How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Share your success stories about defoliation, bare rooting and anything else relating to maintaining healthy bonsai.
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melbrackstone
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by melbrackstone »

It's taken me a few days, but I've finally read through this thread. What a great read!

I wonder, from the people who've tried it, is it better to do the extreme bends while the plant is a little water deprived, rather than after it's been watered and is nice and crunchy? (for crunchy, read easy to crack!)

I vaguely recall reading something in the Koreshoff books about treatments of plants at this time...and my memory is not so good any more. :/
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by kcpoole »

melbrackstone wrote:It's taken me a few days, but I've finally read through this thread. What a great read!

I wonder, from the people who've tried it, is it better to do the extreme bends while the plant is a little water deprived, rather than after it's been watered and is nice and crunchy? (for crunchy, read easy to crack!)

I vaguely recall reading something in the Koreshoff books about treatments of plants at this time...and my memory is not so good any more. :/
If 5they are young enough then it does not matter
if they are old enough to matter about that then you are too late :-)

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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by melbrackstone »

If 5they are young enough then it does not matter
if they are old enough to matter about that then you are too late
oh well, it was a thought. ;)

Thanks Ken
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by peterb »

Hi Guys
thought I would give it a go at styling one of those trees like Jow explained, well here it is. Unfortunately it was just that little bit older to start with so couldn't get the very tight bends so tried to style it flatish to emulate a tree that gets a lot of snow dumped on it every year. Thought I would grow it for say 8-10 years and try to get it a bit bigger and get a bit wider shari :fc:
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by Jow »

Looking interesting.
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by Matt S »

Yesterday I was looking at the Junipers I bent last year and posted on page 16 of this thread. It was the first time I I'd had a decent look at what was below the soil so I took the opportunity to repot them into a better soil mix and put another bend into the first section of the trunk (as it was below the soil line). I didn't do this initially as they were barerooted seedlings that I bought from Shibui and I was more concerned with their survival.

As an example, this one had the wire removed and then lifted from the pot. The wire has already caused a few scars but at this early stage I'm not concerned.
Juniper shohin before.JPG
I cleaned up the roots, removing those that started too high up on the trunk and then applied some more wire. I tightened the bends, especially near the base.
Juniper Shohin after.JPG
Now into a bigger pot for a few more years. Hopefully one day I'll have half a dozen nice Shohins from this batch!

Matt.
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by shibui »

Nice work. Isn't it nice how a trunk that was bent to its limits last time will bend so much further this time.
I think this ill produce a really dynamic small bonsai. :tu:
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by beanwagon »

craigw60 wrote:I have some casuarina torulosa stock that I have twisted into knots I am not sure how they will turn out as the foliage is not as nice as juniper but it was very easy to get them twisted up as very young plants. Outcome remains to be seen, ask me in 5 years
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It's been 7yrs...how did they turn out?
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by peterb »

HI Everyone
Just thought I would update on my juniper that I started in 2015 by wiring and bending, then starting a shari in 2016. I've widened the shari each year and this is where it's at now. I'm rather pleased with how the shari is widening and flattening out. Can't wait to see it in another 6-7 years
cheers Peterb
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by SueBee »

Thanks for updating PeterB, such a great thread, so good to see how some of the trees are progressing years later. I went out this morning and bent/wired three Casuarina Cunninghamia, unfortunately one cracked at the first bend so I have buried the crack in hopes it will strike roots from there which will make it even more interesting. Also added some more bends to a bendy oak and tied a knot in a Juniper - am so inspired...thanks everyone.
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Matt S
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by Matt S »

Well done PeterB. That's good progress, especially with the shari.

Here's how one from my batch is doing. The lower trunks are now about little finger thickness and the whole thing is a tight little ball of twisting branches. Every couple of months I remove the old wire and add new wire to the long shoots, give them a few twists and then bend them back in again. I really should start some sharis.
shohin juniper feb18 1.jpg
shohin juniper feb18 2.jpg
shohin juniper feb18 3.jpg
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by Matt S »

Has anyone else got some progress shots of their stock from this thread? I've just been spending a lazy day escaping the heat and wiring my shimpakus and I was wondering how others were doing.

It's been three and a half years since I bought these seedlings from shibui and they're all powering on. This one has a lower trunk thickness of about 1.5cm and the interior of the canopy is a all twists and bends which I tighten with cable ties. I tried to get a photo of the interior but I couldn't get a meaningful shot but here is a before and after of one of today's efforts.
shohin juniper Dec18 1.jpg
shohin juniper Dec18 2.jpg
Earlier in the year after talking to Jow I started on some sharis. On some I scraped out some grooves and others I took out random chunks with concave cutters (the theory being that new sap lines will work around the cuts which can then be elongated). I noticed that the grooves have almost healed over already so I'll need to widen them again, so that method requires more work.

What have others done?

Matt.
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by DavidN »

This is an old thread but a great one to resurrect.

I've started to document/video record my work on my trees to share with whoever is interested. I love shimpaku junipers and I am continually taking cuttings, air layers and always on the look out for shimpaku material. For a number of years I have been trying to put in the twists and turns to create more interesting trees.

I have posted videos on my Youtube channel recently of the continuing work I do on my shimpaku project trees. Here are links to a couple of videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMq1aDCu24M&t
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIMDqnB2Px4

Here is a video of some mini shimpaku from my collection:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wGVClQiXtg&t

Enjoy.
Thanks
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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by Jow »

Here's one of mine that is coming along nicely.
IMG_4612a (Medium).jpg
Just kidding. Although it is great to see how this thread seems to have really left a mark. Its always exciting to see people developing their stock in this way.

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Re: How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

Post by MJL »

DavidN - thanks for the resurrection! I had not seen this before. I’ve only scratched the surface but lots of gold to be mined here! I like your videos and PeterB’s tree. [THUMBS UP SIGN]

Gee AusBonsai is a deep river ... so deep that when the waters are still - it only helps to reflect my ignorance; yet, by playing in the water, I guess I am learning to swim.



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