Chojubai clump

[TimS]

Kind of forgot i had started this thread, not a huge amount to report other than i repotted this clump a while back and it is happily breaking dormancy now.

Hi Tim,

When did you repot it?

I can’t exactly recall but mid-late Autumn iirc. It was a brick of roots so it needed to be done

[TimS]

I managed to dig up this japanese quince from construction site about 4 years back, I'm sure this flowering quince is just a normal 'garden' variety and the blooms are snowy white. It is a slower grower and I'm hoping the exposed roots will fuse a lot more over time and the branches to ramify more to get a more clump style look. The flowers this year are particularly dense.

I think the nursery one with the white flowers is called Nivalis. You should be able to do something good with it; the exposed roots are interesting I’m just not sure about that big one that crosses the whole trunk.

[yumcha1]

I'm hoping that when I turn 90 in 50 years time, it would have fused with the rest of the root mass! For now I think I'll turn it around and make the other side the front! Thanks for the info!

[TimS]

Likewise I’m going to need the 50 years to get anywhere with all my Chojubais, but the process is the fun bit!

[TimS]

Update on this one,

I had 2 trunks die off in winter and it was very slow to get started in spring so i think the Autumn repot was not the best idea.

Since then however it as gone what i believe the technical term is 'apeshizz crazy' and is putting out 20cm long shoots. Given it had a bit of a rough winter i'm reluctant to prune it and stem the healthy growth.

If anyone who has experience with Chojubai wants to chime in and let me know if i'm safe to prune now or if i should let it keep running until the end of summer i'd appreciate that. i have some shoots going dead straight up or from one side across to the other that i would like to clear out but, as i mentioned, having lost 2 trunks i'm keen to not set it back.

I have read the yellowing of the leaf is caused by a virus that virtually all Chojubai have and doesn't affect the plant's growth or health beyond the leaf colour. I guess it's a bit like Camellias that do the same thing?

Anyway a few photos here. If i do cut it back i'll try cuttings again. I've had good success with cuttings of the white Chojubai (by good i mean 2 out of 3 rooted ) but i've never had success with the red so far.

How it's looking at the moment

31220.jpeg

An example of the shoot extention i'm currently seeing

31220b.jpeg

New healthy shoots

31220c.jpeg

Top down of overall growth

31220d.jpeg

[Sno]

Hi TimS . This may be interesting . https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct= ... uewJxB9tBi

[TimS]

Thanks for the link Sno, that will be very useful indeed.

[terryb]

I had 2 trunks die off in winter and it was very slow to get started in spring so i think the Autumn repot was not the best idea.

I have read the yellowing of the leaf is caused by a virus that virtually all Chojubai have and doesn't affect the plant's growth or health beyond the leaf colour. I guess it's a bit like Camellias that do the same thing?
If i do cut it back i'll try cuttings again. I've had good success with cuttings of the white Chojubai (by good i mean 2 out of 3 rooted ) but i've never had success with the red so far.

Hi Tim,

I have a small specimen that I'm trying to get to grips with. Like you I had a couple of trunks which didn't bud out and a couple where the tops died back but buds pushed lower down. I did repot mine this spring so I thought that may have been the cause. Maybe not.

Mine has also put on some growth but not as much as yours. I have taken some cuttings already to try and get some more plants to play with.

Glad you mentioned the yellow leaf patches. Mine also has them. Do you know which virus it is?

[TimS]

Sorry to hear you lost a few trunks, but it does make me feel a little better that it's not just my inept work with the root shears

I'm sorry i haven't been able to find what the virus is specifically, only that it is not an impediment to the health of the plant.

I can't really explain why i get this amount of growth from the clump, i do water frequently and keep it in a deep pot. I add into my basic soil mix a healthy dose of slow release fertiliser and also blood and bone just to have a background level of feeding occurring for it as they are hungry plants. I should give mine a liquid feed too soon i think, it's been a few weeks since i last did.

I did end up pruning it back after this post as it seems that 20cm long shoots is normal for them, and i have tried cuttings from this clump as well as some more from the white chojubai when i pruned it back. I have treated them exactly the same so it will be interesting to see if the red really is harder to root compared to the white.

[treeman]

My old clump lost one , maybe 2 trunks this spring. I didn't repot this year but not sure why it happened.
I will have to dismantle it to see what's going on. It happens......

[longd_au]

My clump had two older trunk die just a few days ago.
They looked fine but did not have any extensions and a few days ago, all the leaf curled up and died.
Almost every other trunks had extensions except for the two that died.

I think you have to balance the energy of the tree by not letting extensions get too long if you have trunks that does not extend.
Make sure suckers are trimmed as soon as you see them will give the older trunks a chance.

[TimS]

The results of my entirely unscientific cutting experiment:

Pot on the left is cuttings from this clump with the red flowers, cuttings on the right are cuttings of white flowering chojubai.

Taken same day, treated the same, kept in the same location etc. Nearly 100% success with white, pretty much zero with red (one looks like it has callous bumps). Curious.

chojcutrw.jpeg

[TimS]

Well it turns out that the red were just a little behind the white that's all. I see 3 with shoots coming and some more that look promising, so i'll get some new red chojubai to play with!

[TimS]

This clump is flowering the best i've seen it since obtaining it. I've been doing heaps of cuttings to start more clumps as well.

choj421a.jpeg

choj421b.jpeg

choj421c.jpeg

choj421d.jpeg

[Watto]

Starting to look the goods, well done.