Your experiences with Serrisa

[treeman]

I want to get back into them again. I have killed a few in the past as I know many others have.
Please share your successes and your failures with this species. What did you find worked best? I want to learn as much as possible about them. I do recall they have very fine hair-like roots which may be a clue to their delicate reputation.
I have seen a few outstanding examples though! They do have some great qualities - like a trunk which quickly gives an aged feel. In particular a Japanese trained shohin where the nebrai almost covered the surface of the pot! - I'll try to find that one......

[Daluke]

These things grow really easily by cuttings. I’m talking 100% strike rate. No hormone needed. I’ve even had little bits root from small stems that have been left on the soil after a trim.

They like soggy moist soil. The trees I’ve planted in coarse mix struggle in comparison. All that fine dust you sift out is what I use. For the past two weeks I’ve put quite a few in a water tray and they are thriving and throwing flowers.

They like regular misting, especially at night time. I saw a guy on YouTube talk about misting and tried it and boy was he right.

I’ve found they are extremely brittle and you need to wire growth before it hardens.

They do best in part shade. Too much shade and the leaves get big, the flowers don’t open and the growth doesn’t harden.

It seems like they rot easily - because I mist so much and have mine in semi shade moss grows up the trunk real quick. Make sure you remove it.

I’ve run an experiment planting Serissa on mesh cut into a star formation. I’ve found that the roots fatten quickly as they go through.

They throw lots of suckers to the detriment of the rest of the tree.

I haven’t tried ground growing yet. My land isn’t big enough and the soil is to clayish.

I haven’t had much luck with back budding on bare wood. They are kind of like pines. Leave green if you want the section to live.

[Daluke]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S03lApvvlGA

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j7q9RkZkV2Q

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5GZfh4rDIIE

[eyedia]

This is interesting. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts

[treeman]

Thanks Daluke. Excellent information. I suspected the preference for fine soil rather than coarse. Coarse mix and very fine roots leaves too much margin for error in watering/drying?

Here is the Japanese one out of BT. Only a few inches high!

P1110598 - Copy.JPG

[Matthew]

Mike

that is by far the best example I have ever seen . from Wikipedia

Serissa is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae, containing only one species, Serissa japonica. It is native to open sub-tropical woodlands and wet meadows in southeast Asia, from India, and China to Japan. It is commonly called the snowrose, tree of a thousand stars, or Japanese boxthorn; and was formerly called Serissa foetida. 'Foetida' referres to the unpleasant, vomit-like, odour that the trees give off if their leaves are pruned or bruised.

Snowrose and tree of a thousand stars are different cultivars. The only method of differentiating is measuring the difference in the shape and size of the flowers produced.[citation needed]

It is an evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub, 45–60 cm high, with oval, deep green, rather thick leaves that have an unpleasant smell if bruised (hence its name foetida). The upright stems branch in all directions and form a wide bushy dome. It is grown for its neat habit, good coverage of branches and long flowering time. It is also valued for its rough, grey trunk which tends to get lighter in colour with age.

Serissa flowers practically all year round, but particularly from early spring to near autumn. The 4- to 6-lobed flowers are funnel-shaped and 1 cm wide. They first appear as pink buds but turn to a profusion of white flowers. Fertilizing is especially important during the long flowering period.

Many cultivars with double flowers or variegated leaves are also available. 'Pink Snow Rose' has pale pink flowers and leaves edged off-white. Other cultivars include: 'Variegata', 'Variegated Pink', 'Pink Mystic', 'Snowflake', 'Snowleaves', 'Mt. Fuji', 'Kyoto' and 'Sapporo'.

Serissa is one of the most common bonsai, especially in Japan. It is not difficult to maintain as bonsai, but is very fussy. Many beginner bonsai enthusiasts will destroy a Serissa in their uninformed attempts to care for it. The trees respond adversely by dropping leaves if over-watered, under-watered, if it's too cold, too hot, or even if just moved to a new location. The plant usually grows back to health when put back to better conditions.[1][2]

[Daluke]

Thanks Daluke. Excellent information. I suspected the preference for fine soil rather than coarse. Coarse mix and very fine roots leaves too much margin for error in watering/drying?

Here is the Japanese one out of BT. Only a few inches high!

P1110598 - Copy.JPG

That’s an incredible tree. Very dense canopy and an impressive trunk for the height. It’s got great nebari.

I’ve found they are pretty hardy in terms of not watering - they survive, they just don’t grow leaves. I left some in full sun for a few days without water and they dried out.

The leaves get light when starved of water and I would go as far as to say this induces flower buds ( kind of like tomato plants - starve the tree, it thinks it’s dying and needs to reproduce, so it makes flowers to turn to fruit and seed ). The buds look like small black scales. Putting it in water helps open the flowers and brings the green back in no time.

I’ve read about people finding it difficult to get girth and taper. I’ve found letting all the branches go gets the trunk going (as opposed to a single or a few sacrifice branches). That being said I don’t have any with trunks like the one pictured.

They fill their pots with roots quite quickly if watering how I suggested and I’ve found reporting yearly keeps the vigour going.

There’s a good range of Serissa available at nurseries - they are good for getting and propagating from.

They are just grown like azaleas - without a single trunk line and multiple brittle trunks.. Cuttings helps you get something usable to work with as Bonsai which is pliable.

[jgmansell]

IMG_1502.JPG

IMG_1503.JPG

[treeman]

Seems like hard pruning encourages suckering. To be expected I guess.

[jgmansell]

Seems like hard pruning encourages suckering. To be expected I guess.

I think any pruning promotes suckering!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shibui]

treeman wrote:
Seems like hard pruning encourages suckering. To be expected I guess.
I think any pruning promotes suckering!

I think these sucker well without any encouragement at all. Even without any pruning mine has a forest of new stems coming up - good for propagating but not for maintaining a trunk

[Daluke]

Any good pieces getting about?

After getting rid of mine sometime ago (sold, gifted and neglected), I bought a few (3) pieces of serissa Kyoto as propagating material - 20 off spring and I’m hoping to cultivate some nice trees over the next five or so years.

They seem so hard to get nice and fat in our climate!

[Stu]

I have played with a couple for a while. I agree they are easy to propagate. I have had some die without obvious cause though and have picked up this is not unusual. I suspect Melbourne winters are not to their liking. I overwinter mine in a plastic greenhouse.