Taxodium Distichum - Swamp Cypress

[ATangentTooFar]

Hi All,
Hope everyone is making use of this time to give some extra love to their Bonsai.

I recently acquired a Swamp Cypress from Ash at Bonsai World.
He suggested I could double it’s size in a year if I repot and keep in water and fertilise regularly.

A few quick questions if someone can answer.
1) do I keep it submerged in water full time like the full size swamp versions?
2) how do I keep the mozzie breading at bay?
3) should I wire the branches angled down now or wait until it’s reach my ideal height?

Thanks for your advice.

Here is my tree before and after repotting.

A9B11CAE-9253-4F57-8767-E3ADA05FE98D.jpeg

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[juan73870]

Can't answer your questions with certainty, but my just gotta say I love the tree

[Jake fowler]

I stand mine in water so it is about half inch below the top of the pot. I repotted in spring and it is heavily root bound already. I tip the water out weekly and replace it with fresh water. Normally when i am fertilising I tip some water out and feed straight into the container so ot soaks in fertiliser. You would have to be careful if wiring as they grow very very fast in water

[MJL]

I only have one and I follow Jake’s pattern to a T or a J as it may be. I have wired my branches down but I keep a keen eye on the wire due to the growth. I have been keeping mine if dappled light but I think I may move into the sun. I think these seem to behave like my sequoia - they love water and full sun. Much like my natives! For some reason I have been more careful with the swamp Cypress about sun but I don’t think I need to be.


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[shibui]

I keep the water a little less than others - about half depth of the pot.
A larger diameter tray with gravel packed around the pot will still allow plenty of water but stop the mozzies from using it to breed.

As for branches you need to decide what shape you want your tree. Old swampies, or bald cypress as the Yanks know, them actually develop flat tops on an umbrella branch system. They do not normally grow as a typical informal upright but final design will be up to you.

[A tangent too far]

Keeping a Swampy in a bucket of water with full sun all year round topped up with Fertilizer definitely works!
Thanks for the advice previously and yes i emptied the bucket regularly to reduce Mosquito build up.

Cypress 6.jpg

This was January 2021!!!

Since then I applied an Airlayer to make use of the top half and waited for the season to move down to a smaller pot.
Interestingly it never dropped all of its leaves in winter however Sydney temps weather probably assisted as we didnt get much frost.

Cypress 3.jpg

I was advised the Swampies can be quite forgiving to beginners and after a few tutorial videos and reading up i began reducing the roots working from the top down.

Wasnt long before i found the 'knuckle' roots they are known for.

Cypress 8.jpg

Cypress 7.jpg

I've seen them trimmed down a lot more and placed in far shallower pots but as it was my first I was happy to leave it with more depth on this first pot. I also had limited variety of pots available due to COVID Lockdown.

Cypress 9.jpg

I decided to wire most branches in a downward alpine direction although i have read the older branches tend to spring back up after de-wiring.
For the tougher branches i applied a small wedge cut to the underside to see if this would work.

Cypress 2.jpg

cypress 1.jpg

I still have a lot of work on this tree with the apex and branch ramification but I would definitely recommend a swampy and must admit i am now hooked on them. I have about twenty cuttings now so hopefully i will have plenty to work on in the future.

If anyone is interested I would be happy to pass on what i have learnt and the locations of where i obtained the details to get me this far.

[Jxshkxng]

nice

[BonsaiPancake]

Amazing job on this. Mine didn't grow crazy over the past year so I'm going to try the bucket technique this year.

A couple of questions for anyone who has done this (instead of starting a new thread):

1) Since it's sitting in water I'm assuming it doesn't need to be actively watered? I plan on changing the water weekly, but want to make sure I'm not neglecting the upper part of the soil which will be above the water line.

2) I saw a previous comment about avoiding mosquitoes but can anyone go into more detail about how to do it? I imagine the bucket has gravel or something (I have sooo many bricks so I could smash a few up for this) and the pot sits in this. Does the water level need to stay below the gravel to avoid too much exposed water? Also this seems like it would make changing the water weekly difficult.

