Choubai

[treeman]

The famous chojubai variety of Chaenomeles japonica.
In full flower now.
This one was started about 20? years ago by cutting the rhizome into 50mm long pieces and burying them horizontally in a shallow pot as per the instructions on Kyuzo Murata in the ''Four seasons of Bonsai''
If I remember correctly, about 7 pieces where planted and the resulting shoots trained mainly by clip and grow. Very easy to grow and train. They just get better every year without much effort.

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[Gerard]

A wonderful tree the photos do not do it justice

[Steven]

Looks fantastic Mike!

When do you repot your Choubai? I read a recent article by Bjorn Bjorholm where he classes Choubai as a (semi) tropical and repots in the heat of summer.

Would you consider a smaller pot?

Regards,
Steven

[Webos]

G'day Mike, can you let us know the dimensions of this one?

Thanks

Adam

[treeman]

G'day Mike, can you let us know the dimensions of this one?

Thanks

Adam

Without measuring I would guess about 25cm x 35cm (H x W)

[treeman]

Looks fantastic Mike!

When do you repot your Choubai? I read a recent article by Bjorn Bjorholm where he classes Choubai as a (semi) tropical and repots in the heat of summer.

Would you consider a smaller pot?

Regards,
Steven

It's definitely not sub-tropical. It loves temperatures of 0 to 5 degrees C. It's a temperate plant. I repot every autumn. I would only repot in summer if I lived in Sweden.
Mind you, it also loves the heat when growing.

Pot size, Yeah it was in a smaller pot and could be just as nice in a smaller pot. The width of this pot gives a nice impression of landscape. I will get a different colour though. It goes into a different pot almost every year...

[Boics]

Hi Mike,
I'd love to understand a little more about the technique you discussed?

I have a very small Chojubai that I bought a year or so ago and have unsuccessfully attempted to ground layer it once.
Unfortunately the species while prolific with flowers almost all year round is very slow to grow for me.
I understand that removing flowers can help grow but I still find it to be slow as a snail.

[treeman]

Hi Mike,
I'd love to understand a little more about the technique you discussed?

I have a very small Chojubai that I bought a year or so ago and have unsuccessfully attempted to ground layer it once.
Unfortunately the species while prolific with flowers almost all year round is very slow to grow for me.
I understand that removing flowers can help grow but I still find it to be slow as a snail.

First thing you gotta know is these are SLOW. They will not thicken fast if you hold a gun to them.
In one season they should (if uncut) produce 20 to 30 cm of growth from most shoots. Of course you cut them before they get too long to force branching as much as possible. Cut when you have about10 leaves on the stem down to 2 or 3 leaves.
To grow well, they need full sun unless say 35C or over.
Plenty of fertilizer (organic or mineral or both)
Plenty of water every day in summer.
Repot every year. You can use the same size pot.
No need for exotic mixes. This grows perfectly in normal potting mix with a bit of sand. They DO NOT like very open mixes.
Don't feed when dormant (now)
Don't over water in winter but NEVER let them dry. This will kill roots and weaken the plant severely.
If you have lots of flowers but not much growth, I would suspect root issues. Trim roots repot and treat as above.
Only start feeding when you are sure it can accept feeding. That is - when the new shoots have about 5 to 7 leaves.

The prop technique entails cutting some of the thicker roots or the horizontal underground stem into sections, laying them flat on some soil and covering with a couple of cm. That's it!

[Boics]

Epic.

I was going to move mine on due to boredom but I'll persevere a little longer now.
Sorry to hijack your thread - I'll make room for more gloating now

[KIRKY]

Hi Mike,
Just beautiful! Mike do you think you would get a similar result by rafting?
Cheers
Kirky

[treeman]

Hi Mike,
Just beautiful! Mike do you think you would get a similar result by rafting?
Cheers
Kirky

Hi Susan,
Yes!. Although the buried stems may take a while to root.

[Watto]

Yes very impressive, and thank you for sharing.

[Reece]

Beautiful!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[kvan64]

Beautiful! Mines are not doing too well here in QLD as it is quite warm here.

[treeman]

More flowers in 2017

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