AusBonsai

While gingko is classified as a conifer and conifers are generally not defoliated, it is also deciduous and to all intents and purposes has broadleaves so can we defoliate it? Last year I did a trial late in the year and then lost track of the two trees I defoliated. This year I tried again and have results: By early Jan the new leaves had emerged. Now, early Feb, it has a full set again. Not much extra ramification if any - the leaves grow in bunches from the end of short nodes and the new leaves just came out the same way. and little change to leaf size but I have noted very little leaf size reduction on other species I have defoliated this year too - maybe to do with the above average rain and high humidity?
At least we know that gingko can tolerate defoliation. The next question - Is it of any practical use?

I too, have defoliated a Ginko to no avail. They come back the same. I do have one with a lot of trunk movement though instead of the traditional Flame styling.

Do you tend to find that when buying gingko at a nursery, they rarely make it clear which variety of gingko you are buying, they just say 'gingko biloba' despite the fact that just looking at some of them the leaves can vary from light green to dark, big to small, have different shapes..etc. Did defoliating not have any effect on other aspects of the leaves?

No significant difference in leaves after defoliation. They may be marginally smaller but not much.
I have seen a few named varieties of gingko in nurseries but as they are almost always cutting grown and probably all trace back to a very few imported ancestors and a few seedlings grown here there should be little genetic variation. There is, however, quite a lot of variation in leaf size and even shape from environment and how they have been grown (these are yellow green and small from lack of N.)
I find labelling in some nurseries less than satisfactory. May depend on what tags they have on hand. Also depends on where they bought the plants - may have been misled by the wholesaler, etc. At least 'Gingko Biloba' generic label is correct, it just doesn't give the full varietal info. I saw some Banksias labelled as Grevillia lanigera at a market stall last week and when I made comment the lady got quite huffy!
Gingko has separate male trees and female trees. The ones for sale are usually male because female trees stink really bad (flower? or fruit? not sure now) so it is unusual to be able to access seed. If anyone has access to a female tree and would like to send me some seed (or some cuttings in winter) I would be very interested in trying to grow them and have a female here.

The reason for no female trees being planted here is because of the rancid smell of the fruit. However this is only the case when they are left to ripen (so for bonsai purposes they could be removed before this occurs).

They grow the female species in japan and use the fruit in some savory cooking/for medicinal purposes --->

It can be frustrating that nurseries neglect to label their plants correctly. There is one here that has plenty of stock with good potential for shaping into bonsai, but often you have to guess what the plant is because it has either been there so long that the label has completely faded, or they never bothered to attach one in the first place. However the up side of this is you can usually get away with paying next to nothing for it

James

On the topic of varieties, there are at least 2 very obvious ones. The commonly seen broom style variety and a more open growing variety, Bodhi has the latter as do I. I even grew cuttings from them but I lost them to too much water
I have yet to find a female tree in Melbourne though.

Shibui, what are your plans for this tree?

Damian,
I have no particular plans for the gingko used in this experiment. It will just keep growing on with the others until someone buys it or until it gets good enough to join my more developed trees. I already have one much older and better developed gingko ready to pot into a bonsai pot. It has even started to develop the characteristic 'stalaglite' growths on the trunk - just waiting for the right pot to show up...
I have heard of 2 female trees in Melb that someone might want to check on: 1 somewhere at Melb uni, the other at the botanic gardens.

bodhidharma wrote:I too, have defoliated a Ginko to no avail. They come back the same. I do have one with a lot of trunk movement though instead of the traditional Flame styling.

Any chance of seeing a pic or two of the ginko with trunk movement, Bodhi?

Was passing through Melb on Friday and stopped off at the Botanic Gardens. One of the gingkos is indeed a female and has fruit just starting to change from green but still a way off the orange colour in the pic James posted. The tree is just downhill (North?) of the tropical and cactus glasshouses and nursery complex. There are a number of small gingkos around the base, some probably suckers close to the trunk but a tiny one a bit further away could be a seedling from last year.
If anyone is in that area in a few weeks maybe you could pick up a few ripe seeds for me??

Geelong Botanic Gardens also has a female tree fruiting at the moment....I'll have to head back in a week or so to grab some although they are up quite high on the tree

I think both Neil and myself would be very gratefull Webos if you can get any fruit. Id love to have a female tree here as i have a established male tree in the garden.

Alpineart has also told me another female gingko grows at the arboretum near Bogong village. That's not too far from here. Looks like female gingkos are more common than I thought.
I will try to get some cuttings from the Bogong tree in winter and strike a few for those who might be interested.

shibui wrote:Alpineart has also told me another female gingko grows at the arboretum near Bogong village. That's not too far from here. Looks like female gingkos are more common than I thought.
I will try to get some cuttings from the Bogong tree in winter and strike a few for those who might be interested.

Are you near canberra? I would be really interested in a female cutting if you manage to strike the cutting as well..

Its a bit of a drive from Yackandandah to Canberra but we can no doubt find a way if and when the cuttings are struck and growing. Note that would not be until next summer at the earliest. Maybe next year's native show??