AusBonsai

Hello Friends
Thanks all for your useful information about bonsai sharing with others.I recently given this old trunk bougainvillea, planted on a small pot. this bougain had been detached from mother plant about 2 years a go ,as i got it, checked the soil which was only sugary sand in a 4 inches pot,fully wet because it had been in rain for long time.I changed the soil and planted in one size bigger pot ,the root is too hairy formed circular at the outer age of bottom of trunk . i think the round shape of bottom of rooted trunk shows that this old baby is a cutting trunk which rooted.the plant height from pot soil is 6", trunk diameter at plant base and in middle of trunk both are 4.7"and at the top where the branch comes out is 5.7," there is a long and deep scar in one side of trunk as seen in one of photos. can i use choppig techniqes to start forming this trunk please give your advise or design to start with, if this plant is capable of being bonsai in future or is better to transplanted in my backyard garden. Appreciated for your guidance. Best Regard Ghasemi

Hi Ghasemi,

Firstly there are others with more experience here that can help more than myself but...

Separated 2 years ago? Are you sure about that? Here are some I took off about 3-4 months ago and they are shooting all over the place (has your weather been warm and humid or just raining)



I would also be careful working the trunk, from what I’ve read Bougainvillea can suffer from rot, but I have seen articles on carving but they make sure it is sealed afterwards.

In saying that I would let it grow/recover for a while before anything else, with mine I plan to slip pot to give them more room to recover still.

I hope this helps.
Rusty


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Hello Rustyck
Thanks for taking your time guide me on this bougy, i am not really sure about the time that this plant had been cut ,this is what a friend who is not interested in plants care told me,he gave this plant from his father,s yard ,there are a few scars at the top of trunk that shows prun of the plant.I Think considering me as a newcomer to bonsai the hairy root also shows it should not be along time planted this trunk .As you said i Already changed the soil and pot to build a root ball, until then you and other friends guidance will help to decide what to do. Thanks you for the first advises . Best Regard Ghasemi

Hrmm. Tricky trunk. I would just leave it alone and see what other shoots you get from it. For now water and feed it.


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You can't blame this Bougie for not growing very well in such a little pot and poor soil. Now it is in a bigger pot it should grow better.
I see that the climate in Gilan province is almost tropical with lots of rain so bougie should grow well. It is too cold for me to grow these here. You should look for good advice from Ausbonsai members in Queensland and Northern NSW where the climate sounds similar.
I understand that bougie wood is very soft so any scars will decay quickly but the live parts should stay alive even if the trunk becomes hollow.

I think Beano has the best advice so far- Leave it to grow for a while - plenty of fertiliser and water and sunshine. Maybe occasionally cut the top when it grows too long but mostly let it grow so the roots also grow strong. In a couple of years you should have a few more branches to work with to make a bonsai.

Shodu be doing better than that I think.

Put in a bigger pot and full sun lots of water.
As Shibui says, the timber rots quickly if not treated so get soem earls wood hardener on it.

Ken

I wonder if you can find Earl's wood hardener in Iran? I guess there might be something similar..... maybe?