Trident Twists

[Ryceman3]

Back again with my trifecta of trident projects for the week wrapped up. As well as using some of the trident seedlings I got from shibui for root grafting, I put the rest I had to work after being inspired by Steven and a few other forum members from a year or two ago. So, with wire in hand and a bit of time this morning, I got to work.

Take a seedling ...

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Wrap a bit of wire around it ...

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Give it a few bends, pretty much however you like, and repeat with as many seedlings as you have!

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Then pot them up and wait to see what happens ...

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Unfortuantely I didn't have enough pots on hand to individually pot them up, so they are all in trios at the moment. This is a bit of fun and I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out particularly over the next year or so. I plan on continuing to tweak the bends to hopefully get some curves and twists a bit tighter but I didn't want to push too far and snap them ... well, not all of them ... I might have pushed a few a bit far .

A bump to Steven and anybody else who might've done this in the last few years - I'd love to see some pics on where your trees are currently at if you have a chance!

[melbrackstone]

Good going. I tried it, and forgot about the wire, so the majority of mine were badly marked.

I'll see if I can take some pics of the ones that I left...some have been chopped back severely...

[Granite]

Here’s the beginning of year 2 on some of my Shibui tridents. I’m trying to impart some taper on them to give them some natural movement as they progress.

[Boics]

Good stuff!

Granite, your 2nd one looks like Japanese maple to me.

Perhaps try and group a couple so they mould into each other?
I know this works reasonably well with tridents.

[Granite]

I have ordered 40 more from Shibui and might actually give that a try with a few, Boics. Thanks for the suggestion.

[melbrackstone]

Impressive results there Granite. Agree that the second one looks more like a Japanese Maple.

[Ryceman3]

Awesome, thanks for the post Granite! I agree with the others about the second one looking a lot like a japanese maple but I don't see why not give it a go with them too. I really like the third one, but all have potential - early days!

I appreciate the heads up on the wire cutting in Mel, always something to watch with species that gain trunk/branch girth as rapidly as tridents do. Once spring hits and the growing season takes off, I'll be watching with both eyes ... kinda like this ... , which will probably become this after a while ... ??...


Your point is a good one Boics, I hadn't considered it and so when I planted them together I tried to have them in positions where they could grow away from one another, but maybe I should embrace and have them sympathetically twisting around one another? Something to consider!

Thanks all for your input.

[BB Brian]

awesome, can't wait till mine arrive

[melbrackstone]

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These are all from 2016, coiled and planted...mostly all marked by wire. Some of the marks are much less obvious than they were though! The ones in the 4" pots haven't grown as thick as those in the 6" pots, and one I planted so it's in a basket sitting on the ground has thickened even more, so if you want them to grow fast, you really do need to give them room...

[shibui]

The good thing about wire marks on tridents at this early stage is that they ill almost always disappear as the trunk thickens.
Your observation about the ones with more root run growing more is spot on. Letting some roots escape through a drain hole into the ground makes a huge difference in growth compared to roots confined in the pot.

[melbrackstone]

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[Ryceman3]

It appears that spring may be arriving ....

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I notice that all the tridents I got from shibui THIS year are moving first ... others that I have from him in other years (and also from other places) are still yet to show signs of growth... environmental I'm guessing they think it has warmed up enough. Maybe compared to Yackendandah, Melbourne is just plain balmy!
I also have chinese elms starting to pop. Not long until we're amongst it again.

[Keels]

Awesom post ive just ordered some seedlings as well last week to try this development. Looking forward to see your progress

[Ryceman3]

Awesom post ive just ordered some seedlings as well last week to try this development. Looking forward to see your progress

Nice. Post em up when you’re done, would love to see them!

[Matthew]

It appears that spring may be arriving ....

trident buds.jpg

I notice that all the tridents I got from shibui THIS year are moving first ... others that I have from him in other years (and also from other places) are still yet to show signs of growth... environmental I'm guessing they think it has warmed up enough. Maybe compared to Yackendandah, Melbourne is just plain balmy!
I also have chinese elms starting to pop. Not long until we're amongst it again.

Not at my place . Been good rain here last 4 nights in a row and most of next week will not get above 12 tops