is what he means I think.
As for your tree get a piece of white paper, put it under the branches shake the branches, then look on the paper and see if any thing that fell onto the paper is moving.
It could be white mite infestation, if so use Malascale. I use Chemical pesticides,as I want to kill the pest before it does damage to my LITTLE trees, and kills them.
If i was using it in a big garden I would use alternatives but my Garden is small so when I have pests it does not take much for me to have a problem.
That's my take Pup