3) I have quite a lot of Rooster Booster layered in the soil. Is this enough from a fertiliser point of view? Should I add liquid fert at any point or is that just going to cause issues with the stagnant water? Maybe just adding Rooster Booster to the top every few months?

4) While I watered quite a lot last summer, some of the foliage still dried out in the full summer sun. Will it sitting in water solve this or should I be looking at a semi-shade solution?

5) Finally, when is a trunk chop best done? I have some interesting taper going but it's very tall at the moment (only about 3cm wide but 1.5m tall). Or is is better to just leave it and worry about taper in future years?

[juan73870]

Very nice tree! I'd watch that wire at the very bottom of the trunk though, wouldn't want a bite right there, I'm sure you're already aware though, I really think you've done a great job!

[ATangentTooFar]

Very nice tree! I'd watch that wire at the very bottom of the trunk though, wouldn't want a bite right there, I'm sure you're already aware though, I really think you've done a great job!

Thanks vey much.
The wire at the bottom was to hold some of the bark in place.
It’s since been removed.

There has been a slight browning of the leaves with the transfer to pot.
But I’m planning on possibly taking most of them in October anyway.

[ATangentTooFar]

1) Since it's sitting in water I'm assuming it doesn't need to be actively watered? I plan on changing the water weekly, but want to make sure I'm not neglecting the upper part of the soil which will be above the water line.

2) I saw a previous comment about avoiding mosquitoes but can anyone go into more detail about how to do it? I imagine the bucket has gravel or something (I have sooo many bricks so I could smash a few up for this) and the pot sits in this. Does the water level need to stay below the gravel to avoid too much exposed water? Also this seems like it would make changing the water weekly difficult.

3) I have quite a lot of Rooster Booster layered in the soil. Is this enough from a fertiliser point of view? Should I add liquid fert at any point or is that just going to cause issues with the stagnant water? Maybe just adding Rooster Booster to the top every few months?

4) While I watered quite a lot last summer, some of the foliage still dried out in the full summer sun. Will it sitting in water solve this or should I be looking at a semi-shade solution?

5) Finally, when is a trunk chop best done? I have some interesting taper going but it's very tall at the moment (only about 3cm wide but 1.5m tall). Or is is better to just leave it and worry about taper in future years?

1) in full sun I found it drinks a considerable amount of water so when watering my bonsai I would top up the bucket and also spray the tree. They don’t suffer pest or disease easily and just love the water.

2) I read about leaving rocks etc in the bucket but as I changed it regularly the mosquitos didn’t get much of a chance to accumulate. I also could be bothered removing/adding rocks every time i changed the water.

3) not sure about rooster booster. I just dropped a half strength Charlie carp and power feed liquid fertiliser when I topped the water up. Bear in mind this was when I had it in a grow pot and was pushing for a large tree. Now that it’s in a bonsai pot I will be pull back on the water and fertiliser.

4) I had lush green growth all through the year but suggest extreme days are protected.

5)I trunk chopped mine early winter however these trees are very forgiving. For mine I let it thicken up and grown tall then airlayered
It to get two trees from one. You might be just focusing on the one in which case taper developed now would be better.

[BonsaiPancake]

Thanks so much for the info, much appreciated! Really hope I can get it to go hard this year.

[jofi]

Great post & great development of the tree.
Remarkable trunks thickening in just over a year!
This technique makes perfect sense, considering that Swampys grow in, well, swamps in their natural habitat.
They love the roots flooded, hence why they grow knuckles above the water line to allow for oxygen.

[beanwagon]

I have had one submerged in water for atlesst 5 years. They definitely thicken up super quick.

[jofi]

On the back of this, have just put one in a bucket with a mixture of Powerfeed & water, to appx 2 inchs under the soil level. Seems to have a smile on its face already