trident whips fusing

[PWC]

Not much happens in winter down here so this year after reading a post on Shibui bonsai site I decided to have a go at fusing some trident whips. Neil was good enough to put together a small order of one year old whips for me and they turned up in Late July.
I set about plaiting them up(needed some help with the better half) in bundles of 5.

I used grafting tape to bind them, wired some shape into them and waited. As expected they took of in spring and have grown strongly though spring. After having a close look today I was surprise to see they appeared to have fused, so decided to remove the tape.

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I was surprised by the result I hadn't expected it so quickly.

[shibui]

Good growth. Mine have started to fuse but have not got as far as yours yet.

Is the result any better than a single seedling?
I will add some photos f the few I did last winter and we will see whether this technique is worth the effort.

[Brekel]

That's faster than I would have thought. Interested to see how these progress.

Brett

[PWC]

Is the result any better than a single seedling?

Good question, I have no experience with any maples, this was a whim after I saw a post of yours. Looked interesting, I also put some together to form clump style. I did put a couple of older whips in the ground, they do not seem to be growing as well as those in pots.

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I would hope that having a group of 5 individual trunks may give a more advanced trunk girth inn a shorter time than a single seedling. Whether the resultant trunk would be aesthetically superior I do not know, it may add some character.

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[PWC]

That's faster than I would have thought. Interested to see how these progress.

Brett, It certainly surprised me I was thinking at least until the end of summer. If I had left the tape on that long I'm sure the trunks above the tape would have formed a bulge. Probably wouldn't have been a real problem as a trunk reduction is probably on the cards at some point.
As a novice I like to try as many techniques as possible, they say you learn more from your failures than from your successes. If that's true I've learned a hell of a lot in the last year or two.

[MJL]

Pretty cool to see PWC - thanks for posting.


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[shibui]

I did put a couple of older whips in the ground, they do not seem to be growing as well as those in pots.

They are just trying to lull you into a false sense of security. Later in summer, after you take your eyes off them they will take off and really grow - at least that's what happens here.

I was surprised that earlier trials with fused tridents did not yield thicker trunks quicker. I guess that if 5 trunks are sharing the available resources they can't grow bigger than a single trunk using the same resources?
Hopefully we can keep an eye on these and get some sense of how valid that is.

[greg27]

I was surprised that earlier trials with fused tridents did not yield thicker trunks quicker. I guess that if 5 trunks are sharing the available resources they can't grow bigger than a single trunk using the same resources?

I wonder how much energy is involved in the fusing process itself - do the plants just grow and fuse or is this a more active process that takes additional resources?

[PWC]

I would hope that having a group of 5 individual trunks may give a more advanced trunk girth inn a shorter time than a single seedling.

After the first year of growth and subsequent root work I expect that the growth rate would be the same a a single tree.

[PWC]

Nine months later, 2 moves ( 2200 kms in total) and they are all still alive not without issues though. This one has had a break of on of the trunks that may be a possible problem long term. I had planed to use it as a major branch along with the remaining trunk on the same side, if it doesn't get a shoot at the break I fear that trunk could die back all the way to the roots. Over time it would be enveloped by the other trunks I hope.

[thugdeezee]

Still a cool technique nether the less.. nice work. thanks for sharing!

[PWC]

Of the other two I have attempted one has fused well but on of the whips has yet to leaf out, I am hoping that it just a late starter. I di however put a bit of wire on this one to introduce a bit of movement as this one was to be a branch. When I twisted them together I took one out progressively as I went up on the outside curve, The idea was it would also give the appearance of taper as the further up you go the fewer trunks.

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The other one the whips were larger so I put four together these have not fused as well but as you would expect, being less flexible I couldn't get the same close contact as the smaller ones. We will see how they develop over time, I may have to bind them again.

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In the short term I am happy with the result, I have a couple of single trunk whips from the same batch that I will be growing on in pots to see how they compare.